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![]() Map of the results Republican hold Democratic gain Republican gain No election |
United States gubernatorial elections were held in October and November 2007 in three states. The final results were a net change of zero among the parties. Republicans picked up the open seat in Louisiana and reelected incumbent Haley Barbour in Mississippi, while Democrats defeated Republican incumbent Ernie Fletcher in Kentucky.
Going into the elections, the Democratic Party held 28 governors' seats, while the Republican Party held 22. Democratic and Republican candidates filed in all three states, and the Libertarian Party had ballot representation in Louisiana.
State | Incumbent | Last race | Sabato November 1, 2011 [1] | Result |
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Kentucky | Ernie Fletcher | 55.0% R | Likely D (flip) | Beshear (58.7%) |
Louisiana | Kathleen Blanco | 51.9% D | Likely R (flip) | Jindal (53.9%) |
Mississippi | Haley Barbour | 52.6% R | Safe R | Barbour (57.9%) |
State | Incumbent | Party | First elected | Result | Candidates |
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Kentucky | Ernie Fletcher | Republican | 2003 | Incumbent lost re-election. New governor elected. Democratic gain. |
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Louisiana | Kathleen Blanco | Democratic | 2003 | Incumbent retired. New governor elected. Republican gain. |
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Mississippi | Haley Barbour | Republican | 2003 | Incumbent re-elected. |
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Governor Ernie Fletcher ran for reelection for a second term. Various polls indicated he had been very unpopular with an approval rating of 38%. Also, Fletcher's governorship had been embroiled in scandal due to the criminal indictment of several people in his administration for illegally hiring workers into the state merit system based on political considerations. Fletcher was challenged in the primary by Anne Northup, a former U.S. Representative who served Kentucky's 3rd congressional district from 1997 to 2007, as well as Paducah businessman Billy Harper. Underscoring the controversy over the hiring scandal, Lieutenant Governor Steve Pence chose not to run for re-election on the Fletcher ticket and publicly endorsed Northup. [2] In addition, Northup was endorsed by U.S. Senator Jim Bunning. [3] However, Fletcher won the primary, winning 101,233 votes (50%) and carrying 106 of Kentucky's 120 counties in a three-way race. [4] Northup won the state's largest county, which contains Louisville, and her former congressional district, but lacked support at large; turnout in Jefferson County was not strong enough to make up for that. [5]
A large number of Democrats ran in the primary, including State Treasurer Jonathan Miller, former Lieutenant Governors Steve Beshear and Steve Henry, businessman Bruce Lunsford and Kentucky House of Representatives Speaker Jody Richards. Lunsford spent over $4 million, much of it his own money; Miller dropped out of the race and endorsed Beshear. Beshear won the primary with 142,516 votes (41%) in the crowded field; his next closest competitor was Lunsford with 21%. Henry took 18% of the vote and Richards, 12%. In their election night concession speeches Lunsford, Henry and Richards each pledged their support to Beshear. [6]
As a result of the general election on November 7, 2007, Beshear defeated Fletcher in his bid for re-election. Beshear was inaugurated on December 11, 2007.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
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Democratic | Steve Beshear | 619,552 | 58.71 | |
Republican | Ernie Fletcher (incumbent) | 435,773 | 41.29 | |
Total votes | 1,055,325 | 100.00 | ||
Democratic gain from Republican |
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Governor Kathleen Blanco announced on March 20, 2007, that she would not seek a second term. [7] She had taken flak for the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the government's ill-preparedness to deal with casualties.
Republican U.S. Representative Bobby Jindal won about 54% of the vote in the October 20 jungle primary, enough to avoid a run-off in November. His nearest opponent, Democratic State Senator Walter Boasso, won about 17% of the vote; Independent New Orleans area businessman John Georges finished third with 14% of the vote; and Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell (D) finished fourth with 12%. [8]
Former U.S. Senator John Breaux, arguably the most popular Democratic politician in Louisiana, had publicly flirted with entering the race in March and April 2007, but eventually declined to run due to the unresolved controversy over whether his recent Maryland residency made him ineligible to run. [9] After Breaux's announcement, Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu also declined to run.
Jindal led in fundraising with $11 million raised up to the end of September, with $4.3 million of that left for the remainder of the campaign. Georges had put $7 million of his own money into his campaign. Boasso had spent $4.7 million of his own money and had $144,000 in the bank. [10]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
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Republican | Bobby Jindal | 699,672 | 53.91 | |
Democratic | Walter Boasso | 226,364 | 17.44 | |
Independent | John Georges | 186,800 | 14.39 | |
Democratic | Foster Campbell | 161,425 | 12.44 | |
Democratic | Mary Volentine Smith | 5,843 | 0.45 | |
Independent | Belinda Alexandrenko | 4,782 | 0.37 | |
Independent | Anthony Gentile | 3,369 | 0.36 | |
Libertarian | T. Lee Horne III | 2,639 | 0.20 | |
Independent | Sheldon Forest | 2,319 | 0.18 | |
Democratic | Vinny Mendoza | 2,076 | 0.16 | |
Democratic | Hardy Parkerson | 1,661 | 0.13 | |
Independent | Arthur D. Nichols | 993 | 0.08 | |
Total votes | 1,297,943 | 100.00 | ||
Republican gain from Democratic |
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Governor Haley Barbour ran for a second term. He was popular, with a 59% approval rating, and faced only a token primary challenge. Four Democratic candidates filed to face him in the general election, including eventual nominee attorney John Eaves.
On election day, Barbour defeated Eaves, garnering 58% of the vote.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
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Republican | Haley Barbour (incumbent) | 430,807 | 57.90 | |
Democratic | John Arthur Eaves Jr. | 313,232 | 42.10 | |
Total votes | 744,039 | 100.00 | ||
Republican hold |
Anne Meagher Northup is an American Republican politician and educator from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. From 1997 to 2007, she represented the Louisville-centered 3rd congressional district of Kentucky in the United States House of Representatives, where she served on the powerful House Appropriations Committee. She lost reelection to Democrat John Yarmuth in the 2006 election. She then ran for Governor of Kentucky, losing by 15 points to embattled governor Ernie Fletcher in the Republican primary election for the 2007 Kentucky gubernatorial election. Prior to her election to the United States House of Representatives, Northup had served in the Kentucky House of Representatives. Northup ran again for her old congressional seat in the 2008 election, losing again to Yarmuth.
Ernest Lee Fletcher is an American physician and politician who was the 60th governor of Kentucky from 2003 to 2007. He previously served three consecutive terms in the United States House of Representatives before resigning after being elected governor. A member of the Republican Party, Fletcher was a family practice physician and a Baptist lay minister and is the second physician to be elected Governor of Kentucky; the first was Luke P. Blackburn in 1879. He was also the first Republican governor of Kentucky since Louie Nunn left office in 1971.
Frank Daniel Mongiardo is an American physician and politician from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Mongiardo is a Democrat and was the 54th lieutenant governor of Kentucky from 2007 until 2011. He was a member of the Kentucky State Senate from 2001 to 2007. He also ran for the U.S. Senate in 2004, narrowly losing in the general election to Jim Bunning, and again in 2010, losing in the primary election to Jack Conway.
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Louis Gatewood Galbraith was an American author and attorney from the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. He was a five-time political candidate for governor of Kentucky and a vocal advocate for legalization of recreational marijuana.
Stephen B. Pence is an American attorney who was the 53rd lieutenant governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky from 2003 to 2007. He took office with fellow Republican Ernie Fletcher in December 2003.
The 2007 Louisiana gubernatorial election was held on October 20. The filing deadline for candidates was September 6. On the day of the election, all 12 candidates competed in an open jungle primary. Bobby Jindal won the election with 54%. This was the first time since 1968 in which the winner of a Louisiana gubernatorial election was of the same party as the incumbent president. Incumbent Governor Kathleen Blanco did not seek reelection in lieu of poor approval ratings.
William Bruce Lunsford is an American attorney, businessman, and politician from Kentucky. He has served various roles in the Kentucky Democratic Party, including party treasurer, Deputy Development Secretary, and Head of Commerce. Lunsford was the Democratic nominee for Kentucky's United States Senate seat in 2008, unsuccessfully challenging incumbent Mitch McConnell.
Foster Lonnie Campbell Jr. is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party from the U.S. state of Louisiana. Since 2003, he has been a member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission. He served in the Louisiana State Senate from 1976 to 2002.
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The 2008 congressional elections in Kentucky were held on November 4, 2008, to determine who would represent the state of Kentucky in the United States House of Representatives. Kentucky has six seats in the House, apportioned according to the 2000 United States census. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; those elected were to serve in the 111th Congress from January 4, 2009, until January 3, 2011. The election coincides with the 2008 U.S. presidential election.
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