PolitiFinder

1982 Pennsylvania Gubernatorial Election

Pennsylvania · 2 candidates · See every 1982 Governor race

Who won the 1982 Pennsylvania Gubernatorial Election?

Dick Thornburgh won the 1982 Pennsylvania Gubernatorial Election. Dick Thornburgh received 1,872,784 popular votes (50.84%). The main challenger was Allen Ertel (48.11%).

See the full head-to-head between Thornburgh and Ertel

Thornburgh +2.7 pts · won by 100,431 votes
Dick ThornburghRepublicanWINNER50.84%
1,872,784 votes
Allen ErtelDemocratic48.11%
1,772,353 votes
Other candidates received the remaining 1.0% of the popular vote; only the leading candidates are individually recorded for this election.
Popular-vote totals for governor elections are compiled from official state results (via Wikipedia); Louisiana shows the decisive round of its jungle primary.

Data last verified July 28, 2026.