The elections coincided with the mid-term elections for the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives.
Notably, in these elections, there were two people elected from a third party: former Alaskan governor and Secretary of the Interior under President Nixon Walter Joseph Hickel was elected governor as a part of the Alaskan Independence Party, and former U.S.
In addition to Weicker, two other U.S. senators were elected governors that year, Republican Pete Wilson of California and Democrat Lawton Chiles of Florida.
These were Republicans Mike Hayden of Kansas, Kay Orr of Nebraska, Bob Martinez of Florida and Edward DiPrete of Rhode Island, as well as Democrats James Blanchard of Michigan and Rudy Perpich of Minnesota.
In 1988, Arizona voters approved a runoff-style election following the impeachment of governor Evan Mecham.