November 3, 1998 2002 → 52.30% 46.51% | 500,231 444,787 | |
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The Iowa gubernatorial election of 1998 took place on November 5, 1998. Incumbent Republican Governor of Iowa Terry Branstad did not seek re-election to a fifth term, thereby creating an open seat.
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To replace him, State Senator Tom Vilsack narrowly won the nomination of the Democratic Party while former United States Congressman Jim Ross Lightfoot, who was previously the Republican nominee for the United States Senate in 1996, won his party's nomination. Lightfoot was the odds-on favorite to succeed Branstad and polling consistently showed him in the lead. However, Vilsack narrowly won the general election and became the first Democrat to serve as governor of Iowa in 30 years and only the fifth Democrat to hold the office in the 20th century.