Historic Election Year in Governors' Races

Report Read time:
Historic Election Year in Governors' Races
This year's sweepstakes for 36 governors' seats is shaping up as one for the history books. Democrats appear poised to reverse 12 years of growing Republican gubernatorial power. Massachusetts could place in office the second elected black governor in U.S. history. And Alaska, Illinois or Nevada could put a woman at the helm for the first time.

This also is the year the issue of illegal immigration burst into governors' campaigns, not just in the border states of Arizona, California and Texas, but also in states such as Arkansas, Colorado, Nevada, Oklahoma and Tennessee.

While the war in Iraq, President Bush's sagging popularity and Republican scandals dominate races for the U.S. Congress, the homespun issues of taxes and education are the crux of a majority of contests for governor.

Still, a tinge of Washington, D.C., is following gubernatorial candidates to the polls in a quarter of the races. Not counting incumbent governors, eight current and two former U.S. congressmen are making bids to step into the governor's mansion at a time of record-low approval of the U.S. House and Senate.

A state-by-state synopsis of the 36 gubernatorial elections, prepared with help from reporters in state capitols, yields these and other emerging trends in the biggest year for governors' races of the four-year election cycle.

Read the full report with interactive election guides at the Stateline.org Web site. 

America’s Overdose Crisis
America’s Overdose Crisis

America’s Overdose Crisis

Sign up for our five-email course explaining the overdose crisis in America, the state of treatment access, and ways to improve care

Sign up
Quick View
America’s Overdose Crisis

America’s Overdose Crisis

Sign up for our five-email course explaining the overdose crisis in America, the state of treatment access, and ways to improve care

Sign up

MORE FROM PEW

About a dozen people stand examining large blue bins full of whole fish in a warehouse. Some people are in green clothes, others in blue, and all wear ballcaps. A few hold clipboards. Reducing Risk Strengthens the Seafood Supply Chain
A worker in a seafood market dumps bright orange shrimp from a blue bin onto a bed of ice between a lot of other seafood laid out for sale. Other workers are visible in the background, as are the arms of shoppers placing orders from the other side of the ice bed. Seafood Industry Benefits From Greater Vessel Transparency
An aerial view of a vast wetland, with scattered vegetation visible on sandy islands. In Western Australia, a Conservation Model for the World
A presentation being given by a businesswoman to a group of participants at a business conference. Four Plan Features Can Boost 'Retirement Readiness'
Composite image of modern city network communication concept

Learn the Basics of Broadband from Our Limited Series

Sign up for our four-week email course on Broadband Basics
Quick View

How does broadband internet reach our homes, phones, and tablets? What kind of infrastructure connects us all together? What are the major barriers to broadband access for American communities?

Pills illustration
Pills illustration

What Is Antibiotic Resistance—and How Can We Fight It?

Sign up for our four-week email series The Race Against Resistance.
Quick View
Pills illustration

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria, also known as “superbugs,” are a major threat to modern medicine. But how does resistance work, and what can we do to slow the spread? Read personal stories, expert accounts, and more for the answers to those questions in our four-week email series: Slowing Superbugs.