Incumbent Governor Rawghlie Clement Stanford declined to run for reelection, with pharmacy and cattle ranch owner Robert Taylor Jones winning the Democratic nomination to succeed Stanford.

Robert Taylor Jones defeated Jerrie W. Lee in the general election, and was sworn into his first and only term as Governor on January 2, 1939, becoming Arizona's sixth Governor.

Incumbent Governor Rawghlie Clement Stanford, who had served only one term, declined to run for reelection amidst the Great Depression.

Pharmacy and cattle ranch owner Robert Taylor Jones, Secretary of State James H. Kerby, former Secretary of State Sidney P. Osborn, Mayor Andrew Jackson Bettwy, and C. M. Zander ran to replace Stanford.

[1] After losing the Democratic primary, James Kerby ran as an Independent Democrat in the general election, but received only token support, in the single digits.