The 1998 Idaho gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1998 to elect the Governor of Idaho. Phil Batt, the Republican incumbent, chose not to run for a second term. The Republican nominee, United States Senator Dirk Kempthorne, handily defeated the Democratic nominee, former Idaho Supreme Court justice Robert C. Huntley, to keep the seat in GOP hands.

Dirk Arthur Kempthorne is an American politician who served as the 49th United States Secretary of the Interior from 2006 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a United States Senator from Idaho from 1993 to 1999 and the 30th governor of Idaho from 1999 to 2006.