Many of the states holding gubernatorial elections have term limits which made some multi-term governors ineligible for re-election. Two Democratic governors were term-limited while six incumbent Democratic governors were eligible for re-election. Among Republican governors, twelve were term-limited while eleven could seek re-election. One independent governor was eligible for re-election.
Elections were held in 26 of the 33 states with Republican governors, nine of the 16 states with Democratic governors, one state (Alaska) with an independent governor, two territories (Guam and Northern Mariana Islands) with Republican governors, one territory (U.S. Virgin Islands) with an independent governor, and the District of Columbia with a Democratic mayor. Incumbent state governors running to be reelected included 14 Republicans, five Democrats, and one independent. Territorial incumbents running included one Republican and one independent. The incumbent Democratic mayor of Washington, D.C. also ran for re-election.
Democrats gained control of nine state and territorial governorships that had previously been held by Republicans and an independent. They picked up Republican-held open seats in the states of Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, and New Mexico, in addition to defeating Republican incumbents in Illinois and Wisconsin and not losing any seats of their own. Additionally, they won the Republican-controlled territory of Guam and the independent-controlled territory of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Republicans won the governorship of Alaska previously held by an independent.[2] Democrats also won the total popular vote for the year's gubernatorial elections for the second year in a row.
As of 2024, this is the last time that Republicans won governorships in Arizona, Maryland, and Massachusetts, and the last time that Democrats won the gubernatorial office in Nevada.
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 seat, with the rating indicating the predicted advantage that a party has in winning that seat. Most election predictors use "tossup" to indicate that neither party has an advantage, "lean" to indicate that one party has a slight advantage, "likely" or "favored" to indicate that one party has a significant but not insurmountable advantage and "safe" or "solid" to indicate that one party has a near-certain chance of victory. Some predictions also include a "tilt" rating that indicates that one party has an advantage that is not quite as strong as the "lean" rating would indicate (except Fox News, where "likely" is the highest rating given). Governors whose names are in parentheses are not contesting the election.
One-term incumbent Bill Walker ran for re-election as an independent but dropped out of the race on October 19 to endorse Mark Begich (several days after Lieutenant GovernorByron Mallott resigned and several weeks before election day).
Former Alaska Senate member Mike Dunleavy won the Republican nomination.
Former U.S. Senator Mark Begich ran uncontested for the Democratic nomination.[93]
Billy Tolein ran for governor on the Libertarian party ticket.
Two-term consecutive, four-term non-consecutive Governor Jerry Brown was term-limited, as California governors are limited to lifetime service of two terms in office. Brown previously served as governor from 1975 to 1983; California law affects only terms served after 1990.[102]
Two-term Governor Dan Malloy was eligible to seek re-election, but declined to do so.[110][111][112]
The Democratic nominee was former selectman from Greenwich Ned Lamont.
Republicans endorsed Mark Boughton, mayor of Danbury, at the statewide nominating convention held on May 11 and 12, 2018, at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard. Candidates qualifying to primary at the convention were former First Selectman of Trumbull Tim Herbst and former candidate for Congress Steve Obsitnik. Failing to qualify at the convention to primary were Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti, former secretary of state candidate Peter Lumaj, state representative Prasad Srinivasan, former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker and Stamford Director of Administration, Mike Handler.
Businessman Bob Stefanowski became the second candidate in the history of Connecticut to petition to be on the primary ballot on June 18, 2018, and the first for a gubernatorial race.[113] Businessman David Stemerman became the third to do so on June 19, 2018.[114] Neither Stefanowski nor Stemerman participated in the statewide convention.[115] Both Lauretti and Handler pledged to conduct a petition drive to get on the August 14, 2018, primary election ballot, but dropped out.
Micah Welintukonis, former vice chair of the Coventry Town Council ran as an independent.[116]
Two-term Governor Nathan Deal was term-limited, as Georgia does not allow governors to serve three consecutive terms.
Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle and Secretary of State Brian Kemp won first and second place in the May 22 Republican primary; Cagle lost the runoff to Kemp on July 24, 2018.
State Representative Stacey Abrams garnered the Democratic nomination outright.[34]
One-term Governor David Ige ran for re-election. Ige took office after defeating previous Governor Neil Abercrombie in the Democratic primary and then winning the general election. Ige was nominated again, after defeating a primary challenge by Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa.
The Republican nominee was state house minority leader Andria Tupola.
One-term incumbent Republican Bruce Rauner ran for re-election.[132] State Representative Jeanne Ives also ran for the Republican nomination, but lost narrowly to Rauner.[133]
Incumbent governor Kim Reynolds took office in 2017, upon the resignation of Terry Branstad, following his confirmation as ambassador to China.[143] Reynolds sought election to a full term in 2018.
Former gubernatorial aide John Norris, state Senator Nate Boulton, former state party chairwoman Andy McGuire, SEIU leader Cathy Glasson, attorney Jon Neiderbach, former Iowa City Mayor Ross Wilburn, and businessman Fred Hubbell sought the Democratic nomination, which Hubbell won.[144]
Jake Porter, who was the Libertarian nominee for secretary of state in 2010 and 2014, ran for the Libertarian nomination for governor.[48]
One-term Republican incumbent Larry Hogan ran for re-election.
Former president of the NAACP Benjamin Jealous was the Democratic nominee.
Green Party candidate and entrepreneur Ian Schlakman sought his party's nomination.[153] Libertarian Shawn Quinn was nominated the LP's candidate by convention.[154]
Former state Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer, former executive director of the Detroit Department of Health and Wellness Promotion Abdul El-Sayed, and businessman Shri Thanedar were seeking the Democratic nomination.[164]
Bill Gelineau[165] and John Tatar[165] were seeking the Libertarian nomination.
Two-term Governor Mark Dayton was eligible to seek re-election, but did not do so.[168]
The Democratic-Farmer-Labor nominee was U.S. Representative Tim Walz.[169] The Republican nominee was Hennepin County Commissioner and 2014 gubernatorial nominee Jeff Johnson.
Libertarian Larry Sharpe was the first opponent to declare his candidacy in the race,[188] declaring his candidacy on July 12, 2017 – and won the Libertarian nomination for governor.[189]
Kate Brown became governor of Oregon in February 2015 following the resignation of John Kitzhaber. In accordance with Oregon law, a special election was held in 2016, which Brown won.[201] She ran for a full term and won the primary.[202]
No candidate won a majority in the June 12 Republican primary. Hence, the top two finishers, McMaster and John Warren, competed in a runoff, which McMaster won.
One-term incumbent Greg Abbott ran for re-election.
Lupe Valdez, Dallas County sheriff, announced her bid on December 6, 2017, and, after a runoff primary with Andrew White, entrepreneur and son of Governor Mark White, won the Democratic nomination.
Both Kathie Glass[221] and Kory Watkins[222] sought the Libertarian nomination.
As the governor of Vermont can serve a two-year term, Phil Scott, who was elected in 2016, ran for re-election. He was nominated in the primary.
Former Vermont Electric Cooperative CEO Christine Hallquist was the Democratic nominee. She was the first transgender woman to be nominated for governor by a major party.
Incumbent lieutenant governor David Zuckerman declined to run as a Progressive in the election and instead ran for re-election to that position.
One term incumbent Muriel Bowser ran for re-election with little competition in the primary. She was the Democratic nominee.
Ann Wilcox, a former Board of Education member, won the nomination of the D.C. Statehood Green Party. Dustin Canter, an entrepreneur and fitness businessman, ran as an independent.
The incumbent two-term governor Eddie Baza Calvo was term-limited, after his recent re-election win in 2014, as Guam does not allow governors to serve more than two consecutive terms.
Republican Lt. Governor Ray Tenorio officially declared his bid to succeed Eddie Calvo as the next governor of Guam. Tenorio won the Republican nomination without opposition.
The Democratic nominee was former Territorial Senator Lou Leon Guerrero, who defeated three other politicians in the August 24 primary.
Incumbent governor Ralph Torres, who took office upon Eloy Inos's death in December 2015, sought election to a full term.[84] Former governor Juan Babauta also sought the governorship, running as an independent.[86]
↑ McMaster took office after his predecessor (Nikki Haley) resigned.
↑ Torres took office after his predecessor (Eloy Inos) died.
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↑ Almukhtar, Sarah; Bloch, Matthew; Lee, Jasmine C. (May 22, 2018). "Georgia Primary Election Results". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
1 2 "Election Results". www.elections.il.gov. Illinois State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on February 22, 2020. Retrieved March 23, 2020.
1 2 "Canvass summary"(PDF). sos.iowa.gov. 2018. Archived(PDF) from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
↑ "Archived copy"(PDF). Archived(PDF) from the original on March 10, 2021. Retrieved April 16, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
↑ "Archived copy"(PDF). Archived(PDF) from the original on April 16, 2021. Retrieved April 23, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
1 2 "New Mexico Election Results". electionresults.sos.state.nm.us/. New Mexico Secretary of State. June 6, 2018. Archived from the original on August 8, 2014. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
↑ "Archived copy"(PDF). Archived(PDF) from the original on March 20, 2019. Retrieved May 15, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
↑ "Archived copy"(PDF). Archived(PDF) from the original on November 15, 2019. Retrieved May 15, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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