DemDaily: The Gubernatorial Count
August 29th 2016
In addition to the 435 House and 34 Senate races that are up in 2016, there are twelve Gubernatorial races (plus Puerto Rico and American Samoa) that may impact or be impacted by the presidential election and the subsequent increased voter turnout and political "coattails" in their states.
Governors/The Count
55 Sitting Governors: 31 Republicans, 18 Democrats and 1 independent (Alaska) & 5 Territories
Term Lengths: Governors are elected every four years, with the exception of Vermont and New Hampshire, which hold their gubernatorial elections every two years.
Term Limits: Imposed in 36 states & 4 territories (2 terms, 1 term or alternating)
Up in 2016: 12 states, including 1 special election (Oregon/Kitzhaber Resignation) & 2 territories
Up in 2017: 2 states (New Jersey and Virginia)
Up in 2018: 34 states & 3 territories
Up in 2019: 3 states (Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi)
Four of the races are ranked as "toss-up," including three elections in presidential battleground states (click on names to go to their websites!).
This includes New Hampshire, which will finalize its general election candidates in the September 13th primary.
State
|
Candidates
|
Gubernatorial/ Projection** |
Presidential/ Projection***
|
Delaware | John Carney (D) vs Republican TBD (primary Sept 13th) | Safe Democrat | Clinton |
Indiana | Eric Holcomb (R) vs John Gregg (D) | Lean Republican | Trump |
Missouri
|
Chris Koster (D) vs Eric Greitens (R)
|
Tossup | Battleground |
Montana | Steve Bullock* (D) vs Greg Gianforte (R) | Lean Democrat | Trump |
New Hampshire
|
Democrat TBD vs Republican TBD (Primary September 13th) | Tossup | Battleground |
North Carolina
|
Pat McRory* (R) vs Roy Cooper (D) | Tossup | Battleground |
North Dakota | Doug Burgum (R) vs Marvin Nelson (D) | Safe Republican | Trump |
Oregon | Kate Brown* (D) vs Bud Pierce (R) (Special Election) | Safe Democrat | Clinton |
Utah | Gary Herbert* (R) vs Mike Weinholtz (D) | Safe Republican | Trump |
Vermont | Sue Minter (D) vs Phil Scott (R) | Lean Democrat | Clinton |
Washington | Jay Inslee* (D) vs Bill Bryant (R) | Safe Democrat | Clinton |
West Virginia
|
Jim Justice (D) vs Bill Cole (R)
|
Tossup | Trump |