A bolded state name features an article about the specific election.
| State | Incumbent | Party | Status | Opposing candidates | | Alabama | Fob James | Democratic | Retired, Democratic victory | George Wallace (Democratic) 57.6%
Emory Folmar (Republican) 39.1%
Leo Suiter (Alabama Conservative) 1.6%
Henry Klingler (Libertarian) 0.7%
John Jackson (Alabama Nat'l Democrat) 0.4%
John Dyer (Prohibition) 0.4%
Martin J. Boyers (Socialist Workers) 0.2% |
| Alaska | Jay Hammond | Republican | Term-limited, Democratic victory | Bill Sheffield (Democratic) 46.1%
Tom Fink (Republican) 37.1%
Dick Randolph (Libertarian) 14.9%
Joe Vogler (Alaskan Ind.) 1.7% |
| Arizona | Bruce Babbitt | Democratic | Re-elected, 62.5% | Leo Corbet (Republican) 32.5%
Sam Steiger (Libertarian) 5.0% |
| Arkansas | Frank D. White | Republican | Defeated, 45.3% | Bill Clinton (Democratic) 54.7% |
| California | Jerry Brown | Democratic | Retired, Republican victory | George Deukmejian (R) 49.3%
Tom Bradley (D) 48.1%
Don P. Dougherty (L) 1.0%
Elizabeth Martinez (PF) 0.9%
James C. Griffin (AI) 0.7% |
| Colorado | Richard Lamm | Democratic | Re-elected, 65.7% | John D. Fuhr (Republican) 31.2%
Paul K. Grant (Libertarian) 2.0%
Earl Dodge (Prohibition) 0.4%
Alan Gummerson (Socialist Workers) 0.3% |
| Connecticut | William O'Neill | Democratic | Re-elected, 53.7% | Lewis B. Rome (Republican) 46.3% |
| Florida | Bob Graham | Democratic | Re-elected, 64.7% | Louis A. Bafalis (Republican) 35.3% |
| Georgia | George Busbee | Democratic | Term-limited, Democratic victory | Joe Frank Harris (Democratic) 62.8%
Robert H. Bell (Republican) 37.2% |
| Hawaii | George Ariyoshi | Democratic | Re-elected, 45.2% | Frank Fasi (Independent Democrat) 28.6%
D. G. Anderson (Republican) 26.1% |
| Idaho | John V. Evans | Democratic | Re-elected, 52.9% | Phil Batt (Republican) 47.1% |
| Illinois | James R. Thompson | Republican | Re-elected, 49.44% | Adlai Stevenson III (Democratic) 49.30%
Bea Armstrong (Libertarian) 0.67%
John E. Roche (U.S. Taxpayers) 0.60% |
| Iowa | Robert D. Ray | Republican | Retired, Republican victory | Terry E. Branstad (Republican) 52.8%
Roxanne Conlin (Democratic) 46.6%
Marcia Farrington (Libertarian) 0.3%
Jim Bittner (Socialist) 0.3% |
| Kansas | John W. Carlin | Democratic | Re-elected, 53.2% | Sam Hardage (Republican) 44.5%
James H. Ward (Libertarian) 1.0%
Frank Shelton (American) 0.8%
Warren C. Martin (Prohibition) 0.6% |
| Maine | Joseph E. Brennan | Democratic | Re-elected, 61.2% | Charles R. Cragin (Republican) 37.7%
Venn Warren (Independent) 0.6%
J. Martin "Marty" Vachon (Independent) 0.6% |
| Maryland | Harry Hughes | Democratic | Re-elected, 62.0% | Robert A. Pascal (Republican) 38.0% |
| Massachusetts | Edward J. King | Democratic | Defeated in primary, Democratic victory | Michael Dukakis (Democratic) 59.5%
John W. Sears (Republican) 36.6%
Frank Rich (Independent) 3.1%
Rebecca Shipman (Libertarian) 0.9% |
| Michigan | William Milliken | Republican | Retired, Democratic victory | James Blanchard (Democratic) 51.4%
Richard Headlee (Republican) 45.1%
Robert Tisch (Tisch Ind. Citizens) 2.6%
Dick Jacobs (Libertarian) 0.5%
James Phillips (American Ind.) 0.2%
Leslie E. Craine (Socialist Workers) 0.1%
Martin P. McLaughlin (Workers League) 0.1% |
| Minnesota | Al Quie | Republican | Retired, Democratic victory | Rudy Perpich (Democratic) 58.6%
Wheelock Whitney (Republican) 40.0%
Kathy Wheeler (Socialist Workers) 0.6%
Tom McDonald (Honest Government) 0.5%
Franklin H. Haws (Libertarian) 0.4% |
| Nebraska | Charles Thone | Republican | Defeated, 49.3% | Bob Kerrey (Democratic) 50.7% |
| Nevada | Robert List | Republican | Defeated, 41.8% | Richard Bryan (Democratic) 53.4%
None of These Candidates 2.9%
Dan Becan (Libertarian) 1.9% |
| New Hampshire | Hugh Gallen | Democratic | Defeated, 46.8% | John H. Sununu (Republican) 51.5%
Meldrim Thomson, Jr. (Independent) 1.7% |
| New Mexico | Bruce King | Democratic | Term-limited, Democratic victory | Toney Anaya (Democratic) 53.0%
John B. Irick (Republican) 47.0% |
| New York | Hugh Carey | Democratic | Retired, Democratic victory | Mario Cuomo (Democratic) 50.9%
Lewis Lehrman (Republican) 47.5%
Robert J. Bohner (Right to Life) 1.0%
John H. Northrup (Libertarian) 0.3%
Jane Benedict (Unity) 0.1%
Nancy Ross (New Alliance) 0.1%
Diane Wang (Socialist Workers) 0.1% |
| Ohio | Jim Rhodes | Republican | Term-limited, Democratic victory | Dick Celeste (Democratic) 59.0%
Bud Brown (Republican) 38.9%
Phyllis Goetz (Libertarian) 1.2%
Kurt O. Landefiled (Independent) 0.5%
Erwin Reupert (Independent) 0.4% |
| Oklahoma | George Nigh | Democratic | Re-elected, 62.1% | Tom Daxon (Republican) 37.6%
Allah-U Akbar Allah-U Wahid (Independent) 0.3% |
| Oregon | Victor G. Atiyeh | Republican | Re-elected, 63.1% | Ted Kulongoski (Democratic) 36.9% |
| Pennsylvania | Dick Thornburgh | Republican | Re-elected, 50.8% | Allen E. Ertel (Democratic) 48.1%
Mark Zola (Socialist Workers) 0.4%
Lee Frissell (Consumer) 0.4%
Richard D. Fuerle (Libertarian) 0.3% |
| Rhode Island | John Garrahy | Democratic | Re-elected, 73.3% | Vincent Marzullo (Republican) 23.6%
Hilary R. Salk (Independent) 2.1%
Peter Van Daam (Independent) 1.0% |
| South Carolina | Richard Riley | Democratic | Re-elected, 69.8% | W. D. Workman, Jr. (Republican) 30.2% |
| South Dakota | Bill Janklow | Republican | Re-elected, 70.9% | Mike O'Connor (Democratic) 29.1% |
| Tennessee | Lamar Alexander | Republican | Re-elected, 59.6% | Randy Tyree (Democratic) 40.4% |
| Texas | Bill Clements | Republican | Defeated, 45.9% | Mark White (Democratic) 53.2%
David Hutzelman (Libertarian) 0.6%
Bob Poteet (U.S. Taxpayers) 0.3% |
| Vermont | Richard A. Snelling | Republican | Re-elected, 55.0% | Madeleine M. Kunin (Democratic) 44.0%
Richard Gottlieb (Liberty Union) 0.5%
John L. Buttolph III (Libertarian) 0.5% |
| Wisconsin | Lee S. Dreyfus | Republican | Retired, Democratic victory | Tony Earl (Democratic) 56.8%
Terry Kohler (Republican) 42.0%
Larry Smiley (Libertarian) 0.6%
James Wickstrom (U.S. Taxpayers) 0.5%
Peter Seidman (Socialist Workers) 0.2% |
| Wyoming | Edgar Herschler | Democratic | Re-elected, 63.1% | Warren A. Morton (Republican) 36.9% |