Governers: Republicans Gain But They Remain A Rare Breed

By William R. Doerner

The Democrats still run two-thirds of the statehouses

The joke at a Governors' conference last year was that if the Republicans lost any more attendance at such gatherings, they could next meet in a telephone booth. For the past year the G.O.P. has controlled just 15 statehouses. The good news for Republicans from this year's 13 gubernatorial races is that they will need a bigger caucus room next summer; the bad news is that it will not have to be much bigger than a phone booth. They won a net gain of at most two Governor's mansions, but two of four G.O.P. incumbents were defeated.

By contrast, both Democrats running for re-election were successful: Montana's Ted Schwinden, 59, and Arkansas' Bill Clinton, 38. In North Dakota, State Representative George Sinner, 55, scored an upset victory over Republican Governor Allen Olson, 46. Elected in 1980, Olson came under criticism late in the campaign for admitting that he had not yet filed a 1983 federal income tax return, though he claimed that he had received extensions.

The two Republicans who won bids to a second term, both as expected, were Indiana's Robert D. Orr, 66, and New Hampshire's John H. Sununu, 45. In Delaware, retiring Pierre S. du Font's G.O.P. seat passed to a protege, Lieutenant Governor Michael N. Castle, 45. The grandee of West Virginia politics, two-term Governor Arch A. Moore, 61, hammered out a third victory, following an eight-year hiatus filled by Democrat Jay Rockefeller. Democrats were also replaced by Republicans in Utah, where House Speaker Norman H. Bangerter, 51, coasted to victory, and in North Carolina, where Congressman James G. Martin, 48, easily won his match.

The most prominent incumbent to go down to defeat was Washington's Republican Governor John Spellman, 57, who was initially considered the favorite in his bid for a second term. But in September, Tacoma-area County Executive Booth Gardner, 48, came out of nowhere not only to win the Democratic nomination in the state's open primary but also to attract enough crossover Republican votes to embarrass the Governor. Gardner, heir to a Weyerhaeuser lumber fortune, styles himself a "citizen politician." He traveled through the state like a breath of fresh Cascades air, accusing Spellman of creating buck-passing commissions to deal with fiscal problems. Spellman fought back by claiming that Gardner was a "shill of labor." The charge backfired when the Teamsters withdrew their endorsement of the Governor.

In Missouri, the G.O.P. retained the governorship that Christopher ("Kit") Bond was required to give up after serving two terms. His successor: Attorney General John Ashcroft, 42, a born-again Christian who sometimes ended his stump speeches with a gospel hymn from one of the record albums he has co-recorded. Ashcroft beat back the challenge of Democrat Kenneth Rothman, 49, Lieutenant Governor for the past four years. A graduate of Yale and the son of minister, Ashcroft defended his failure to prosecute dioxin polluters by pointing out that doing so precipitately might have jeopardized the federal buyout of polluted homesites.

The Republicans ended 16 years of Democratic rule in Rhode Island when Edward DiPrete, 50, two-term mayor of Cranston, convincingly whipped State Treasurer Anthony J. Solomon, 52. The race was at least partly decided by the Democrat's liberal use of mud. Solomon ran a television ad in October charging that DiPrete had "stacked Cranston's payroll with dozens of his friends and political cronies" and "gave tax breaks to his friends." DiPrete shot back that the commercial was "one big lie" and challenged his opponent to produce proof. Solomon failed to offer more than minor substantiation, yet refused to backtrack on the charges. Many voters viewed the exchange as one more reason to accommodate DiPrete on his primary campaign theme: that it was time for a change.

By far the closest race was in Vermont, where former Lieutenant Governor Madeleine Kunin, 51, a Democrat, and Republican Attorney General John Easton, 41, were locked in a contest that may not be decided for days. On the basis of an unofficial count, Kunin was the apparent victor, making her one of two women Governors in the nation (the other: Kentucky's Martha Layne Collins). But the vote may be subject to a recount. During the campaign, Kunin had accused Easton of wanting to be only a "caretaker Governor" at a time when Vermont needed "active, creative leadership." Easton admitted he was no activist, but he effectively cultivated the common touch by spending 25 days performing manual labor with work crews. Depending on the outcome of his race, it could prove useful experience. --By William R. Doemer. Reported by Joelle Attinger/Montpelier and Benjamin W. Cate/Seattle, with other bureaus

With reporting by Joelle Attinger, Benjamin W. Cate