Incumbent Republican Arne Carlson easily won re-election over Democrat–Farmer–Labor state senator John Marty.

To date, this is the most recent gubernatorial election in which Hennepin and Ramsey counties voted for the Republican candidate.

Ultimately, though, Carlson easily defeated Quist in the state primary, putting himself on the ballot for November.

At the DFL convention, Marty received the party endorsement, beating back a strong challenge by three opponents, one of whom Mike Freeman, son of a popular former governor withdrew, but Marty still faced a strong challenge from former Minneapolis Chief of Police Tony Bouza.

[3] The results of the gubernatorial general election were: Arne Carlson 1,094,165, John Marty 589,344, Will Shetterly 20,785, Jon Hillson 3,022, Eric Arthur Olson 15,467, Leslie Davis 4,611.