Republican Party gubernatorial primaries, 2018
Thirty-six states held elections for governor in 2018, meaning that almost three-quarters of the nation's gubernatorial seats will be contested. Of those 36 governor's offices, 26 were held by Republicans prior to the November 2018 elections, while 9 were held by Democrats and one was held by an independent. Fourteen governors were unable to run for re-election in 2018 due to term limits. Term limits impacted Republicans more than Democrats with 12 Republican governors unable to seek re-election compared to two Democratic governors. Nine of the 12 states with Republican governors unable to run were considered Republican trifectas.
Republican Party primary elections were held in all of those states with the exception of California, which held a top-two primary election instead. This page provides links to deeper coverage of these GOP primaries. For more on the Democratic primaries, click here. For more on the general election coverage, click here.
For more information about gubernatorial elections in 2018, click here.
| SETTING THE STAGE | |
By state
Alabama
Republican primary candidates
Did not make the ballot:
Alaska
Republican primary candidates
Did not make the ballot:
Arizona
Republican primary candidates
- Doug Ducey (Incumbent) ✔
- Ken Bennett
- Robert Weber (write-in candidate)
Arkansas
Republican primary candidates
- Asa Hutchinson (Incumbent) ✔
- Jan Morgan
Colorado
Republican primary candidates
Did not make the ballot:
Connecticut
- Connecticut gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2018 (August 14 Republican primary)
Republican primary candidates
Did not make the ballot:
- Antonietta Boucher
- Michael Handler
- Mark Lauretti
- Peter Lumaj
- Eric Mastroianni
- Scott Merrell
- Prasad Srinivasan
- Peter Thalheim
- Joseph Visconti
- Dave Walker
- David Walker
Florida
Republican primary candidates
- Don Baldauf
- Ron DeSantis ✔
- Timothy Devine
- Bob Langford
- John Joseph Mercadante
- Bruce Nathan
- Adam Putnam
- Bob White
Did not make the ballot:
- Declined to run
- Richard Corcoran - State Rep.[1][2]
Georgia
- See also: Georgia gubernatorial election, 2018 (May 22 Republican primary)
- Note: Hayes and Urbach withdrew from the race, but still appeared on the primary ballot.
Republican primary candidates
Did not make the ballot:
Hawaii
Republican primary candidates
Idaho
Republican primary candidates
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey
Not on ballot
- HyDee Liebelt[3]
Illinois
Republican primary candidates
- Bruce Rauner (Incumbent) ✔
- Jeanne M. Ives
Declined to run
- William "Sam" McCann - State senator[4]
Iowa
Republican primary candidates
- Kim Reynolds (Incumbent) ✔
Did not make the ballot:
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey
Kansas
Republican primary candidates
- Jeff Colyer (Incumbent)
- Jim Barnett
- Kris Kobach ✔
- Patrick Kucera
- Tyler Ruzich
- Ken Selzer
- Joseph Tutera Jr.
Maine
Republican primary candidates
Withdrew
- Michael Thibodeau - State senator[5][6]
Maryland
Republican primary candidates
- Larry Hogan (Incumbent) ✔
Massachusetts
Republican primary candidates
- Charles D. Baker (Incumbent) ✔
- Scott Lively
Michigan
Republican primary candidates
Did not make the ballot:
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey
Minnesota
Republican primary candidates
Did not make the ballot:
Nebraska
Republican primary candidates
- Pete Ricketts (Incumbent) ✔
- Krystal Gabel
Nevada
Republican primary candidates
- Bill Boyd
- Stephanie Carlisle
- Frederick Conquest
- Edward Dundas
- Jared Fisher
- Adam Laxalt ✔
- Stan Lusak
- Dan Schwartz
New Hampshire
Republican primary candidates
- Chris Sununu (Incumbent) ✔
New Mexico
Republican primary candidates
New York
Republican primary candidates
This primary was canceled and this candidate advanced:
Did not make the ballot:
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey
Ohio
Republican primary candidates
Did not make the ballot:
Oklahoma
Republican primary candidates
- Christopher Barnett
- Mick Cornett ✔
- Dan Fisher
- Eric Foutch
- Barry Gowdy
- Gary Jones
- Todd Lamb
- Gary Richardson
- Blake Cowboy Stephens
- Kevin Stitt ✔
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey
- Not running
- Mary Fallin, incumbent
Oregon
Republican primary candidates
- Keenan Bohach
- Knute Buehler ✔
- Sam Carpenter
- Bruce Cuff
- Jonathan Edwards
- Brett Hyland
- Jeff Smith
- Dave Stauffer
- Jack Tacy
- Greg Wooldridge
Pennsylvania
Republican primary candidates
Rhode Island
Republican primary candidates
South Carolina
Republican primary candidates
South Dakota
Republican primary candidates
Did not make the ballot:
Tennessee
Republican primary candidates
Texas
Republican primary candidates
- Greg Abbott (Incumbent) ✔
- Larry SECEDE Kilgore
- Barbara Krueger
Vermont
Republican primary candidates
- Phil Scott (Incumbent) ✔
- Keith Stern
Wisconsin
Republican primary candidates
- Scott Walker (Incumbent) ✔
- Robert Meyer
Did not make the ballot:
Wyoming
Republican primary candidates
Footnotes
- ↑ Palm Beach Post, "Web makeover for Richard Corcoran as he weighs run for governor," October 25, 2017
- ↑ Orlando Sentinel, "Corcoran bails on governor run, backs Putnam," May 9, 2018
- ↑ The Green Papers, "Idaho 2018 General Election Candidates," accessed November 8, 2017
- ↑ NBC Chicago, "Republican State Senator May Challenge Rauner in Primary," July 19, 2017
- ↑ Bangor Daily News, "Maine Senate President Mike Thibodeau jumps into 2018 race for governor," October 17, 2017
- ↑ Press Herald, "Maine Senate President Mike Thibodeau drops out of governor’s race," March 26, 2018
