Most states hold elections for governor on an alternating cycle with Presidential elections: there are 37 statehouses on the block on 2 November 2010, including Utah, which will hold a special election following the resignation of Gov. Jon Huntsman (R) to become U.S. Ambassador to China. Two territories will also hold elections for governor.
Overall, Democrats have a 28 to 22 advantage in state governorships — a reversal from the 2004 election. Of the 37 state governor seats in the 2010 election, 20 are held by Democrats and 17 by Republicans. Two governorships – New Jersey and Virginia – were decided in November 2009; both flipped from Democratic to Republican. Thus, this mid-term cycle is an important barometer of the electorate post-2008.
Open Governorships
An open seat is one where the incumbent is not running for re-election, either through term limits or voluntary retirement (*). Democrat seats (11) are in boldface
- Alabama: Bob Riley (R)
- California: Arnold Schwarzenegger (R)
- Colorado: Bill Ritter (D*) 6 Jan2009
- Connecticut: Jodi Rell (R*)
- Florida: Charlie Crist (R*)
- Georgia: Sonny Perdue (R)
- Hawaii: Linda Lingle (R)
- Kansas: Mark Parkinson (D*)
- Maine: John Baldacci (D)
- Michigan: Jennifer Granholm (D)
- Minnesota: Tim Pawlenty (R*)
- New Mexico: Bill Richardson (D)
- New York: David Paterson (D)
- Oklahoma: Brad Henry (D)
- Oregon: Ted Kulongoski (D)
- Pennsylvania: Ed Rendell (D)
- Rhode Island: Donald Carcieri (R)
- South Carolina: Mark Sanford (R)
- South Dakota: Mike Rounds (R)
- Tennessee: Phil Bredesen (D)
- Vermont: Jim Douglas (R*)
- Wisconsin: Jim Doyle (D*)
Democratic Incumbents Running
- Arkansas: Mike Beebe (D) – @GovBeebeMedia
- Illinois: Pat Quinn (D)
- Iowa: Chet Culver (D) – @GovChetCulver
- Maryland: Martin O’Malley (D) – @GovernorOMalley
- Massachusetts: Deval Patrick (D) – @MassGovernor
- New Hampshire: John Lynch (D) – @NHgov
- Ohio: Ted Strickland (D) – @TedStrickland
- Wyoming: Dave Freudenthal (D) may not be term-limited due to a state Supreme Court ruling
Republican Incumbents Running
- Alaska: Sean Parnell (R)
- Arizona: Jan Brewer (R) – @GovBrewer
- Idaho: Butch Otter (R) – @ButchOtter
- Nebraska: Dave Heineman (R)
- Nevada: Jim Gibbons (R) – @GovernorGibbons
- Texas: Rick Perry (R) – @GovernorPerry and @TexGov
- Utah: Gary Herbert (R) – @governorherbert
US Territories
- Guam: Felix Camacho (R), open-seat
- Virgin Islands: John de Jongh (D)
See 2005 Gubernatorial Races; 2006 Gubernatorial Races; 2008 Gubernatorial Races.
Other resources: In-Trade Senate Race Forecast; Our Campaigns; Wikipedia