State Executive Officials

State executive elections by position and year:

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In 2018, elections for governor were held in 36 states.

Republicans won 20 of the 36 seats up for election, and Democrats won 16. Democrats gained seven seats that were held by Republicans heading into the election, unseating incumbents in Illinois and Wisconsin and picking up open seats in Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, and New Mexico. Republicans picked up the open gubernatorial seat in Alaska, which had previously been held by independent Bill Walker. Following the election, Republicans held 27 gubernatorial seats to Democrats' 23.

Heading into the 2018 elections, the majority of governorships were held by Republicans, with 33 governorships to Democrats' 16, and one independent seat in Alaska. Of the 33 Republican-held seats, 26 were up for election, of which 13 were open. Of the 16 Democratic-held seats, nine were up for election, of which four were open.

Gubernatorial offices that changed party control

This table lists gubernatorial offices where party control changed as a result of the November 6, 2018, elections.

Gubernatorial offices that changed party hands, 2018 elections
State	Pre-election control	Post-election control
Alaska	Bill Walker	Mike Dunleavy
Illinois	Bruce Rauner	J.B. Pritzker
Kansas	Jeff Colyer	Laura Kelly
Maine	Paul LePage	Janet Mills
Michigan	Rick Snyder	Gretchen Whitmer
Nevada	Brian Sandoval	Steve Sisolak
New Mexico	Susana Martinez	Michelle Lujan Grisham
Wisconsin	Scott Walker	Tony Evers

This page includes the following components about 2018's gubernatorial elections:

• A list of gubernatorial offices that changed party control in the 2018 elections
• A list of all states that elected governors in 2018 and the major-party candidates
• Analysis of battleground elections
• Compiled race ratings from election forecasters
• Overall fundraising figures for the major party organizations
• Media coverage of the gubernatorial elections landscape
• Information about the office of governor
• Topline figures on historical control of gubernatorial offices

Ballotpedia provided in-depth coverage of gubernatorial primary elections. Click the links below for more information:

• 2018 Democratic Party gubernatorial primaries
• 2018 Republican Party gubernatorial primaries
• 2018 Libertarian Party gubernatorial primaries

2018 election analysis and context

Heading into the election, 33 of the 50 governorships were held by Republicans and 16 by Democrats, plus Alaska’s independent. The 2018 results increased the total number of Democratic governors to 23 and reduced the GOP total to 27.

The new gubernatorial count most closely resembles the landscape after the 2010 election. The last time the Democratic Party had more than 20 governorships was in 2010, when they held 26 heading into that cycle. Republicans entered 2010 with 23 governorships and emerged with 29 following that midterm election.

Incumbents were seeking re-election in 10 of the 36 races contested in 2018, six of them Republicans and four Democrats.

All four Democratic incumbents won their races: New York (Andrew Cuomo), Oregon (Kate Brown), Pennsylvania (Tom Wolf), and Rhode Island (Gina Raimondo).

Republican incumbents won in Arizona (Doug Ducey), Iowa (Kim Reynolds), Nebraska (Pete Ricketts), and New Hampshire (Chris Sununu).

Two Republican incumbents lost:

• Illinois: Businessman J.B. Pritzker (D) defeated incumbent Bruce Rauner (R).

• Wisconsin: Tony Evers (D) defeated incumbent Scott Walker (R).

In five other races without incumbents running, seats held by Republicans were taken by Democrats:

• Kansas: State Sen. Laura Kelly (D) defeated Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R). Incumbent Gov. Jeff Colyer (R), who took office following former Gov. Brownback's resignation, ran for a full term but was defeated by Kobach in the August 7 primary, leaving the seat open.

• Maine: Maine Attorney General Janet Mills (D) defeated businessman Shawn Moody (R) and state Treasurer Teresea Hayes (I). Incumbent Gov. Paul LePage (R) was term-limited, leaving the seat open.

• Michigan: Former state Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer (D) defeated Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette (R). Incumbent Gov. Rick Snyder (R) was term-limited, leaving the seat open.

• New Mexico: U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) defeated U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce (R). Incumbent Gov. Susana Martinez (R) was prevented by term limits from seeking a third term, leaving the seat open.

• Nevada: Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak (D) defeated Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt (R). Incumbent Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) was term-limited, leaving the seat open.

In the Alaska governor’s race, former state Sen. Mike Dunleavy (R) defeated former U.S. Sen. Mark Begich (D). Incumbent Gov. Bill Walker (I) suspended his re-election campaign on October 19, 2018, saying in a statement, "In the time remaining, I believe we cannot win a three-way race,” leaving the seat open for the two major-party candidates.

The first of the maps below shows the results of the 2018 gubernatorial elections. The second shows the total gubernatorial partisan affiliations following the 2018 elections.

State government trifectas

Democrats emerged from the 2018 elections with a net gain in state government trifectas—where one political party holds the governorship, a majority in the state senate, and a majority in the state house in a state's government. Republicans retain a net advantage of eight trifectas over Democrats. The new trifecta count stands at 14 Democratic, 22 Republican, and 14 divided.

Entering the 2018 midterm election, Republicans had a +14 state trifecta lead: of 34 states with trifectas, 26 were Republican and eight were Democratic. But after the votes were counted, Democrats increased their trifecta total with a net gain of six, and Republicans declined to 22 trifectas (a net loss of four). States with divided government (i.e., no trifecta for either major party) declined to 14.

This outcome is similar to the trifecta balance following the 2014 midterm election, which left Republicans with 24 trifectas, Democrats with 13, and 13 states with no trifecta advantage for either major party. After the 2010 midterms, 25 states had no trifectas, Republicans had nine, and Democrats had 16.

In two cases where Democrats gained trifectas, and in one case where Republicans lost a trifecta, Democrats won open gubernatorial races that had been vacated by Republican incumbents who could not seek re-election due to term limits.

The total number of trifectas—36—is almost in line with the 37 trifectas in 2013 and 2014, the most trifectas in recent history.

Change in state government trifectas, 2018 elections
Trifecta status	Before	After	Net
Democratic trifectas	8	14	+6
Republican trifectas	26	22	-4
Divided government	16	14	-2

The six Democratic flips from divided government to trifecta control in 2018 were in:

• Colorado: Democrats won control of the Colorado Senate.
• Illinois: Democrats won the governor’s office with businessman J.B. Pritzker (D) defeating incumbent Bruce Rauner (R).
• Maine: Democrats won control of the Maine Senate and took the governor’s office with Maine Attorney General Janet Mills (D) defeating businessman Shawn Moody (R) and state Treasurer Teresea Hayes (I). Incumbent Gov. Paul LePage (R) was term-limited, leaving the seat open.
• New Mexico: Democrats won the governor’s office with U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) defeating U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce (R). Incumbent Gov. Susana Martinez (R) was prevented by term limits from seeking a third term, leaving the seat open.
• New York: Democrats won control of the New York Senate.
• Nevada: Democrats won the governor’s office with Steve Sisolak (D) defeating Adam Laxalt (R).

In each of the four states where Republicans lost trifectas the balance of power became divided:

• Kansas: Democrats won the governor’s office with State Sen. Laura Kelly (D) defeating Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R). Incumbent Gov. Jeff Colyer (R), who took office following former Gov. Sam Brownback's resignation in January 2018, ran for a full term but was defeated by Kobach in the August 7 primary, leaving the seat open.
• Michigan: Democrats won the governor’s office with former state Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer (D) defeating Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette (R). Incumbent Gov. Rick Snyder (R) was term-limited, leaving the seat open.
• Wisconsin: Democrats won the governor’s office with Tony Evers (D) defeating incumbent Scott Walker (R).
• New Hampshire: Democrats won control of the House and Senate.

Overall, 10 total states saw a trifecta status change in some way.

• Colorado: divided government to Democratic trifecta
• Illinois: divided government to Democratic trifecta
• Kansas: Republican trifecta to divided government
• Maine: divided government to Democratic trifecta
• Michigan: Republican trifecta to divided government
• Nevada: divided government to Democratic trifecta
• New Hampshire: Republican trifecta to divided government
• New Mexico: divided government to Democratic trifecta
• New York: divided government to Democratic trifecta
• Wisconsin: Republican trifecta to divided government

The maps and charts below show the pre- and post-2018 election state government trifectas and the percentage of the population living under trifecta control.

List of gubernatorial elections

The table below lists the states with gubernatorial elections in 2018, whether or not those states had a state government trifecta or triplex prior to the 2018 election, the incumbent and the incumbent's party prior to the election, and whether or not the incumbent ran for re-election.

A state government trifecta is a term to describe single party government, when one political party holds the governorship, a majority in the state senate, and a majority in the state house in a state's government. State government triplexes describe when one political party holds the following three positions in a state's government: governor, attorney general, and secretary of state.

Most states impose some form of term limits on governors; of those that do, all but Virginia limit a governor to two four-year terms or to eight years in office. Although most states' term limit laws allow a governor who has served two terms to be elected once again after time has elapsed, some states impose a lifetime term limit like that on the presidency.

State	Incumbent	Democratic candidate (winners bolded)	Republican candidate (winners bolded)	Previous ten election results	Changed party control?	Margin of victory	Margin of victory in last gubernatorial election[3]	Margin of victory in 2016 presidential election
Alabama	Kay Ivey	Walt Maddox	Kay Ivey	Seven Republican victories Three Democratic victories	d	R+19.1	R+27.4	R+27.7
Alaska	Bill Walker[4]	Mark Begich	Mike Dunleavy	Four Democratic victories Four Republican victories Two independent victories	a	R+7.0	I+2.2	R+14.7
Arizona	Doug Ducey	David Garcia	Doug Ducey	Six Republican victories Four Democratic victories	d	R+14.2	R+11.8	R+3.5
Arkansas	Asa Hutchinson	Jared Henderson	Asa Hutchinson	Seven Republican victories Three Democratic victories	d	R+33.5	R+13.9	R+26.9
California	Jerry Brown	Gavin Newsom	John Cox	Five Democratic victories Five Republican victories	d	D+23.8	D+20.0	D+30.1
Colorado	John Hickenlooper	Jared Polis	Walker Stapleton	Eight Democratic victories Two Republican victories	d	D+10.6	D+3.3	D+4.9
Connecticut	Dan Malloy	Ned Lamont	Bob Stefanowski	Five Democratic victories Four Republican victories One independent victory	d	D+3.2	D+2.5	D+13.6
Florida	Rick Scott	Andrew Gillum	Ron DeSantis	Six Republican victories Four Democratic victories	d	R+0.4	R+1.0	R+1.2
Georgia	Nathan Deal	Stacey Abrams	Brian Kemp	Six Democratic victories Four Republican victories	d	R+1.4	R+7.8	R+5.2
Hawaii	David Ige	David Ige	Andria P. Tupola	Eight Democratic victories Two Republican victories	d	D+29.0	D+12.4	D+32.2
Idaho	Butch Otter	Paulette Jordan	Brad Little	Six Republican victories Four Democratic victories	d	R+21.6	R+14.9	R+31.8
Illinois	Bruce Rauner	J.B. Pritzker	Bruce Rauner	Seven Republican victories Three Democratic victories	a	D+15.7	R+4.0	D+17.1
Iowa	Kim Reynolds	Fred Hubbell	Kim Reynolds	Seven Republican victories Three Democratic victories	d	R+2.8	R+21.7	R+9.4
Kansas	Jeff Colyer[5]	Laura Kelly	Kris Kobach	Five Democratic victories Five Republican victories	a	D+5.0	R+3.7	R+20.6
Maine	Paul LePage	Janet Mills	Shawn Moody	Four Democratic victories Four Republican victories Two independent victories	a	D+7.7	R+4.8	D+3.0
Maryland	Larry Hogan	Ben Jealous	Larry Hogan	Eight Democratic victories Two Republican victories	d	R+11.9	R+3.8	D+26.4
Massachusetts	Charles D. Baker	Jay Gonzalez	Charles D. Baker	Five Democratic victories Five Republican victories	d	R+32.5	R+1.9	D+27.2
Michigan	Rick Snyder	Gretchen Whitmer	Bill Schuette	Six Republican victories Four Democratic victories	a	D+9.6	R+4.0	R+0.2
Minnesota	Mark Dayton	Tim Walz	Jeff Johnson	Five Republican victories Four Democratic victories One independent victory	d	D+11.4	D+5.6	D+1.5
Nebraska	Pete Ricketts	Bob Krist	Pete Ricketts	Seven Republican victories Three Democratic victories	d	R+18.0	R+17.9	R+25.5
Nevada	Brian Sandoval	Steve Sisolak	Adam Laxalt	Six Republican victories Four Democratic victories	a	D+4.1	R+46.7	D+2.4
New Hampshire	Chris Sununu	Molly Kelly	Chris Sununu	Eight Democratic victories Two Republican victories	d	R+7.0	R+2.3	D+0.4
New Mexico	Susana Martinez	Michelle Lujan Grisham	Steve Pearce	Five Democratic victories Five Republican victories	a	D+14.4	R+14.4	D+8.2
New York	Andrew Cuomo	Andrew Cuomo	Marcus Molinaro	Seven Democratic victories Three Republican victories	d	D+23.4	D+14.0	D+22.5
Ohio	John Kasich	Richard Cordray	Mike DeWine	Seven Republican victories Three Democratic victories	d	R+3.7	R+30.6	R+8.1
Oklahoma	Mary Fallin	Drew Edmondson	Kevin Stitt	Five Democratic victories Five Republican victories	d	R+12.1	R+14.8	R+36.4
Oregon	Kate Brown	Kate Brown	Knute Buehler	Eight Democratic victories Two Republican victories	d	D+6.4	D+7.2	D+11.0
Pennsylvania	Tom Wolf	Tom Wolf	Scott Wagner	Five Democratic victories Five Republican victories	d	D+17.1	D+9.8	R+0.7
Rhode Island	Gina Raimondo	Gina Raimondo	Allan Fung	Six Republican victories Three Democratic victories One independent victory	d	D+15.4	D+4.5	D+15.5
South Carolina	Henry McMaster	James Smith, Jr.	Henry McMaster	Seven Republican victories Three Democratic victories	d	R+8.1	R+14.5	R+14.3
South Dakota	Dennis Daugaard	Billie Sutton	Kristi Noem	Ten Republican victories	d	R+3.4	R+45.1	R+29.8
Tennessee	Bill Haslam	Karl Dean	Bill Lee	Six Republican victories Four Democratic victories	d	R+21.0	R+47.5	R+26.0
Texas	Greg Abbott	Lupe Valdez	Greg Abbott	Eight Republican victories Two Democratic victories	d	R+13.3	R+20.4	R+9.0
Vermont	Phil Scott	Christine Hallquist	Phil Scott	Five Democratic victories Five Republican victories	d	R+14.9	R+8.8	D+26.4
Wisconsin	Scott Walker	Tony Evers	Scott Walker	Seven Republican victories Three Democratic victories	a	D+1.1	R+5.7	R+0.8
Wyoming	Matt Mead	Mary Throne	Mark Gordon	Six Democratic victories Four Republican victories	d	R+39.6	R+32.1	R+46.3

Battleground elections

Ballotpedia identified 25 gubernatorial elections as battleground races. Of the 26 Republican-held seats up for election, 16 were battlegrounds, including 10 of the 13 open seats. Of the nine Democratic-held seats up for election, eight—all except Hawaii—were battlegrounds. Alaska's independent-held seat was also a battleground.

Among the battleground races in 2018 was the Illinois gubernatorial election, in which Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner was defeated by Democrat J.B. Pritzker. Both candidates contributed over $50 million to their own campaigns. Between Election Day 2014 and Election Day 2018, Pritzker contributed $171.5 million to his own campaign while Rauner contributed $67.8 million to his run.^[6][7] The overall fundraising in the election—$285.0 million—was higher than any other gubernatorial election in U.S. history, surpassing the 2010 California gubernatorial election's $251.9 million fundraising total.^[8]

In the Georgia race, former state House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams (D) vied to become the first black woman to win a governor's race in U.S. history. She was defeated by Secretary of State Brian Kemp (R), who beat four Republican rivals in the primaries and secured an endorsement from President Donald Trump.^[9]

The nation's only independent governor, Bill Walker of Alaska, suspended his re-election bid on October 19, 2018, after the resignation of his lieutenant governor and running mate Byron Mallott (D). Walker's withdrawal set the stage for a contest between former Sen. Mark Begich (D) and former state Sen. Mike Dunleavy (R), leading to the Republican Party's only gubernatorial pickup in 2018.^[10]
The following map displays which gubernatorial seats were up for election in 2018 and identifies those races that were considered battleground elections. Mouse over a state for more detailed information.

2018 Gubernatorial Battleground Races
State	Current Incumbent	Open Seat (Y/N)	Winning candidate	Change in partisan control?
Alaska	Bill Walker	Yes	Mike Dunleavy	a
Arizona	Doug Ducey	No	Doug Ducey	d
California	Jerry Brown	Yes	Gavin Newsom	d
Colorado	John Hickenlooper	Yes	Jared Polis	d
Connecticut	Dan Malloy	Yes	Ned Lamont	d
Florida	Rick Scott	Yes	Ron DeSantis	d
Georgia	Nathan Deal	Yes	Brian Kemp	d
Illinois	Bruce Rauner	No	J.B. Pritzker	a
Iowa	Kim Reynolds	No	Kim Reynolds	d
Kansas	Jeff Colyer	Yes	Laura Kelly	a
Maine	Paul LePage	Yes	Janet Mills	a
Michigan	Rick Snyder	Yes	Gretchen Whitmer	a
Minnesota	Mark Dayton	Yes	Tim Walz	d
Nebraska	Pete Ricketts	No	Pete Ricketts	d
Nevada	Brian Sandoval	Yes	Steve Sisolak	a
New Hampshire	Chris Sununu	No	Chris Sununu	d
New Mexico	Susana Martinez	Yes	Michelle Lujan Grisham	a
New York	Andrew Cuomo	No	Andrew Cuomo	d
Ohio	John Kasich	Yes	Mike DeWine	d
Oklahoma	Mary Fallin	Yes	Kevin Stitt	d
Oregon	Kate Brown	No	Kate Brown	d
Pennsylvania	Tom Wolf	No	Tom Wolf	d
Rhode Island	Gina Raimondo	No	Gina Raimondo	d
South Dakota	Dennis Daugaard	Yes	Kristi Noem	d
Wisconsin	Scott Walker	No	Tony Evers	a

Outside race ratings

The following table compared gubernatorial race ratings from The Cook Political Report, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and Inside Elections prior to the November 2018 election.

About the office

See also: Governor (state executive office)

In the United States, the title governor refers to the chief executive of each state. The governor is not directly subordinate to the federal authorities but is the political and ceremonial head of the state. The governor may also assume additional roles, such as the commander-in-chief of the National Guard when the role is not federalized. The governor may also have the ability to commute or pardon a criminal sentence.

In all states, the governor is directly elected and, in most cases, has considerable practical powers. Notable exceptions with weak governorships include the office of the governor in Texas, though this may be moderated by the state legislature and, in some cases, by other elected executive officials. Governors can veto state bills. The specific duties and powers vary widely between states.

Compensation

According to compensation figures for 2022 compiled by the Council of State Governments in the Book of the States, the highest salary for a governor was $250,000 in New York while the lowest is $70,000 in Maine. To view the compensation of a particular governor, hover your mouse over the state.^[11]

Staff size

According to figures for 2022 compiled by the Council of State Governments in the Book of the States, gubernatorial offices range in size from 9 staffers in Nebraska to 277 staffers in Texas.^[11]

Involvement in budget proposals

Although all governors have some involvement in the process of developing a state budget, the specific level of involvement differs from state to state. According to information published in the 2022 Book of the States, 24 governors share responsibility for developing a budget proposal, while 11 governors have full responsibility for developing an initial budget proposal and the remaining 15 have full responsibility for developing a budget.^[12]

Term limits

See also: States with gubernatorial term limits

Most states impose some form of term limits on governors; of those that do, all but Virginia limit a governor to two four-year terms or to eight years in office. Although most states' term limit laws allow a governor who has served two terms to be elected once again after time has elapsed, some states impose a lifetime term limit like that on the presidency. Although Vermont and New Hampshire do not have term limit laws, they are the only states whose governors serve two-year terms rather than four-year terms.

Line-item veto powers

The term line-item veto refers to the ability of a governor or other chief executive to veto specific parts of a bill while signing the rest of the bill into law. Currently, 44 states grant their governors line-item veto powers.^[12]

Fundraising

Both Democrats and Republicans have organizations which have been formed to support and help elect governors of their respective parties. The Democratic Governors Association and Republican Governors Association are IRS-designated 527 political organizations that serve as resources for each party's gubernatorial candidates and elected governors.

The following is a breakdown of the DGA's and RGA’s receipts for 2017, as reported by each organization.

Media coverage and analysis of the 2018 elections

This section provides an overview of media coverage of gubernatorial elections across the country.^[15] Selected articles are presented as a jumping-off point for deeper exploration of media coverage and as an overview of narratives that have emerged surrounding the elections.

• Perry Bacon Jr., FiveThirtyEight (November 7, 2018):

"There are six states Obama won in 2012 that flipped to Trump in 2016 — Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Our model suggested Democrats had a great chance to win all six, which would have been a huge coup for the party. Instead, Republicans won in Florida, Iowa and Ohio, while Democrats won Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Republicans entered this election with control of both the state legislature and the governor’s office in all of these states but Pennsylvania. They will remain totally in charge in Florida, Iowa and Ohio. That gives them virtually unfettered power not only on policy but also in drawing district lines for state and federal legislative races. But it’s big for Democrats to have won in Michigan and Wisconsin and broken up so-called trifectas in those states."^[16]

• Margaret Newkirk, Bloomberg (November 7, 2018):

"Democrats lost their bid for history in Florida, with a star-power candidate failing to become the state’s first black governor. But the party won a split decision on governors’ seats in the Midwestern states that sent Donald Trump to the White House. And one of the most high-profile races, in Georgia, was possibly headed to a recount.

In all, Democrats picked up at least seven of 26 GOP-held gubernatorial seats, a shift that could complicate Trump’s re-election hopes and alter the nation’s political landscape for the next decade. GOP hopes for a rare pickup evaporated Wednesday when Connecticut Republican Bob Stefanowski, after leading for much of election night, conceded to Democrat Ned Lamont.

The victories tamed a long, Tea Party-fueled winning streak that had given Republicans control of 33 governor’s mansions, the most since 1928. That success became the party’s biggest vulnerability, with Republicans defending nearly three times as many governor’s mansions this year as Democrats."^[17]

• Dan McLaughlin, National Review (October 19, 2018):

"The most optimistic trends for the GOP are in Arizona, Oklahoma, Nevada, and Georgia, three of which seem to be moving in the direction of the state’s recent partisan lean. The mirror image is happening in Rhode Island, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and Oregon, and the trendline in Ohio is not encouraging.

If I had to project today, I’d see Republicans picking up Alaska and taking a net loss of about five or six governorships, bringing them down to 27 or 28 of the 50 states. But there are still a lot of races that are either in play, or still have too little reliable polling to call. There were more Election Day surprises in 2014 in the governors’ races than the Senate races, and we should not be surprised to be surprised again."^[18]

• Sally Persons, RealClearPolitics (October 17, 2018):

"While the nation’s midterm focus has primarily been on Republican efforts to maintain control of the House and Senate, the GOP is also playing defense with a number of key gubernatorial seats. Many of them are tossups in the final weeks before Election Day -- and are taking place in states that also have a Senate race. Both major political parties are banking their hopes on ticket-splitting voters.

Ohio, no stranger to national politics, is a case in point. Incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown has a hefty lead over his Republican opponent, Rep. Jim Renacci, but the state also has a competitive gubernatorial race. RealClearPolitics shows Brown up by 16 points in the latest poll average, while Democratic gubernatorial candidate Richard Cordray has a mere 2.7 point lead against Republican Mike DeWine. Ohio Democrats are hoping that Brown’s coattails will help Cordray -- the former head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau -- while Republicans are banking on continued visits from President Trump to help them energize their base."^[19]

• Amber Phillips, The Washington Post (October 10, 2018):

"Nine of the 10 races most likely to flip parties are held by Republicans, spanning the country from Iowa to New Mexico. And while none makes our top 10, open seats in traditionally conservative states, such as Georgia, Kansas, South Dakota and Oklahoma, are all competitive.

The catch is that however many governor’s races the Democrats win, they will be only chipping away at Republicans' historic level of success. Republicans control 33 governor’s mansions, a near record, and those include blue and swing states. And it’s not impossible that Republicans might also pick up control of a state like Connecticut, though that one has fallen off our top-10 list."^[20]

• Alan Greenblatt, Governing (October 3, 2018)

"In the blue states of Connecticut and Oregon, Republicans have fighting chances at winning governors' offices currently held by Democrats.

In Connecticut, outgoing Democrat Dannel Malloy is one of the least popular governors in the country, with an approval rating of around 20 percent. He's raised taxes substantially, yet the state faces a budget shortfall in the neighborhood of $2 billion. Connecticut remains wealthy, but it's been shedding jobs and population as job creation has lagged well behind the nation as a whole....

The contours of the race in Oregon are different. There, GOP state Rep. Knute Buehler is running against Democratic incumbent Gov. Kate Brown by presenting himself as a moderate. Most prognosticators give Brown the edge, but Real Clear Politics changed its rating of the race last week to tossup."^[21]

• W. James Antle III, The Washington Examiner (September 18, 2018):

"New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s crushing victory over actress and activist Cynthia Nixon brought down the curtain on a long primary season last Thursday. Now the candidates are in place for the midterm elections as his fellow Democrats try to rebuke President Trump, recapture Congress and chip away at the Republicans’ stranglehold on the nation’s governorships.

As is often the case with politics in the Trump era, however, nothing is ever easy. Democrats are defending 26 Senate seats to the Republicans’ nine, including 10 in states Trump won in 2016. In about half of these states, the president is still popular, creating the possibility that the GOP will actually expand its narrow 51-49 majority in the upper chamber. Some of the most popular governors in the country are Republicans, including incumbents running for reelection this year in Massachusetts and Maryland, the bluest of states."^[22]

Comparison to all-time best state party performances

See also: All-time best performance in gubernatorial elections

In 2018, a Smart Politics analysis found that four winning candidates for governor received the greatest percentage of votes of any gubernatorial candidate from their party in state history—Democrats Gavin Newsom (Calif.) and David Ige (Hawaii) and Republicans Asa Hutchinson (Ark.) and Mark Gordon (Wyo.).^[23] The following chart compares each winning candidate's performance with the state party recordholder.

Winning gubernatorial candidates compared to state party all-time records, 2018
State	Winning candidate	Winning candidate votes	State party all-time winner[24]	State party all-time winner votes
Alabama	Kay Ivey	59.5 percent	Robert Bentley (2014)	63.6 percent
Alaska	Mike Dunleavy	51.4 percent	Sean Parnell (2010)	59.1 percent
Arizona	Doug Ducey	56.0 percent	Jane Dee Hull (1998)	61.0 percent
Arkansas	Asa Hutchinson	65.3 percent	Asa Hutchinson (2018)	65.3 percent
California	Gavin Newsom	62.0 percent	Gavin Newsom (2018)	62.0 percent
Colorado	Jared Polis	53.4 percent	Billy Adams (1928)	67.1 percent
Connecticut	Ned Lamont	49.4 percent	Abraham Ribicoff (1958)	62.3 percent
Florida	Ron DeSantis	49.6 percent	Harrison Reed (1868)	59.1 percent
Georgia	Brian Kemp	50.2 percent	Sonny Perdue (2006)	57.9 percent
Hawaii	David Ige	62.7 percent	David Ige (2018)	62.7 percent
Idaho	Brad Little	59.8 percent	Dirk Kempthorne (1998)	67.7 percent
Illinois	J.B. Pritzker	54.5 percent	Augustus French (1848)	86.8 percent
Iowa	Kim Reynolds	50.3 percent	John Hammill (1924)	72.7 percent
Kansas	Laura Kelly	48.0 percent	Robert Docking (1972)	62.0 percent
Maine	Janet Mills	50.9 percent	Robert Dunlap (1835)	61.4 percent
Maryland	Larry Hogan	55.4 percent	Theodore McKeldin (1950)	57.3 percent
Massachusetts	Charlie Baker	66.6 percent	Alexander Bullock (1866)	77.5 percent
Michigan	Gretchen Whitmer	53.3 percent	Stevens T. Mason (1835)	91.2 percent
Minnesota	Tim Walz	53.8 percent	Wendell Anderson (1974)	62.8 percent
Nebraska	Pete Ricketts	59.0 percent	Dwight Griswold (1944)	76.1 percent
Nevada	Steve Sisolak	49.4 percent	Richard Bryan (1986)	71.9 percent
New Hampshire	Chris Sununu	52.8 percent	Steve Merrill (1994)	69.9 percent
New Mexico	Michelle Lujan Grisham	57.2 percent	Bill Richardson (2006)	68.8 percent
New York	Andrew Cuomo	59.6 percent	Eliot Spitzer (2006)	69.6 percent
Ohio	Mike DeWine	50.4 percent	George Voinovich (1994)	71.8 percent
Oklahoma	Kevin Stitt	54.3 percent	Mary Fallin (2010)	60.5 percent
Oregon	Kate Brown	50.1 percent	John Kitzhaber (1998)	64.4 percent
Pennsylvania	Tom Wolf	57.8 percent	Bob Casey Sr. (1990)	67.7 percent
Rhode Island	Gina Raimondo	52.6 percent	Philip Noel (1974)	78.5 percent
South Carolina	Henry McMaster	54.0 percent	Robert Kingston Scott (1870)	62.3 percent
South Dakota	Kristi Noem	51.0 percent	Bill Janklow (1982)	70.9 percent
Tennessee	Bill Lee	59.6 percent	William Brownlow (1867)	76.9 percent
Texas	Greg Abbott	55.8 percent	George W. Bush (1998)	68.2 percent
Vermont	Phil Scott	55.2 percent	Frederick Holbrook (1862)	88.5 percent
Wisconsin	Tony Evers	49.5 percent	Tony Earl (1982)	56.8 percent
Wyoming	Mark Gordon	67.1 percent	Mark Gordon (2018)	67.1 percent

Winning streaks

See also: Gubernatorial winning streaks

An analysis in Smart Politics found that as a result of the 2018 gubernatorial elections, 13 states gained or extended record-long winning streaks for single-party control of the governorship.^[25][26] Six winning streaks were broken while another seven were started. The following chart details whether a winning streak was broken or started in each of 2018's gubernatorial elections as well as details on each state's longest gubernatorial winning streaks from each major party. A winning streak in bold was extended as a result of the 2018 elections.

Gubernatorial elections and same-party winning streaks, 2018
State	Winning party	Winning streak continued or broken?	Longest Democratic winning streak	Longest Republican winning streak
Alabama	Republican	Four-election Republican streak continued	35[27]	Five[28]
Alaska	Republican	No winning streak	Two[29]	Three[30]
Arizona	Republican	Two-election Republican streak continued	10[31]	Four[32]
Arkansas	Republican	Republican streak started	47[33]	Two[34]
California	Democratic	Two-election Democratic streak continued	Three[35]	Five[36]
Colorado	Democratic	Three-election Democratic streak continued	Six[37]	Four[38]
Connecticut	Democratic	Two-election Democratic streak continued	Five[39]	10[40]
Florida	Republican	Five-election Republican streak continued	13[41]	Six[42]
Georgia	Republican	Four-election Republican streak continued	52[43]	Five[44]
Hawaii	Democratic	Two-election Democratic streak continued	10[45]	Two[46]
Idaho	Republican	Six-election Republican streak continued	Six[47]	Seven[48]
Illinois	Democratic	No winning streak	Six[49]	Nine[50]
Iowa	Republican	Two-election Republican streak continued	Three[51]	19[52]
Kansas	Democratic	Two-election Republican streak broken	Four[53]	11[54]
Maine	Democratic	Two-election Republican streak broken	Six[55]	22[56]
Maryland	Republican	Republican streak started	Eight[57]	Two[58]
Massachusetts	Republican	Republican streak started	Five[59]	18[60]
Michigan	Democratic	Two-election Republican streak broken	Seven[61]	14[62]
Minnesota	Democratic	Two-election Democratic streak continued	Three[63]	19[64]
Nebraska	Republican	Five-election Republican streak continued	Five[65]	12[66]
Nevada	Democratic	Five-election Republican streak broken	Four[67]	Five[68]
New Hampshire	Republican	Republican streak started	14[69]	21[70]
New Mexico	Democratic	Two-election Republican streak broken	10[71]	Two[72]
New York	Democratic	Three-election Democratic streak continued	Nine[73]	Eight[74]
Ohio	Republican	Two-election Republican streak continued	Four[75]	Seven[76]
Oklahoma	Republican	Two-election Republican streak continued	14[77]	Three[78]
Oregon	Democratic	Nine-election Democratic streak continued	Ten[79]	Six[80]
Pennsylvania	Democratic	Democratic streak started	Four[81]	10[82]
Rhode Island	Democratic	Democratic streak started	Nine[83]	24[84]
South Carolina	Republican	Four-election Republican streak continued	37[85]	Five[86]
South Dakota	Republican	Ten-election Republican streak continued	Three[87]	13[88]
Tennessee	Republican	Two-election Republican streak continued	20[89]	Three[90]
Texas	Republican	Six-election Republican streak continued	51[91]	Seven[92]
Vermont	Republican	Republican streak started	Five[93]	49[94]
Wisconsin	Democratic	Two-election Republican streak broken	Three[95]	19[96]
Wyoming	Republican	Two-election Republican streak continued	Five[97]	Five[98]

Historical control

In 1977, the Democratic Party held a total of 37 governorships to the Republican Party's 12. Following the elections of 1980, the Democratic lead in governorships narrowed to 27 to the Republican Party's 23. The 1986 midterm elections also saw an increase in Republican governorships, bringing the party to 24 governorships compared to the Democrats' 26. The Republican Party would take the national lead in governorships following the midterm elections of 1994; in 1995, there were 30 Republican governors to 19 Democratic governors.

The Republican lead in governorships would be maintained for just over a decade until the midterm elections of 2006; in 2007, there were 28 Democratic governors to the Republicans' 22. However, the Republican Party would regain its national majority in the 2010 midterm elections. Between 2010 and 2017, the number of Republican governors continued to increase, reaching a high point of 34 following West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice's switch to the Republican Party in August 2017.^[99]

Wave election analysis

See also: Wave elections (1918-2016)

The term wave election is frequently used to describe an election cycle in which one party makes significant electoral gains. How many seats would Republicans have had to lose for the 2018 midterm election to be considered a wave election?

Ballotpedia examined the results of the 50 election cycles that occurred between 1918 and 2016—spanning from President Woodrow Wilson's (D) second midterm in 1918 to Donald Trump's (R) first presidential election in 2016. We define wave elections as the 20 percent of elections in that period resulting in the greatest seat swings against the president's party.

Applying this definition to gubernatorial elections, we found that Republicans needed to lose seven seats for 2018 to qualify as a wave election.

The chart below shows the number of seats the president's party lost in the 11 gubernatorial waves from 1918 to 2016. Click here to read the full report.

See also

State executive elections

Lieutenant gubernatorial elections

Attorney General elections

Secretary of State elections

Footnotes

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