Kansas gubernatorial election, 1990

Kansas gubernatorial election, 1990
Kansas

 
Nominee Joan Finney Mike Hayden Christina Campbell-Cline
Party Democratic Republican Independent
Popular vote 380,609 333,589 69,127
Percentage 48.6% 42.6% 8.8%

Governor before election

Mike Hayden
Republican

Elected Governor

Joan Finney
Democratic

The Kansas gubernatorial election of 1990 included incumbent Republican Governor Mike Hayden lost re-election to Democratic nominee Joan Finney.[1]

Background

Hayden was chosen as chair of the Republican Governors Association. Hayden's term saw tax cuts and programs to combat substance abuse. Unfortunately for the governor, a split in the Kansas Republican Party between moderates and conservatives considerably reduced other accomplishments. Hayden himself was perceived as a moderate; on abortion, for instance, he took a pro-choice position. Because of the legislative gridlock, Hayden was not able to reinstate the death penalty. Hayden lost his re-election bid primarily because of voter passage of a property reclassification amendment in Kansas which resulted in property reappraisals – the first in some cases in 20 years – and the resulting property tax increases when market values were applied to properties for tax purposes.

Candidates

Republican

Democratic

Independent

Results

Governor candidate Running Mate Party Popular Vote
Joan Finney James Francisco Democratic 380,609 48.6%
Mike Hayden Harland Priddle Republican 333,589 42.6%
Christina Campbell-Cline Benton Independent 69,127 8.8%

Distinctions

State Treasurer Finney was elected governor over Hayden in 1990, giving Hayden the distinction of being the first incumbent governor of any state to lose to a woman. In addition to being Kansas's first female governor, she was Kansas' oldest governor (65), Kansas' first Roman Catholic Governor, and one of the few pro-life Democratic Governors at the time .

References


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 6/21/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.