West Virginia gubernatorial election, 1996

November 5, 1996

Governor before election

Gaston Caperton
Democratic

Elected Governor

Cecil Underwood
Republican

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The 1996 West Virginia gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 1996 for the post of Governor of West Virginia. Republican Cecil Underwood, who had previously been the Governor of West Virginia from 1957-1961, defeated Democratic State Senator Charlotte Pritt. Concurrently, the state voted the opposite way federally, choosing Democratic U.S. Presidential nominee, incumbent Bill Clinton over Republican nominee Bob Dole in the Presidential election that year.

Results

West Virginia gubernatorial election, 1996^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Cecil Underwood	324,518	51.63%	+15.07%
	Democratic	Charlotte Pritt	287,870	45.80%	-10.21%
	Libertarian	Wallace Johnson	16,171	2.57%	+2.57%
Margin of victory			36,648	5.83%	-13.62%
Total votes			628,559	100%
	Republican gain from Democratic		Swing