2018 election analysis: Partisan balance of governors
Updated 5:50pm EST, November 16, 2018
This content is part of Ballotpedia's analysis of the 2018 midterm elections. For comprehensive election results, click here.
On Election Day 2018, 36 states held elections for governor, with Republicans holding 26 of them before the election, Democrats holding nine, and one—Alaska Gov. Bill Walker (Alaska)—held by an independent. Democrats flipped seven of the 26 GOP-held seats.
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.
See also
- 2018 election analysis: State government trifectas
- 2018 election analysis: Partisan balance of state legislative chambers
- 2018 election analysis: Incumbents defeated in state legislative elections
- 2018 election analysis: State legislative supermajorities
- 2018 election analysis: State government triplexes
- 2018 election analysis: Control of the U.S. House
- 2018 election analysis: Control of the U.S. Senate
- 2018 election analysis: Was 2018 a wave election?
Footnotes
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