# 2026 Governor Races Hub All 36 gubernatorial elections on **November 3, 2026**. Republicans currently hold 26 governorships, Democrats 24. Of the 36 seats up, 22 are R-held and 14 are D-held, giving Democrats more pickup opportunities on paper — but most competitive races are open seats in swing states where neither party has a structural lock. This MOC tracks candidates, primary dates, and competitiveness tiers. Candidate profiles live in `People/` with wikilinks back here. Race-level mechanics (filing deadlines, ballot access, runoff rules) vary by state and are noted where relevant. Race files: `2026 Midterms/Governor/`, opened 2026-09-27 with [[MN-Gov-2026]]. Other states still live only as entries on this hub. Parent hub: [[2026 Midterms Hub]] · Sibling indexes: [[2026 Senate Races Hub]] · [[2026 House Races Hub]] · Reference: [[US Governors Hub]] > [!warning] Pre-primary data — audited 2026-08-31 > Most entries below were written before the June 2026 primaries and still list **primary fields rather than nominees**. Only the South Carolina entry has been resolved and verified as of this date. The ratings are a **June 2026 snapshot** and have not been re-checked. > > Many race and candidate pages on this site were last updated before 15 June 2026 and may still describe primaries that have since been decided. Treat every unresolved entry here as an April–June snapshot. ## By competitiveness (Cook Political Report, as of June 2026) > [!warning] Ratings on this hub are from June 2026 and have not been re-pulled > The Sept 14 pass updated the Rhode Island result and the primary calendar only. Treat the Cook ratings below as a June snapshot until a full re-pull is run. ### Toss Up Six races where either party has a realistic path. This is the governor's map equivalent of the Senate battleground — open seats in presidential swing states dominate. - **Arizona** — D-held, [[Katie Hobbs]] (inc) running. R primary Aug 4: [[Andy Biggs]], David Schweikert. Hobbs won by just 0.7 points in 2022; a rematch-style dynamic with MAGA-aligned challengers. The tightest D-held governorship in the country. - **Georgia** — R-held, open (Kemp term-limited). D primary May 19: [[Keisha Lance Bottoms]], [[Ruwa Romman]], Jason Esteves. R primary May 19: [[Chris Carr]], [[Burt Jones]], [[Brad Raffensperger]]. The R primary is a proxy war between the Kemp institutionalist wing (Carr, Raffensperger) and the MAGA wing (Jones). Georgia's 2022 gubernatorial and 2020–21 Senate dynamics make this the most narratively rich race of the cycle. - **Iowa** — R-held, open (Reynolds term-limited). D: Rob Sand (state auditor — one of the few statewide-elected Democrats in deep-red territory). R primary Jun 2: Randy Feenstra, others. Sand's cross-party appeal and audit-driven brand make this the best D pickup opportunity in an R-held state. Cook rates Toss Up despite Iowa's R+7 lean. - **Michigan** — D-held, open (Whitmer term-limited). D primary Aug 4: [[Jocelyn Benson]], Garlin Gilchrist. R primary Aug 4: Tom Leonard, Aric Nesbitt, John James. I: Mike Duggan (Detroit mayor). Biden-state open seat; the D primary between Benson (Secretary of State, 2020 election defender) and Gilchrist (Lt. Gov) is a proxy for the party's future. Duggan's independent bid could scramble the general. - **Nevada** — R-held, [[Joe Lombardo]] (inc) running. D: [[Aaron Ford]] (AG). R primary Jun 9: Lombardo. Lombardo won by 1.5 points in 2022 in a red-wave year; Ford is a strong D recruit. Nevada's razor-thin margins make every governor's race competitive. - **Wisconsin** — D-held, open (Evers term-limited). D primary Aug 11: Sarah Rodriguez, David Crowley, Kelda Roys, Mandela Barnes. R: Tom Tiffany. Wisconsin's R+2 Cook PVI and sub-4-point gubernatorial margins in three consecutive cycles make this a pure toss-up. Barnes's 2022 Senate loss to [[Ron Johnson]] hangs over the D primary. ### Lean Republican - **Kansas** — D-held, open (Kelly term-limited). D primary Aug 4: Cindy Holscher, Ethan Corson. R primary Aug 4: Scott Schwab (Secretary of State), Ty Masterson, Jeff Colyer. Kelly's 2018 and 2022 wins were personal-brand achievements in an R+11 state; without her, the seat reverts to structural lean. Potential R flip. - **Ohio** — R-held, open (DeWine term-limited). D: Amy Acton. R: [[Vivek Ramaswamy]]. Ramaswamy parlayed his 2024 presidential bid and [[DOGE]] stint into the nomination. Ohio has trended hard R at the presidential level but retains a tradition of competitive statewide races — [[Sherrod Brown]]'s near-miss in 2024 and the abortion-rights ballot measure win in 2023 suggest D undervote potential. Acton, the former health director who became a folk hero during COVID, offers a contrast candidacy. ### Likely Republican - **Alaska** — R-held, open (Dunleavy term-limited). D primary Aug 18: Tom Begich, Matt Claman. R primary Aug 18: Nancy Dahlstrom, Click Bishop, Treg Taylor, others. Alaska's ranked-choice voting and Peltola-era crossover dynamics keep this from Solid R, but the R bench is deep. - **New Hampshire** — R-held, [[Kelly Ayotte]] (inc). R primary Sep 8: Ayotte. No major D challenger filed. Ayotte won the 2024 open-seat race comfortably; incumbency advantage is real here. ### Lean Democratic - **Maine** — D-held, open (Mills term-limited). D primary Jun 9: Shenna Bellows (Secretary of State), Troy Jackson, Hannah Pingree, Nirav Shah. R primary Jun 9: Robert Charles, Garrett Mason, Jonathan Bush. Maine's D+4 lean and deep D bench make this Lean D, but an open seat in a state with strong independent traditions keeps it off the Safe shelf. - **New Mexico** — D-held, open (Lujan Grisham term-limited). D primary Jun 2: [[Deb Haaland]], Sam Bregman. R: Gregg Hull, Steve Lanier. Haaland's entry as Biden's former Interior Secretary makes her the instant frontrunner. D+4 lean and strong Latino-vote infrastructure backstop the party. ### Likely / Safe Democratic Incumbents running or strong structural advantages. Minimal upset risk absent a major national shift. - **California** — D-held, open (Newsom term-limited). D primary Jun 2: Toni Atkins, Xavier Becerra, [[Katie Porter]], [[Tom Steyer]], [[Eric Swalwell]], Antonio Villaraigosa, Matt Mahan, others. R primary Jun 2: [[Steve Hilton]], Chad Bianco, others. California's jungle primary means the real race is the D primary. Porter and Steyer bring the highest national profiles; Atkins (state senate leader) and Villaraigosa (former LA mayor) have institutional advantages. Safe D general. - **Colorado** — D-held, open (Polis term-limited). D: [[Phil Weiser]] (AG), Michael Bennet (U.S. Senator). R: Greg Lopez, Barbara Kirkmeyer, others. Primary Jun 30. Weiser and Bennet are both strong D candidates in a state that has shifted 10 points bluer over two decades. Safe D. - **Connecticut** — D-held, [[Ned Lamont]] (inc). R primary Aug 11: Ryan Fazio, [[Betsy McCaughey]], Erin Stewart. Lamont's approval remains solid; no R has won statewide in CT since 2006. Safe D. - **Hawaii** — D-held, [[Josh Green]] (inc). Primary Aug 8. No serious opposition. Safe D. - **Illinois** — D-held, [[JB Pritzker]] (inc). R nominee: Darren Bailey. Primary was Mar 17. Pritzker's $171M self-funded 2022 campaign set the spending record; Bailey is a rerun of the same mismatch. Safe D. - **Maryland** — D-held, [[Wes Moore]] (inc). Primary Jun 23. Moore won by 30 points in 2022 and has maintained high approval. Safe D. - **Massachusetts** — D-held, [[Maura Healey]] (inc). Primary Sep 1. No significant challenge. Safe D. - **Minnesota** — **[[MN-Gov-2026]]** — D-held, open because [[Tim Walz]] **dropped his third-term bid on Jan 5, 2026** amid the state fraud scandal. Minnesota has no gubernatorial term limits, and the older "term-limited" note here was wrong. **RESOLVED Aug 11: [[Amy Klobuchar]] (DFL, 89.7%) vs. [[Lisa Demuth]] (R, 43.4%).** Demuth beat Trump-endorsed [[Mike Lindell]] (32.5%) and convention-endorsed [[Kendall Qualls]] (21.4%). Lindell refused to concede, and the MN Supreme Court denied his hand-recount bid on Aug 29. **Cook: Solid D** (since Feb 17, 2026; the earlier "Likely D" here was stale). Verified 2026-09-27. - **New York** — D-held, [[Kathy Hochul]] (inc). R: Bruce Blakeman. Primary Jun 23. Hochul won by 6 in 2022 — underperforming for a D in New York — but no tier-one R challenger has emerged. Likely D. - **Oregon** — D-held, [[Tina Kotek]] (inc). R primary May 19: [[Christine Drazan]], Chris Dudley. Kotek won by just 3.4 points in a three-way 2022 race; Drazan is a rematch candidate with stronger name recognition. Cook rates Solid D but Oregon's homelessness and affordability politics keep this worth watching. Likely D. - **Pennsylvania** — D-held, [[Josh Shapiro]] (inc). R: Stacy Garrity (state treasurer). Primary May 19. Shapiro won by 15 points in 2022 and is one of the most popular governors in the country. Safe D. - **Rhode Island** — D-held. **🔴 UPSET, Sept 9: Helena Foulkes DEFEATED incumbent Gov. [[Dan McKee]] in the Democratic primary** — the first sitting governor in any state to lose a party primary since 2018, and the first Rhode Island governor beaten in a primary in over thirty years. Foulkes, a former CVS and Hudson's Bay executive, had lost narrowly to McKee in a crowded 2022 field. The proximate cause was the Washington Bridge closure: an August Emerson poll found **63% disapproved** of McKee's handling of it against 18% approving. R: Elaine Pelino. Still Safe D in November. *Note: the RI primary was **Wednesday Sept 9**, not Sept 8 — the General Assembly moved it to avoid a day-after-Labor-Day setup crunch.* ### Likely / Safe Republican Structural R advantages, incumbent strength, or non-competitive fields. - **Alabama** — R-held, open (Ivey term-limited). D: Doug Jones, Chad Martin, others. R primary May 19: [[Tommy Tuberville]], others. Tuberville's jump from the U.S. Senate to the governor's race reflects the [[MAGA]] playbook of leveraging federal celebrity into state executive power. Doug Jones (former senator, 2017 special election winner) is the D's best name but Alabama's R+25 lean makes this structural Safe R. Cook rates Likely R given Tuberville's primary dynamics. - **Arkansas** — R-held, [[Sarah Huckabee Sanders]] (inc). Primary was Mar 3. No credible opposition. Safe R. - **Florida** — R-held, open ([[Ron DeSantis]] term-limited). D primary Aug 18: David Jolly, Jerry Demings. R primary Aug 18: [[Byron Donalds]], Paul Renner. I: Jason Pizzo. Donalds has [[Donald Trump]]'s early endorsement. Florida's R+7 shift since 2018 and DeSantis's 19-point 2022 margin make this Solid R by Cook, though the open-seat dynamics and Jolly's crossover appeal make the primary the race to watch. - **Idaho** — R-held, [[Brad Little]] (inc). Primary May 19. Safe R; no competitive general. - **Nebraska** — R-held, [[Jim Pillen]] (inc). Primary May 12. Cook rates Lean R — unusually competitive for Nebraska, reflecting Pillen's low approval and [[Dan Osborn]]-style independent energy in the state. But no D-tier challenger has materialized. - **Oklahoma** — R-held, open (Stitt term-limited). D: Cindy Munson. R primary Jun 16: Gentner Drummond (AG), Charles McCall, others. Drummond vs. McCall is an intra-R battle between the AG and the former House speaker. Safe R. - **South Carolina** — R-held, open (McMaster term-limited). **RESOLVED: [[Alan Wilson]] (AG) is the Republican nominee**, facing Democrat Jermaine Johnson. In the June 9 primary, Pamela Evette (Lt. Gov, ~29%) and Wilson (~26%) advanced to a runoff under South Carolina's majority requirement; Ralph Norman took ~17% and **[[Nancy Mace]] finished fifth at ~12%**. Wilson won the June 23 runoff decisively. Trump endorsed Evette before the first round and co-endorsed Wilson before the runoff — never Mace. Safe R general. - **South Dakota** — R-held, open (Noem resigned for DHS). R primary Jun 2: Jon Hansen, Dusty Johnson, [[Larry Rhoden]] (acting gov), Toby Doeden. Safe R. - **Tennessee** — R-held, open (Lee term-limited). R primary Aug 6: [[Marsha Blackburn]], John Rose. Blackburn's jump from the Senate parallels Tuberville in Alabama — federal conservatives seeking state executive power. Safe R. - **Texas** — R-held, [[Greg Abbott]] (inc). Primary was Mar 3. Safe R; Abbott running for a fourth term with no serious opposition. - **Vermont** — R-held, [[Phil Scott]] (inc). D: Esther Charlestin. Primary Aug 11. Scott is the nation's most popular governor and the only R governor in New England — a moderate who wins by 40+ points in a Biden+35 state. Cook rates Solid R (Scott personally, not structurally). Likely R. - **Wyoming** — R-held, open (Gordon term-limited). R primary Aug 18: Megan Degenfelder, Eric Barlow. Safe R; Wyoming is the most Republican state in the country by PVI. ## Primary calendar Dates in **bold** are upcoming as of June 11, 2026. | Date | States | |------|--------| | Mar 3 | Arkansas, Texas | | Mar 17 | Illinois | | May 5 | Ohio | | May 12 | Nebraska | | May 19 | Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Oregon, Pennsylvania | | Jun 2 | California, Iowa, New Mexico, South Dakota | | Jun 9 | Maine, Nevada, South Carolina | | **Jun 16** | **Oklahoma** | | **Jun 23** | **Maryland, New York** | | **Jun 30** | **Colorado** | | **Aug 4** | **Arizona, Kansas, Michigan** | | **Aug 6** | **Tennessee** | | **Aug 8** | **Hawaii** | | **Aug 11** | **Connecticut, Minnesota, Vermont, Wisconsin** | | **Aug 18** | **Alaska, Florida, Wyoming** | | **Sep 1** | **Massachusetts** | | **Sep 8** | **New Hampshire** | | **Sep 9 (Wed)** | **Rhode Island** — moved off Tuesday by the General Assembly | ## Quick stats - **Open seats**: 22 (14 R-held, 8 D-held) - **Incumbents running**: 14 (8 R, 6 D) - **Toss-ups**: 6 (AZ, GA, IA, MI, NV, WI) - **Potential D pickups**: Georgia, Iowa (Toss Up); Ohio (Lean R) - **Potential R pickups**: Kansas (Lean R flip); Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin (Toss Up) - **Federal-to-state jumps**: [[Tommy Tuberville]] (Senate → AL-Gov), [[Marsha Blackburn]] (Senate → TN-Gov), [[Byron Donalds]] (House → FL-Gov), [[Amy Klobuchar]] (Senate → MN-Gov), [[Deb Haaland]] (Cabinet → NM-Gov), [[Vivek Ramaswamy]] (DOGE/presidential → OH-Gov) ## Narratives to track **The federal-to-state pipeline** — an unusually large number of sitting members of Congress and former Cabinet officials are running for governor in 2026. Tuberville, Blackburn, Donalds, Klobuchar, Haaland, Mace, and Ramaswamy all represent a trend of national-profile politicians seeking state executive power — potentially reflecting frustration with congressional gridlock or, in the R case, the appeal of unilateral executive authority. **MAGA primary dynamics** — Georgia (Carr/Raffensperger institutionalists vs. Jones MAGA), South Carolina (Mace's Trump-loyalty arc), Alabama (Tuberville's Senate-to-statehouse play), and Ohio (Ramaswamy's [[DOGE]]-to-governor pipeline) all feature intra-Republican identity battles that mirror the party's national trajectory. **D bench strength** — Open-seat Toss Ups in Michigan (Benson, Gilchrist), Wisconsin (Rodriguez, Crowley, Roys, Barnes), and Iowa (Sand) test whether Democrats have built the kind of deep bench that sustained them through 2017–2023 special elections. **[[Big Beautiful Bill]] backlash** — Medicaid cuts and hospital closures from the 2025 reconciliation bill are expected to be the defining issue in swing-state governor's races, particularly in expansion states (Michigan, Nevada, Ohio) where governors have direct implementation authority. ## Related - [[2026 Midterms Hub]] — parent hub - [[2026 Senate Races Hub]] · [[2026 House Races Hub]] — sibling indexes - [[US Governors Hub]] — reference page for current officeholders - [[MAGA]] · [[Project 2025]] — ideological context for R primary dynamics - [[Big Beautiful Bill]] — the policy backdrop defining swing-state contests - [[DOGE]] — Ramaswamy's pre-gubernatorial role