In Alabama, incumbent Governor Perry Hand sought election to a second term. A staunch conservative and supporter of the Robertson administration, Hand was unpopular for a series of scandals involving the state Agriculture Department that had involved the condemnation of land by inspectors for disparate, often trivial issues. Only a single very notable candidate filed to run against the Governor - activist Robert Kennedy Jr. Nephew of a former President and son of a slain Presidential contender and Attorney General, Kennedy had significant name recognition and even popularity as some Alabamians viewed his entrance into the race as “Alabama getting a Kennedy of its own.” Kennedy faced token opposition in the Democratic Primary, but trounched his opponents. The Rally nominated former state Ethics Commissioner Cooper, as many potential nominees stayed out after it became clear Kennedy was running. A non-entity, Cooper (as well as Independent Republican Wishnatsky) was barely on the campaign trail. Hand hammered Kennedy as a carpetbagger, which was a legitimate criticism, as Kennedy had few ties to Alabama, but in the end, the Governors unpopularity sank the ship as Rallyites defected en masse to vote for the Democratic ticket.
Though many attempts to get Democratic Governor of Connecticut Bruce Morrison to join the Rally, Morrison remained a firm party man. Unsurprisingly, he was renominated to run again in 1998. As was the case with 1998 races, Morrison faced three significant opponents. The Rally selected State Representative Jack Malone and the Republicans Former Representative John Rowland. The big unknown was A Connecticut Party, local affiliate of the Independent Republicans (though it dated to 1990 and had elected Lowell Weicker Governor nearly a decade before the foundation of the Independent Republicans) Many speculated Weicker might jump back into politics like Mark Hatfield in Oregon, and if he did, the ACP would be a dangerous adversary. Weicker did, however, opt not to run in favor of the woman that had been his Lieutenant Governor (and unsuccessful 1994 ACP nominee), Eunice Groark. Suburban moderates were uneasy voting for the Robertson-backed Rowland (who made several controversial statements regarding execution and the African-American population in Hartford) Morrison, though a strong incumbent, was unable to draw in enough votes to bring him victory as the Rally made inroads in factory towns that split the vote irreparable. This was enough to allow a coalition of moderate Republicans and traditional ACP voters to put Eunice Groark into 990 Prospect Avenue. The vote-splitting that gave Groark election worked its way downballot as well. The General Assembly would be divided, but a significant percentage would be made up of ACP members and many more had been endorsed by the ACP.
Few expected a Rallyite to be elected in Hawaii, a deep blue state for decades. Incumbent Governor John D. Waihe’e III had served the second of his permitted term, his first having been in the late 80s, but Waihe’e had declined to run for reelection after a health scare. Mayor of Honolulu Richard C.S. Ho won a contentious Democratic primary, and most expected him to be a shoe-in for the Governor’s Mansion. His opponents, Independent Republican Frank Fasi, Republican Maria Hustace, and Rallyite Jim Channon appeared more likely to squabble with each other than prove a serious challenge to Ho. Channon, who had formerly run on the Natural Law line for US Representative in California, had ties to the New Age movement in Hawaii and had been the author of the ‘First Earth Battalion’ proposal, that had advocated the US Army raise a unit that would operate under New Age lines, including the use of divination, ginseng consumption, and commitment to the preservation of the Earth’s environment. Unsurprisingly, the Defense Department had rejected Channon’s proposal, and the ex-soldier had moved to the Pacific region, where he had become involved in Rally for the Farmers politics. Ho proved a poor campaigner on the state level, and stumbled when asked questions about conservation, and was hammered by Channon on the issue of development, as Ho had authorized several rather destructive building projects during his Mayorship. Fasi and Hustace fought amongst themselves, and were never considered a serious threat by the Channon and Ho campaigns. In the end, Channon was able to pull out a victory over Ho by a margin much larger than expected. Still, Governor-elect Channon’s success did not extend downballot and he would have to deal with a firmly Democratic State Legislature.
The decreasing popularity of the national Republican administration led to a decline in favorability of Republicans in Illinois. The Republicans went with a fairly conventional choice: Secretary of State George Ryan while the Rally for the Farmers nomination was hard fought between rust belt State Representative Donald Green of Kankakee and Southern Illinoisan US Representative Glenn Poshard. Ryan and Poshard were the only candidates with serious chances to win the election, but both other parties were strong enough to field candidacies. The Democratic primary was won by Chicago-area businessman and former Mayoral hopeful Willie Wilson while Independent Republican voters ended up choosing part-time clown and former Air Force Pilot Raymond Wardingley. For his running-mate, Wardingley chose an equally interesting character: Moonshine, IL native Brent Winters, a geologist and self-proclaimed lawyer. The race was hard-fought as both Poshard and Wilson hammered Ryan for his connections to the earlier Thompson and Edgar administrations, that had seen unprecedented losses of jobs. Poshard, however, was able to portray himself as a serious candidate with the political acumen to get his ideas done, and this is what pushed him over the finish line and made him Illinois’ first governor from the Rally for the Farmers. Wilson and Wardingley, however, did manage to get a significant number of votes - Wilson in Chicago and Wardingley in the Chicago suburbs from traditionally Republican voters uneasy with President Robertson.
Incumbent Rally Governor Wheeler, a World War Two veteran, cited his advocacy for term limits as a reason to not run for reelection in 1998. Without anyone holding the advantage of incumbancy, the race was anyone’s to win. The Maine Democrats had been hamstrung by the rise of the Rally for the Farmers, which had performed well among out of work residents of former factory towns and inhabitants of the more rural upstate. Maine’s last major elected Democrat, Senator William Cohen defected to the Rally in mid-1997, dealing a critical blow to the Democratic Party in Maine. The Independent Republicans had also received a surge of interest when they had been formed. Many moderate Maine Republicans had defected to the new party, unhappy with Robertson’s strong rhetoric. The Rally for the Farmers primary was won in an upset by State Legislator John Michael, whose signature issue was “clean elections”, but who also had a checkered past that involved being censured for verbal abuse in the House Chamber. The Republicans went with Judith Foss, an uncompromising social conservative with a penchant for calling out “liberal tendencies” within fellow Republicans. The Independent Republican choice was another woman - Sherry Huber. Huber had been on the left of the Republican Party since the Reagan era, and had even run an independent campaign endorsed by the Maine Lesbian-Gay Political Alliance in 1986. Huber was by far the most socially liberal candidate, being firmly pro-choice and in favor of gay marriage as well as advocating for the repeal of the 28th Amendment. All his opponents were able to make strong criticisms of Michael in his “rebel” record and censure, and while Huber was portrayed as a radical liberal abortionist, she remained firmly within conservative orthodoxy economically, and that was enough, as Maine voters weary of the Robertson administration elected Sherry Huber their 73rd Governor.
