2011 United States gubernatorial elections

Last updated

2011 United States gubernatorial elections
Flag of the United States.svg
  2010 October 4 and 22 and November 8, 2011 2012  

4 governorships [a]
 Majority partyMinority party
 
Party Republican Democratic
Seats before2920
Seats after2920
Seat changeSteady2.svgSteady2.svg
Popular vote1,653,2231,144,030
Percentage54.22% [1] 37.52%
Seats up22
Seats won22

2011 United States gubernatorial elections results map.svg
Map of the results
     Democratic hold
     Republican hold
     No election

United States gubernatorial elections were held in four states in October and November 2011, with regularly scheduled elections in Kentucky, Mississippi, and Louisiana; and a special election in West Virginia. None of these four governorships changed party hands, with Democratic incumbents Steve Beshear and Earl Ray Tomblin winning in Kentucky and West Virginia, respectively; and Republicans re-electing Bobby Jindal in Louisiana and holding the open seat in Mississippi.

Contents

Election predictions

Several sites and individuals publish predictions of competitive seats. These predictions look at factors such as the strength of the incumbent (if the incumbent is running for re-election), the strength of the candidates, and the partisan leanings of the state (reflected in part by the state's Cook Partisan Voting Index rating). The predictions assign ratings to each state, with the rating indicating the predicted advantage that a party has in winning that seat.

Most election predictors use:

StateIncumbent [2] Last race Cook
Sep 15,
2011
[3]
IE
Aug 12,
2011
[4]
Sabato
Aug 24,
2011
[5]
Gov
Jul 25,
2011
[6]
Result
Kentucky Steve Beshear 58.7% D Lean D Lean D Likely D Lean DBeshear
55.7% D
Louisiana Bobby Jindal 53.9% R Solid R Solid R Safe R Safe RJindal
65.8% R
Mississippi Haley Barbour (term-limited)57.9% R Safe R Solid R Safe R Safe R Bryant
61.0% R
West Virginia Earl Ray Tomblin 69.8% D Lean D Lean D Likely D Lean DTomblin
49.6% D

Race summary

StateIncumbentPartyFirst
elected
ResultCandidates
Kentucky Steve Beshear Democratic 2007 Incumbent re-elected.
Louisiana Bobby Jindal Republican 2007 Incumbent re-elected.
  • Green check.svgY Bobby Jindal (Republican) 65.8%
  • Tara Hollis (Democratic) 17.9%
  • Cary Deaton (Democratic) 4.9%
  • Trey Roberts (Democratic) 3.3%
  • David Blanchard (Independent) 2.6%
  • Niki Papazoglakis (Democratic) 2.1%
  • Scott Lewis (Libertarian) 1.2%
Mississippi Haley Barbour Republican 2003 Incumbent term-limited.
New governor elected.
Republican hold.
West Virginia
(special)
Earl Ray Tomblin Democratic2010 [b] Incumbent elected to full term.

Closest races

States where the margin of victory was under 5%:

  1. West Virginia, 2.5%

Blue denotes states won by Democrats.

Kentucky

2011 Kentucky gubernatorial election
Flag of Kentucky.svg
  2007 November 8, 2011 2015  
  Steve Beshear by Gage Skidmore (1).jpg David L. Williams (1).jpg Gatewood Gailbraith 2011 (1).jpg
Nominee Steve Beshear David L. Williams Gatewood Galbraith
Party Democratic Republican Independent
Running mate Jerry Abramson Richie Farmer Dea Riley
Popular vote464,245294,03474,860
Percentage55.7%35.3%9.0%

2011 Kentucky gubernatorial election results map by county.svg
County results

Governor before election

Steve Beshear
Democratic

Elected Governor

Steve Beshear
Democratic

On July 19, 2009, Steve Beshear announced his intention to run for re-election in 2011 and that then-Louisville mayor Jerry Abramson would be his running mate. [7] On January 6, 2011, Beshear and Abramson officially filed their candidacy. [8]

Businessman Phil Moffett, Jefferson County Clerk Bobbie Holsclaw, and State Senate president David L. Williams were the declared Republican candidates. [9] Agriculture commissioner Richie Farmer [10] Secretary of State Trey Grayson, [11] and Businessman Bill Johnson, [12] were also speculated candidates, but all declined. However, Farmer would run as Williams' running mate. [9] The Williams-Farmer ticket won the primary on May 17. [13]

In the general election, Beshear won, defeating Williams and independent candidate Gatewood Galbraith.

2011 Kentucky gubernatorial election
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Steve Beshear (incumbent) 464,245 55.72
Republican David L. Williams 294,03435.29
Independent Gatewood Galbraith 74,8608.99
Total votes833,139 100.00
Democratic hold

Louisiana

2011 Louisiana gubernatorial election
Flag of Louisiana.svg
  2007 October 22, 2011 2015  
  Bobby Jindal by Gage Skidmore.jpg 3x4.svg
Candidate Bobby Jindal Tara Hollis
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote673,239182,925
Percentage65.8%17.9%

2011 Louisiana gubernatorial election results map by parish.svg
County results

Governor before election

Bobby Jindal
Republican

Elected Governor

Bobby Jindal
Republican

In 2008 Bobby Jindal stated that it was unlikely he would run for president in 2012 and that his primary electoral goal in the future would be on re-election in 2011. [14] On August 15, 2010, he confirmed his intention to run for re-election. [15]

Candidates who opposed Jindal included Attorney Cary Deaton (D), Teachers Tara Hollis (D) and Trey Roberts (D), victim advocacy activist Androniki "Niki Bird" Papazoglakis (D), Former Vice Chairman of the Libertarian Party of Louisiana Scott Lewis, ex-Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals David Blanchard (I), Computer Engineer Lenny Bollingham (I), Accountant Ron Ceasar (I), and Retired Volunteer Fire Chief Bob Lang (I). [16]

The election was then held on October 22 with all the candidates competing in a nonpartisan blanket primary. [17] Jindal was elected to a second term, receiving an outright majority of the vote (thus a runoff election that would have occurred on November 19 became unnecessary).

2011 Louisiana gubernatorial election
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Bobby Jindal (incumbent) 673,239 65.80
Democratic Tara Hollis182,92517.88
Democratic Cary Deaton50,0714.89
Democratic Trey Roberts33,2803.25
Independent David Blanchard26,7052.61
Democratic Niki Bird Papazoglakis21,8852.14
Libertarian Scott Lewis12,5281.22
Independent Bob Lang9,1090.89
Independent Ron Ceasar8,1790.80
Independent Lenny Bollingham5,2420.51
Total votes1,023,163 100.00
Republican hold

Mississippi

2011 Mississippi gubernatorial election
Flag of Mississippi (2001-2020).svg
  2007 November 8, 2011 2015  
  Secretary Perry with Govt Phil Bryant KSS2455 (32743097363) (cropped 2).jpg Johnny DuPree 2011 (cropped).jpg
Nominee Phil Bryant Johnny DuPree
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote544,851348,617
Percentage61.0%39.0%

2011 Mississippi gubernatorial election results map by county.svg
County results

Governor before election

Haley Barbour
Republican

Elected Governor

Phil Bryant
Republican

Incumbent Governor Haley Barbour was term-limited in 2011.

The Republican candidates included author, small business owner, and Baptist minister James Broadwater; Lt. Governor Phil Bryant; former New Orleans Federal Reserve Board Chairman Dave Dennis; and Pearl River County District Supervisor Hudson Holliday. [18] Bryant won the Republican nomination by a wide margin. [19]

Prominent state businessman Bill Luckett [20] and Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny DuPree were two declared Democratic candidates. [21] Dupree defeated Luckett in the Primary runoff to win the Democratic nomination. [22]

Bryant ended up defeating Dupree in the general election.

The Lieutenant Governor was elected separately.

2011 Mississippi gubernatorial election
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Phil Bryant 544,851 60.98
Democratic Johnny DuPree 348,61739.02
Total votes893,468 100.00
Republican hold

West Virginia (special)

2011 West Virginia gubernatorial special election
Flag of West Virginia.svg
  2008 October 4, 2011 2012  
  Earl Ray Tomblin 2 (cropped).jpg Bill Maloney.jpg
Nominee Earl Ray Tomblin Bill Maloney
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote149,202141,656
Percentage49.6%47.0%

2011 West Virginia gubernatorial special election results map by county.svg
County results

Governor before election

Earl Ray Tomblin
Democratic

Elected Governor

Earl Ray Tomblin
Democratic

The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia ruled on January 18, 2011 that the state must hold a special gubernatorial election in 2011 [23] to fill the vacancy resulting from Joe Manchin's election to the United States Senate. State Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin ascended to the office of Acting Governor in 2010; he is eligible to seek election for the remainder of Manchin's term and has stated that he will do so. [24]

Other Democratic candidates included state House Speaker Rick Thompson, Acting President of the West Virginia Senate Jeffrey V. Kessler, state Secretary of State Natalie Tennant, and state Treasurer John Perdue. [23] Tomlin overcame intra-party opposition in the May 14 primary and thus advanced to the general election. [25]

The Declared Republican candidates include former Secretary of State Betty Ireland, state Senate Minority Whip Clark Barnes, [23] [26] and Putnam County Prosecutor Mark Sorsaia. [27] U.S. Representative Shelley Moore Capito and businessman John Raese have both stated that they will not run. [28] Businessman Bill Maloney won the Republican primary in an upset and faced Tomblin in the general election. [25]

In the general election, Tomblin defeated Maloney.

2011 West Virginia gubernatorial special election
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Earl Ray Tomblin (incumbent) 149,202 49.55
Republican Bill Maloney 141,65647.05
Mountain Bob Henry Baber6,0832.02
Independent Marla Ingels2,8750.95
American Third Position Harry Bertram1,1110.37
Write-in 1570.05
Total votes301,084 100.00
Democratic hold

Notes

  1. including a special election in West Virginia
  2. Tomblin took office after his predecessor (Joe Manchin) resigned.

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