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Gubernatorial elections, 2025
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There are two gubernatorial offices on the ballot in 2025. These elections are in New Jersey and Virginia. The incumbents in both races — Phil Murphy (D) in New Jersey and Glenn Youngkin (R) in Virginia — are term-limited.
Nationally, there are 27 Republican governors and 23 Democratic governors.
Ballotpedia has identified both gubernatorial elections in 2025 as battlegrounds. As of August 2025, the outside political ratings publications The Cook Political Report, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and Inside Elections rated both races as Lean or Tilt Democratic.
In 2021, the last time New Jersey and Virginia held gubernatorial elections, the only governorship that changed party control was Virginia's. Youngkin was elected to succeed incumbent Ralph Northam (D), who was term-limited and could not seek re-election. Governors of Virginia may not run for consecutive terms, although they may run for another term after spending a term out of office. Youngkin became the first Republican to win a statewide election in Virginia since 2009.
Murphy won re-election to a second term in 2021. Heading into the 2021 election, the last Democratic governor to win re-election in New Jersey was Brendan Byrne in 1977. Murphy is term-limited.
Eleven states held elections for governor in 2024. Heading into the election, three states (Delaware, North Carolina, and Washington) had Democratic governors, while eight states (Indiana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Missouri, Montana, Utah, Vermont, and West Virginia) had a Republican governor. No seats changed hands as a result of the 2024 elections. To read more about those elections, click here.
- Partisan balanceThe partisan balance of U.S. governors
- On the ballotA list of elections and candidates on the ballot
- Pre-election analysisAnalysis leading up to the 2025 gubernatorial elections
- Trifectas and triplexesInformation on trifectas and triplexes
- Important dates and deadlinesA list of important dates and deadlines for the 2025 election cycle
- About the officeInformation about governors across all 50 states
Partisan balance
The following chart displays the number of governors' offices held by each party before and after the 2025 elections.
| Party | As of September 2025 | After the 2025 elections |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic | 23 | TBD |
| Republican | 27 | TBD |
| Total | 50 | 50 |
The chart below shows historical partisan breakdown information for governors.
Republicans led in governorships from 1994 until 2006, after which there were 28 Democratic governors to the Republicans' 22. Republicans regained their national majority in the 2010 midterm elections. Between 2010 and 2017, the number of Republican governors continued to increase, reaching a high point of 33 following West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice's switch to the Republican Party in August 2017.[1] From 2017 to 2019, Democrats won Republican-held governorships in Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Wisconsin. Republicans, meanwhile, gained a governorship in Alaska previously held by independent Bill Walker. These changes brought Republicans to 26 governorships and Democrats to 24. No governorships changed party hands in 2024.
On the ballot
Click the tabs below to view information about the elections this year. In this section, you will find:
- A list of seats up for election
- A list of candidates running
- Ballotpedia's Sample Ballot Lookup Tool
There is one Democratic and one Republican seat up for election in 2025. These statistics do not include elections in the U.S. territories. The table and map below shows which states are holding gubernatorial elections in 2025.
| 2025 Gubernatorial races | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Current Incumbent | Term-limited (Y/N) | ||
| New Jersey | Phil Murphy | Yes | ||
| Virginia | Glenn Youngkin | Yes | ||
Pre-election analysis
Incumbent governors Glenn Youngkin (R-Va.) and Phil Murphy (D-N.J.) are term-limited and can not seek re-election.
As of 2025, governors of Virginia may not run for consecutive terms, although they may run for another term after spending a term out of office. Governors of New Jersey are limited to two four-year terms, and may run again after a four-year break.Trifectas and triplexes
The office of governor is a component of both trifectas and triplexes. Click the tabs below to view the current status of trifectas and triplexes across the country.
- See also: State government trifectas
A state government trifecta is a term used to describe when a single-party government in which one political party holds the governorship and majorities in both chambers of the state legislature.
As of September 10, 2025, there are 23 Republican trifectas, 15 Democratic trifectas, and 12 divided governments where neither party holds trifecta control.
Presidential data
- See also: Presidential election, 2024
Kamala Harris (D) carried both states holding gubernatorial elections in 2025 in the 2024 presidential election. Harris carried New Jersey by a margin of 5.9 percentage points and Virginia by a margin of 5.7 percentage points.
Candidate/Running mate |
% |
Popular votes |
Electoral votes |
||
| ✔ |
| Kamala D. Harris/Tim Walz (D) |
52.0
|
2,220,713 | 14 |
|
| Donald Trump/J.D. Vance (R) |
46.1
|
1,968,215 | 0 | |
|
| Jill Stein/Samson LeBeau Kpadenou (G) |
0.9
|
39,041 | 0 | |
|
| Robert F. Kennedy Jr./Nicole Shanahan (Independent) |
0.5
|
23,479 | 0 | |
|
| Chase Oliver/Mike ter Maat (L) |
0.2
|
10,500 | 0 | |
|
| Claudia De La Cruz/Karina Garcia (Party for Socialism and Liberation) |
0.1
|
5,105 | 0 | |
|
| Randall Terry/Stephen E. Broden (Constitution Party) |
0.1
|
3,024 | 0 | |
|
| Joseph Kishore/Jerry White (Socialist Equality Party) |
0.0
|
1,371 | 0 | |
| Rachele Fruit/Margaret Trowe (Socialist Workers Party) |
0.0
|
1,277 | 0 | |
| Total votes: 4,272,725 |
Important dates and deadlines
The table below lists important dates throughout the 2025 election cycle, including filing deadlines and primary dates.
| State | Election date | Filing deadline | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Jersey | June 10, 2025 | March 24, 2025 - New Jersey statewide primary candidate filing deadline | Source |
| Pennsylvania | May 20, 2025 | March 11, 2025 - Pennsylvania statewide primary candidate filing deadline | Source |
| Virginia | June 17, 2025 | April 3, 2025 - Virginia statewide primary candidate filing deadline | Source |
| Wisconsin | Feb. 18, 2025 | Jan. 7, 2025 - Wisconsin statewide spring primary candidate filing deadline | Source |
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.
Analysis of state elections
State legislative elections
- See also: State legislative elections, 2025
As of September 10th, 2025, Republicans controlled 55.5% of all state legislative seats nationally, while Democrats held 43.68%. Republicans held a majority in 57 chambers, and Democrats held the majority in 39 chambers. Two chambers (Alaska House and Alaska Senate) were organized under multipartisan, power-sharing coalitions. One chamber (Minnesota House of Representatives) was split evenly between both parties.
| Partisan balance of all 7,386 state legislative seats | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legislative chamber | Vacant | |||||||
| State senates | 834 | 1,122 | 5 | 12 | ||||
| State houses | 2,392 | 2,977 | 20 | 24 | ||||
| Total: | 3,226
|
4,099
|
25
|
36 | ||||
Tap the box below to show more analysis articles related to the 2025 state legislative elections.
- Annual Competitiveness Report
- State legislative special elections
- Primary election competitiveness in state government, 2025
- Impact of term limits
- Trifecta vulnerability in the 2025 elections
- Data on incumbents defeated in 2025
- Characteristics of incumbents defeated in 2025
- Veto-proof state legislatures and opposing party governors in the 2025 elections
- Contested primaries
- Open seats
- Incumbents in contested primaries
- Major party competition
- Unconstested incumbents
State executive elections
- See also: State executive official elections, 2025
State executive offices up for election in 2025 include two gubernatorial seats, two lieutenant gubernatorial seats, and one attorney general seat. Including down-ballot races, there are eight state executive seats up for election across four states in 2025.[38]
Tap the box below to show more analysis articles related to the 2025 state executive elections.
- State executive official elections overview
- Primary election competitiveness in state government, 2025
- Gubernatorial elections
- Secretary of State elections
- Attorney General elections
- Historical and potential changes in trifectas
- State government trifectas
- Endorsements of school board members by state executive officeholders and candidates, 2025
- Impact of term limits on state executive elections
- Veto-proof state legislatures and opposing party governors
State judicial elections
- See also: State judicial elections, 2025
Tap the box below to show more analysis articles related to the 2025 state judicial elections.
Election coverage by office
- Congressional special elections
- Governors
- Attorney general
- Other state executives
- State legislatures
- State ballot measures
- Local ballot measures
- State judges
- Local judges
- Municipal government
- School boards
- Recalls
See also
- Past gubernatorial elections: 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016
- Past state executive elections: 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016
- Past election analysis: 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018
Footnotes
- ↑ Because Justice switched his registration more than halfway through the year, he was counted as a Democrat in 2017 for the purposes of the chart.
- ↑ For more information on the difference between margins of error and credibility intervals, see explanations from the American Association for Public Opinion Research and Ipsos.
- ↑ Pew Research Center, "5 key things to know about the margin of error in election polls," September 8, 2016
- ↑ RV=Registered Voters
LV=Likely Voters - ↑ The sponsor is the person or group that funded all or part of the poll.
- ↑ Undecided: 12%
- ↑ Undecided: 12%
- ↑ Undecided: 27%
- ↑ Other: 2%; Undecided: 12%
- ↑ Other: 2%; Undecided: 8%
- ↑ Other: 3%; Undecided: 17%
- ↑ Other: 3%; Undecided: 12%
- ↑ Other: 1%; Undecided: 9%
- ↑ Other: 3%; Undecided: 15%
- ↑ Undecided: 11%
- ↑ Undecided: 7%
- ↑ Undecided: 18%
- ↑ Undecided: 9%
- ↑ Undecided: 12%
- ↑ Undecided: 12%
- ↑ For more information on the difference between margins of error and credibility intervals, see explanations from the American Association for Public Opinion Research and Ipsos.
- ↑ Pew Research Center, "5 key things to know about the margin of error in election polls," September 8, 2016
- ↑ RV=Registered Voters
LV=Likely Voters - ↑ The sponsor is the person or group that funded all or part of the poll.
- ↑ 7% undecided, 3% Donna Charles
- ↑ 14% undecided, 1% someone else
- ↑ 12% undecided, 2% wouldn't vote, someone else, refused
- ↑ 28% undecided, 3% someone elese
- ↑ RV=Registered Voters
LV=Likely Voters - ↑ The sponsor is the person or group that funded all or part of the poll.
- ↑ 14% undecided
- ↑ 16% undecided, 1% someone else
- ↑ 13% undecided, 4% someone else
- ↑ 9% undecided
- ↑ Book of the States, "2023 edition: Chapter 4 - Selected State Administrative Officials: Annual Salaries," accessed December 18, 2024
- ↑ Council of State Governments' Book of the States 2022 Table 4.3: The Governors: Compensation, Staff, Travel and Residence provided to Ballotpedia by CSG personnel
- ↑ 37.0 37.1 Council of State Governments' Book of the States 2022 Table 4.4: The Governors: Powers provided to Ballotpedia by CSG personnel
- ↑ Ballotpedia describes the offices of governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and secretary of state as top-ballot state executive offices. Down-ballot state executive offices that exist in all 50 states include superintendent of schools, insurance commissioner, agriculture commissioner, labor commissioner, and public service commissioner. Examples of other down-ballot state executive offices include treasurer, auditor, and comptroller.
