Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
Lieutenant gubernatorial elections, 2026
|
« 2025
|
 |
There are 30 lieutenant gubernatorial seats on the ballot in 2026. These elections are in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, and Wisconsin.
- Partisan balanceThe partisan balance of U.S. lieutenant governors
- On the ballotA list of elections and candidates on the ballot
- About the officeInformation about lieutenant governors across all 50 states
Partisan balance
The following chart displays the number of lieutenant governors' offices held by each party before and after the 2026 elections.
| Party | As of September 2025 | After the 2026 elections |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic | 20 | TBD |
| Republican | 25 | TBD |
| Total | 45 | 45 |
The chart below shows historical partisan breakdown information for lieutenant governors.
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
About the office
In the United States, the office of lieutenant governor is the second-highest executive office in a state and is nominally subordinate to the governor. In the U.S., the main duty of the lieutenant governor is to act as governor should the governor be temporarily absent from the office. In addition, the lieutenant governor generally succeeds a governor who dies, resigns or is removed in trial by the legislative branch. In most states, the lieutenant governor then becomes governor, with the title and its associated salary, office, and privileges. In a few states, like Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor instead becomes "acting governor" until the next election.
Other than this primary constitutional duty, most state constitutions do not prescribe the duties of the lieutenant governor in detail.
In Hawaii, the lieutenant governor serves concurrently as the secretary of state. In Tennessee and West Virginia, the president of the Senate also serves as lieutenant governor and is elected from within the legislature.
As of 2025, five states did not have a lieutenant governor position: Arizona, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon, and Wyoming.
In 26 states, the lieutenant governor is selected on a ticket with the governor, meaning that lieutenant gubernatorial candidates serve as running mates to gubernatorial candidates, with the winning gubernatorial candidate's running mate becoming lieutenant governor. In eight of these states, there are separate primaries for governor and lieutenant governor, with the winning candidate in each primary appearing on the general election ticket. In the remaining 18 states, gubernatorial candidates may pick their own running mates in a similar fashion to presidential candidates. In 17 states, the lieutenant governor is elected separately from the governor. In Tennessee and West Virginia, the title of lieutenant governor is given to the president of the state Senate.[1]
- Lt. gov. nominated in separate primary and elected in separate general election (17): Alabama, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington
- Lt. gov. nominated in separate primary but runs on a single ticket with gubernatorial nominee in general election (7): Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin
- Lt. gov. chosen by gubernatorial candidate before primary and runs on a single ticket with gubernatorial candidate in both the primary and general election (9): Alaska, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Utah
- Lt. gov. chosen by gubernatorial nominee after primary and runs on a single ticket with gubernatorial nominee in the general election (10): Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey, South Carolina, South Dakota
- Lt. gov. is a member of the legislature (2): Tennessee, West Virginia
- Lt. gov. office does not exist in state (5): Arizona, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon, Wyoming
Election coverage by office
- U.S. Senate
- U.S. House
- Governors
- Secretary of state
- 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 lieutenant gubernatorial elections: 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016
- Past state executive elections: 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016
- Past election analysis: 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018
External links
Footnotes
| |||||||||||||
