1991 United States elections

Elections were held in the United States on November 5, 1991, consisting of three gubernatorial races, six House special elections, many local elections and a Senate special election following the death of Republican senator John Heinz in Pennsylvania, won by Democrat Harris Wofford, the first time the seat had been won by a Democrat since 1940.

Federal elections

Senate

Pennsylvania

On April 4, 1991, incumbent senator John Heinz was killed when his Piper Aerostar aircraft collided with a helicopter over Merion Elementary School in Lower Merion Township, a suburb northwest of Philadelphia, killing Heinz, along with four others. Governor Bob Casey appointed Harris Wofford as the interim senator. Because of how close Heinz’s death was to the typical primary election, both Wofford and Republican nominee Dick Thornburgh were selected without primaries. Campaigning in favor of increased healthcare access, often criticizing increasingly unpopular president George H. W. Bush, Wofford defeated Thornburgh, despite early polling deficits.

United States House of Representatives special elections

In 1991, six special elections were held to fill vacancies to the United States Congress. They were for,,,, and.
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State and local elections

Gubernatorial elections

Three gubernatorial elections were held in 1991 in [|Kentucky], [|Louisiana] and [|Mississippi]. The Louisiana gubernatorial election was notable for the runoff, which pitted Democratic former governor Edwin Edwards against Republican former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, David Duke. Edwards won following an unusually toxic campaign, largely due to the endorsement of incumbent Republican governor Buddy Roemer, who had not advanced to the runoff.
Mississippi elected its first Republican governor since [1873 Mississippi governor|gubernatorial election|1873].

State	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Kentucky	Wallace Wilkinson	Democratic	1987	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic hold.
Louisiana	Buddy Roemer	Republican	1987	Incumbent eliminated in primary. New governor elected. Democratic gain.
Mississippi	Ray Mabus	Democratic	1987	Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected. Republican gain.