1982Flipped from RepublicanFinal results
1982 election for Minnesota Governor
Governor · Minnesota
Rudy Perpich (D) won with 59.4% of the vote, defeating Wheelock Whitney (R) by 18.9 points, a seat Republicans won last time.
Rudy PerpichDemocrat · winner
59.4%1,049,104
Wheelock WhitneyRepublican
40.6%715,796
1,764,900 votes
Source: Algara, Carlos; Amlani, Sharif (Harvard Dataverse)Updated Oct 5, 2026, 12:23 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 1982
Races before and after
Source: Algara, Carlos; Amlani, Sharif (Harvard Dataverse)Updated Oct 5, 2026, 12:23 AM ET