2015 State Executive Elections

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Gubernatorial races

Offices up for election

Election details

Recent news

See also

Primary dates:

Kentucky: May 19, 2015

Mississippi: August 4, 2015

Louisiana: October 24, 2015

General election dates:

Kentucky and Mississippi: November 3, 2015

Runoff date for Louisiana (if necessary): November 21, 2015

Three states held elections for 25 state executive seats in 2015. Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi had scheduled elections in 2015. The 2015 election cycle was relatively light on offices up for election compared to 2014, when 225 seats were up for election in 43 states.

Kentucky and Mississippi held their general elections on November 3, 2015, following primaries earlier in the year. Louisiana held a blanket primary on October 24, 2015, and a runoff on November 21, 2015.

Gubernatorial races in 2015

There were three gubernatorial seats up for election in 2015:

• Kentucky: Steve Beshear could not run for re-election due to term limits.^[1] Beshear was first elected in 2007 and defeated Republican challenger David Williams by 20.4 percent in 2011. In 2015, Matt Bevin (R) defeated Attorney General Jack Conway (D) by 8.7 percent.
• Louisiana: Bobby Jindal could not run for re-election due to term limits.^[2] Jindal was first elected in 2007 and won re-election in 2011 by 47.9 percent over Democratic challenger Tara Hollis and eight other challengers. In 2015, State Representative John Bel Edwards (D) defeated U.S. Senator David Vitter (R) by 12.2 percent.
• Mississippi: Phil Bryant ran for re-election in 2015. He defeated Democratic challenger Robert Gray by 34.5 percent. Bryant was first elected in 2011, when he defeated Democratic challenger Johnny DuPree by 22 percent.

Lieutenant gubernatorial elections

Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi held three lieutenant gubernatorial elections. Each state has a different procedure for selecting a lieutenant governor:

• Kentucky elects the governor and lieutenant governor on a shared ticket in both the primary and general elections, with both seats on the same ballot line in each election.
• Louisiana holds separate primary elections but places the winner of each party's gubernatorial primary with the lieutenant gubernatorial primary winner on a shared ticket in the general election.
• Mississippi runs separate elections in both the primary and the general elections.

Offices up for election

Other offices up for election in 2015 include:

Election details

Please click the tabs to find more information.

Election dates

State	Signature Filing Deadline	Primary Date	Days between Deadline and Primary
Kentucky	1/27/2015	5/19/2015	112
Louisiana	9/10/2015	10/24/2015	44
Mississippi	2/27/2015	8/4/2015	158

Incumbent information

State Executive Official Election Information, 2015
Office	State	Incumbent	Incumbent Party	Incumbent Running?	2015 Winner	Partisan switch?
Governor	Kentucky	Steve Beshear	Democratic	Term limited	Matt Bevin	Yes
Lieutenant Governor	Kentucky	Crit Luallen	Democratic	No	Jenean M. Hampton	Yes
Attorney General	Kentucky	Jack Conway	Democratic	Running for governor	Andy Beshear	No
Secretary of State	Kentucky	Alison Lundergan Grimes	Democratic	Yes	Alison Lundergan Grimes	No
Auditor	Kentucky	Adam Edelen	Democratic	Yes	Mike Harmon	Yes
Treasurer	Kentucky	Todd Hollenbach	Democratic	Term limited	Allison Ball	Yes
Commissioner of Agriculture	Kentucky	James Comer Jr.	Republican	Running for governor	Ryan Quarles	No
Governor	Louisiana	Bobby Jindal	Republican	Term limited	John Bel Edwards	Yes
Lieutenant Governor	Louisiana	Jay Dardenne	Republican	Lost in primary	Billy Nungesser	No
Attorney General	Louisiana	Buddy Caldwell	Republican	Yes	Jeff Landry	No
Secretary of State	Louisiana	Tom Schedler	Republican	Yes	Tom Schedler	No
Treasurer	Louisiana	John Neely Kennedy	Republican	Yes	John Neely Kennedy	No
Agriculture Commissioner	Louisiana	Michael Strain	Republican	Yes	Michael Strain	No
Insurance Commissioner	Louisiana	James Donelon	Republican	Yes	James Donelon	No
Governor	Mississippi	Phil Bryant	Republican	Yes	Phil Bryant	No
Lieutenant Governor	Mississippi	Tate Reeves	Republican	Yes	Tate Reeves	No
Attorney General	Mississippi	Jim Hood	Democratic	Yes	Jim Hood	No
Secretary of State	Mississippi	Delbert Hosemann	Republican	Yes	Delbert Hosemann	No
Auditor	Mississippi	Stacey Pickering	Republican	Yes	Stacey Pickering	No
Treasurer	Mississippi	Lynn Fitch	Republican	Yes	Lynn Fitch	No
Agriculture Commissioner	Mississippi	Cindy Hyde-Smith	Republican	Yes	Cindy Hyde-Smith	No
Insurance Commissioner	Mississippi	Mike Chaney	Republican	Yes	Mike Chaney	No
Public Service Commission, Central District	Mississippi	Lynn Posey	Republican	No	Cecil Brown	Yes
Public Service Commission, Northern District	Mississippi	Brandon Presley	Democratic	Yes	Brandon Presley	No
Public Service Commission, Southern District	Mississippi	Steve Renfroe	N/A	No	Sam Britton	Yes

Voter registration

Kentucky

See also: Voting in Kentucky

Voters in Kentucky can register to vote by printing off a voter registration card and mailing the completed card to the Kentucky State Board of Elections. A voter registration card can also be obtained from a county clerk.^[3]

Applicants must identify their party registration on the card. Voters who identify as unaffiliated or as a third-party registrant can only vote in nonpartisan races during partisan primaries. Unaffiliated and third-party voters can vote for any candidate during general or special elections. Registered voters may switch party affiliation by December 31 without jeopardizing their registration for elections in the following year.^[3]

The following criteria must be met to qualify as a registered voter in Kentucky:^[3]

• U.S. citizenship
  
• Resident of Kentucky
  
• At least 18 years of age by the next general election
  
• Do not have a felony conviction or have been granted restored rights by executive pardon
  
• Have not been judged "mentally incompetent" in court
  
• Do not claim the right to vote in other states

Louisiana

See also: Voting in Louisiana

For full information about voting in Louisiana, contact the state election agency.

Voters in Louisiana can register to vote by filling out an online application. The online form can be submitted electronically if the applicant uses a driver's license as the required form of identification. Applicants can also print out their online forms and mail them to their parish registrars.^[4]

Louisiana also offers myriad locations for in-person registration up to 30 days prior to an election. These locations include parish registrars, offices of the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles or the Louisiana Department of Social Services, food stamp offices and recruitment offices for any branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. Applicants can use their driver's licenses, birth certificates, utility bills or government-issued documents with their name and current address as valid forms of identification.^[4]

Voters must meet the following qualifications to vote in Louisiana:^[4]

• U.S. citizenship
  
• At least 18 years old by the next election
  
• Resident of Louisiana and parish indicated on registration
  
• Not under order of imprisonment for felony conviction
  
• Have not been judged "mentally incompetent" in court

Mississippi

See also: Voting in Mississippi

For full information about voting in Mississippi, contact the state election agency.

Voters in Mississippi can register to vote by filling out registration forms at county clerk offices. The Mississippi Secretary of State also offers a mail-in application that must be accompanied by a copy of a government-issued photo ID, utility bill, paycheck or bank statement. The Mississippi Department of Public Safety is also capable of handling voter registration as part of driver's license applications. Residents can register to vote up to 30 days prior to the next election.^[5]

The following qualifications must be met to successfully register to vote in Mississippi:^[5]

☐ U.S. citizenship
☐ At least 18 years old by the next general election
☐ Residency in Mississippi and county of registration for at least 30 days
☐ Not under order of imprisonment for felony conviction
☐ Have not been judged "mentally incompetent" in court

Margin of victory

The following tables detail margins of victory for state executive elections in Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi from 2003 to 2011. A cell with a "-" indicates an unopposed race.

Kentucky

The partisan composition of state executive seats changed from an even split of three Democrats and three Republicans in 2003 to a five-to-one advantage for Democrats in 2011. The margin of victory expanded from 2003 to 2011 in races for governor and secretary of state.

Margin of victory analysis, 2003-2011
State	Office	2011 margin of victory (%)	Party of winning candidate, 2011	2007 margin of victory (%)	Party of winning candidate, 2007	2003 margin of victory (%)	Party of winning candidate, 2003
Kentucky	Governor/Lieutenant Governor	20.4		17.4		10
Kentucky	Attorney General	10.1		21		0.6
Kentucky	Secretary of State	21.3		14.2		5
Kentucky	Auditor	10.5		18.4		1.6
Kentucky	Treasurer	2.1		15		13.2
Kentucky	Commissioner of Agriculture	27.5		28		10.4

Louisiana

The partisan composition of state executive seats changed from a five-to-two advantage for Democrats in 2003 to a complete sweep by Republicans in 2011. There were two unopposed statewide seats each in the 2007 and 2011 elections.

Margin of victory analysis, 2003-2011
State	Office	2011 margin of victory (%)	Party of winning candidate, 2011	2007 margin of victory (%)	Party of winning candidate, 2007	2003 margin of victory (%)	Party of winning candidate, 2003
Louisiana	Governor	47.9		36.4		3.9
Louisiana	Lieutenant Governor	6.5		26.3		33.1
Louisiana	Attorney General	-		33.2		7.1
Louisiana	Secretary of State	0.9		32.1		49.9
Louisiana	Treasurer	-		-		-
Louisiana	Commissioner of Agriculture	38.7		-		31.3
Louisiana	Insurance Commissioner	34.9		15.3		15.4

Mississippi

The partisan composition of state executive seats changed from a six-to-five split in favor of Democrats in 2003 to a nine-to-two advantage for Republicans in 2011. In the 2011 elections, no winning candidate had a margin of victory less than 10.7 percent.

Margin of victory analysis, 2003-2011
State	Office	2011 margin of victory (%)	Party of winning candidate, 2011	2007 margin of victory (%)	Party of winning candidate, 2007	2003 margin of victory (%)	Party of winning candidate, 2003
Mississippi	Governor	22		15.8		6.7
Mississippi	Lieutenant Governor	60.7		17.1		23.9
Mississippi	Attorney General	-		19.7		35.5
Mississippi	Secretary of State	22.1		16.5		47.6
Mississippi	Auditor	51.4		9.9		52.7
Mississippi	Treasurer	20.6		21.1		5.2
Mississippi	Commissioner of Agriculture	15.3		8.6		34
Mississippi	Insurance Commissioner	27.3		13		46.6
Mississippi	Public Service Commission, Central District	12.9		3.9		19.1
Mississippi	Public Service Commission, Southern District	20.1		11.8		4.2
Mississippi	Public Service Commission, Northern District	10.7		15.7		67.7

Recent news

Kentucky

This section links to a Google news search for the term "Kentucky + Beshear + election + 2015"

Louisiana

This section links to a Google news search for the term "Louisiana + Jindal + election + 2015"

Mississippi

This section links to a Google news search for the term "Mississippi + Bryant + election + 2015"

See also

• State executive offices
• List of candidates running in state executive elections, 2015
• Kentucky state executive official elections, 2015
• Louisiana state executive official elections, 2015
• Mississippi state executive official elections, 2015
• Kentucky elections, 2015
• Louisiana elections, 2015
• Mississippi elections, 2015

External links

Suggest a link

• Kentucky Secretary of State
• Louisiana Secretary of State
• Mississippi Secretary of State

Footnotes

v • e 2015 state executive official elections Governor Kentucky • Louisiana • Mississippi Lieutenant Governor Kentucky • Louisiana • Mississippi Secretary of State Kentucky • Louisiana • Mississippi Attorney General Kentucky • Louisiana • Mississippi Down ballot offices Kentucky Auditor • Kentucky Treasurer • Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture • Louisiana Treasurer • Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture • Louisiana Commissioner of Insurance • Mississippi Treasurer • Mississippi Auditor • Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture • Mississippi Commissioner of Insurance • Mississippi Public Service Commission Election information Ballot access for major and minor party candidates • List of candidates • 2015 debates coverage

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