The 1958 Maine gubernatorial election took place on September 8, 1958. Incumbent Democratic

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Edmund Muskie Edmund Sixtus Muskie (March 28, 1914March 26, 1996) was an American statesman and political leader who served as the 58th United States Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter from 1980 to 1981, a United States Senator from Maine from 1 ...

was term limited and seeking election to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

, and thus did not run.

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

Clinton Clauson Clinton Amos Clauson (March 28, 1895 – December 30, 1959) was an American politician who served as the 66th governor of Maine from January 1959 until his death in December of that year. A Democrat, Clauson previously held office in Waterville ...

, then mayor of Waterville, unexpectedly defeated Muskie's chosen Democratic candidate in the primary, Maynard Dolloff, and faced off against the popular previous two term Republican governor,

Horace Hildreth Horace Augustus Hildreth (December 2, 1902 – June 2, 1988) was an American diplomat, businessman and Republican Party (United States), Republican politician. He served as the Governor of Maine for two two-year terms, and served as United States ...

, in the general election. Hildreth was the heavy favorite to win, however Clauson was able to narrowly defeat him, retaining the

Blaine House The Blaine House, also known as the James G. Blaine House, is the official residence of the governor of Maine and their family. The executive mansion was officially declared the residence of the governor in 1919 with the name "Blaine House". It ...

for the Democrats. The election was also the last time that Maine would hold its election in September. Traditionally, Maine had held its elections two months before the rest of the nation, which had help give birth to the phrase "

As Maine goes, so goes the nation "As Maine goes, so goes the nation" was once a maxim in United States politics. The phrase described Maine's reputation as a bellwether state for presidential elections. Maine's September election of a governor predicted the party outcome of the ...

" and its status as a

bellwether A bellwether is a leader or an indicator of trends.bellwether
" ''Cambridge Dictionary''. Re ...

state. However, following a 1957 referendum, the state constitution was amended to hold all elections after 1958 in November and shift from two-year to four-year terms. Thus, Clauson became the first Governor elected to a four-year term, with the next election being scheduled for November 1962. However, Clauson died in December of 1959, forcing a special election to be held in 1960 to elect a governor to serve the balance of Clauson's term.

Democratic primary

Candidates

, former mayor of Waterville *Maynard C. Dolloff, State Grange Master, of

Gray Grey (more frequent in British English) or gray (more frequent in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning that it has no chroma. It is the color of a cloud-covered s ...

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

*Philip F. Chapman, former state senator, of

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

* Horace A. Hildreth, former Governor of Maine (1945–1949), former United States Ambassador to Pakistan (1951–1957), of

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

Results

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

* Aroostook (largest city: Presque Isle) *

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People and characters * Franklin (given name), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (surname), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (class), a member of a historic ...

(largest town: Farmington) * Knox (largest municipality: Rockland) *

Penobscot The Penobscot (Abenaki: ''Pαnawάhpskewi'') are an Indigenous people in North America from the Northeastern Woodlands region. They are organized as a federally recognized tribe in Maine and as a First Nations band government in the Atlantic p ...

(largest city: Bangor) * Piscataquis (largest municipality:

Dover-Foxcroft Dover-Foxcroft is the largest town in and the seat of Piscataquis County, Maine, United States. The population was 4,422 at the 2020 census. The town is located near the geographic center of the state. History Dover-Foxcroft was originally t ...

) *

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

(largest city:

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...

) *

Waldo Waldo may refer to: People and fictional characters * Waldo (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Waldo (surname), a list of people * Waldo (footballer), Brazilian footballer Waldo Machado da Silva (1934–20 ...

(largest city:

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

)

Notes

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

Gubernatorial A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

Maine gubernatorial election {{Maine-election-stub