Florida gubernatorial election, 1998
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County Results
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The 1998 Florida Gubernatorial Election was held on November 3, 1998 to determine the Governor for the State of Florida. Two-term Democratic incumbent Governor Lawton Chiles was term-limited and could not run for re-election. John Ellis "Jeb" Bush, who had previously run for Governor in 1994 was the Republican nominee, and incumbent Lieutenant Governor Kenneth Hood "Buddy" MacKay was the Democratic nominee. Bush defeated MacKay by nearly 11% of the vote, and won his first of two terms as governor.
Jeb Bush was one of four GOP pickups nationwide in the 1998 gubernatorial elections. But the Republican party still netted a loss of one governorship.
On December 12, 1998, incumbent Governor Lawton Chiles died, elevating MacKay to governor for 23 days, thrusting him into the office which he had just lost the election for.
The primary season was largely uneventful, as MacKay (D) and Bush (R) officially ran unopposed for their respective nominations. Initially the Democratic primary saw a three-way race between MacKay, Rick Dantzler and J. Keith Arnold, but the latter two dropped out of the race early on. Dantzler became MacKay's running mate for Lieutenant Governor, and Arnold ran for Education Commissioner instead.
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