United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 2, 2010, in 37 states (with a special election in Utah) and two territories. These elections coincided with the elections for the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives as well as other state and local elections. As in most midterm elections, the party controlling the White House lost ground. Democrats took five governorships from the Republicans, while Republicans took 11 governorships from the Democrats. An independent won one governorship previously held by a Republican, while a Republican won one governorship previously held by an independent. Republicans held a majority of governorships for the first time since before the 2006 elections. One state, Louisiana, had no election for governor, but it did feature a special election for lieutenant governor.
Most gains from both parties were made in races where no incumbent was running, either due to term limits or voluntary retirement. However, Republicans did defeat incumbent Democrats Ted Strickland of Ohio and Chet Culver of Iowa, and held Nevada, where Republican Jim Gibbons lost in the primary.
, this is the last time Democrats have won an Arkansas gubernatorial race and the only time since 1998 that Republicans won a Pennsylvania gubernatorial race. This is also the last time a third-party candidate won in Rhode Island.
Predictions State Incumbent Lastrace RCP Rasmussen 538 Sabato Cook IE CQ SSP Result Alabama Bob Riley 57.45% R Bentley57.58% R Alaska Sean Parnell 48.3% R Parnell(58.9%) Arizona Jan Brewer 62.6% D Brewer(54.7%) Arkansas Mike Beebe 55.6% D Beebe(64.5%) California Arnold Schwarzenegger 55.9% R Brown(53.1%) Colorado Bill Ritter 57.0% D Hickenlooper(50.7%) Connecticut Jodi Rell 63.2% R Malloy(49.6%) Florida Charlie Crist 52.2% R Scott(48.9%) Georgia Sonny Perdue 57.9% R Deal(52.9%) Hawaii Linda Lingle 62.5% R Abercrombie(58.2%) Idaho Butch Otter 52.7% R Otter(59.1%) Illinois Pat Quinn 49.8% D Quinn(46.6%) Iowa Chet Culver 54.0% D Branstad(52.8%) Kansas Mark Parkinson 57.9% D Brownback(63.4%) Maine John Baldacci 38.1% D LePage(37.6%) Maryland Martin O'Malley 52.7% D O'Malley(55.8%) Massachusetts Deval Patrick 55.6% D Patrick(48.4%) Michigan Jennifer Granholm 56.3% D Snyder(58.1%) Minnesota Tim Pawlenty 46.7% R Dayton(43.7%) Nebraska Dave Heineman 73.4% R Heineman(74.3%) Nevada Jim Gibbons 47.9% R Sandoval(53.4%) New Hampshire John Lynch 70.1% D Lynch(52.6%) New Mexico Bill Richardson 68.8% D Martinez(53.6%) New York David Paterson 65.3% D Cuomo(61.4%) Ohio Ted Strickland 60.5% D Kasich(49.4%) Oklahoma Brad Henry 66.5% D Fallin(60.1%) Oregon Ted Kulongoski 50.7% D Kitzhaber(49.2%) Pennsylvania Ed Rendell 60.4% D Corbett(54.5%) Rhode Island Don Carcieri 51.0% R Leans I Leans I Leans I Chafee(36.1%) South Carolina Mark Sanford 55.1% R Haley(51.4%) South Dakota Mike Rounds 61.7% R Daugaard(61.5%) Tennessee Phil Bredesen 68.6% D Haslam(65.0%) Texas Rick Perry 39.0% R Perry(55.1%) Utah Gary Herbert 77.6% R Herbert(64.2%) Vermont Jim Douglas 53.4% R Shumlin(49.6%) Wisconsin Jim Doyle 52.7% D Walker(52.3%) Wyoming Dave Freudenthal 70.0% D Mead(71.6%)
Race summary
States State Incumbent Party Firstelected Result Candidates Alabama Republican 2002 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Republican hold. Alaska Republican 2009 Incumbent elected to full term. Arizona Republican 2009 Incumbent elected to full term. Arkansas Democratic 2006 Incumbent re-elected. California Republican 2003 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Democratic gain. Colorado Democratic 2006 Incumbent retired.New governor elected.Democratic hold. Connecticut Republican 2004 Incumbent retired.New governor elected.Democratic gain. Florida Independent 2006 Incumbent retired to run for U.S. Senator.New governor elected.Republican gain. Georgia Republican 2002 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Republican hold. Hawaii Republican 2002 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Democratic gain. Idaho Republican 2006 Incumbent re-elected. Illinois Democratic 2009 Incumbent elected to full term. Iowa Democratic 2006 Incumbent lost re-election.New governor elected.Republican gain. Kansas Democratic 2009 Incumbent retired.New governor elected.Republican gain. Maine Democratic 2002 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Republican gain. Maryland Democratic 2006 Incumbent re-elected. Massachusetts Democratic 2006 Incumbent re-elected. Michigan Democratic 2002 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Republican gain. Minnesota Republican 2002 Incumbent retired.New governor elected.DFL gain. Nebraska Republican 2005 Incumbent re-elected. Nevada Republican 2006 Incumbent lost renomination.New governor elected.Republican hold. New Hampshire Democratic 2004 Incumbent re-elected. New Mexico Democratic 2002 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Republican gain. New York Democratic 2008 Incumbent retired.New governor elected.Democratic hold. Ohio Democratic 2006 Incumbent lost re-election.New governor elected.Republican gain. Oklahoma Democratic 2002 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Republican gain. Oregon Democratic 2002 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Democratic hold. Pennsylvania Democratic 2002 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Republican gain. Rhode Island Republican 2002 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Independent gain. South Carolina Republican 2002 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Republican hold. South Dakota Republican 2002 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Republican hold. Tennessee Democratic 2002 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Republican gain. Texas Republican 2000 Incumbent re-elected. Utah Republican 2009 Incumbent elected to full term. Vermont Republican 2002 Incumbent retired.New governor elected.Democratic gain. Wisconsin Democratic 2002 Incumbent retired.New governor elected.Republican gain. Wyoming Democratic 2002 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Republican gain.
Territories and federal district Territory Incumbent Party Firstelected Result Candidates District of Columbia 2006 Incumbent lost renomination.New mayor elected.Democratic hold. Guam Republican 2002 Incumbent term-limited.New governor elected.Republican hold. U.S. Virgin Islands Democratic 2006 Incumbent re-elected.
Closest races States where the margin of victory was under 1%: Minnesota, 0.4% Connecticut, 0.7% Illinois, 0.9%
States where the margin of victory was under 5%: Oregon, 1.1% Florida, 1.2% Guam, 1.2% Maine, 1.8% Vermont, 1.8% Ohio, 2.0% Rhode Island, 2.5% South Carolina, 4.3%
States where the margin of victory was under 10%: Wisconsin, 5.7% Massachusetts, 6.3% New Mexico, 7.2% New Hampshire, 7.5% Pennsylvania, 9.0% Iowa, 9.7% Georgia, 9.8%
Red denotes states won by Republicans. Blue denotes states won by Democrats. Grey denotes states won by Independents.
Alabama
Governor Bob Riley was term-limited in 2010.
Businessman and 2002 Republican gubernatorial primary candidate Timothy James, State Representative Robert Bentley, Chancellor Bradley Byrne, and former state Supreme Court chief justice Roy Moore, were all major contenders for the Republican nomination. In the June 1 primary, Byrne finished in first place with 28.9%, followed by Robert J. Bentley who won 25.2% of the vote. Due to state law, the two were forced into a July runoff election, in which Bentley defeated Byrne by a margin of 56.1 to 43.9% to win the Republican nomination.
For the Democratic side, State Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks easily defeated Congressman Artur Davis of Alabama's 7th congressional district in the June 1 primary.Alabama: Agriculture Commissioner Defeats Congressman in Primary
In the general election, Bentley defeated Sparks.
Alaska
Governor Sarah Palin was elected in 2006 with 48% of the vote and was eligible to seek reelection in 2010. On July 3, 2009, Palin announced that she would not run for reelection, and resigned on July 26, 2009. On July 26, Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell became the 12th Governor of Alaska. Parnell officially announced that he would be running for a first full-term in 2010. In August 2010 he won the Republican nomination for governor.
Parnell faced former State Representative and 2008 congressional nominee Ethan Berkowitz, and won the Democratic nomination against State Senator Hollis French, in the November election. Parnell won a first full-term.
Arizona
Democratic Governor Janet Napolitano was nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the United States Senate as Secretary of Homeland Security in early 2009. Republican Secretary of State Jan Brewer was first in the state's gubernatorial line of succession and became governor upon Napolitano's subsequent resignation. Brewer was seeking a full term in 2010. She would face a primary challenge from former state Senator Karen Johnson, Tucson attorney John Munger, and State Treasurer Dean Martin.
The announced Democratic candidate was Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard. A potential Democratic candidate could have been Phoenix mayor Phil Gordon.
Jan Brewer won the Republican primary election, and Terry Goddard won the Democratic primary election. Brewer defeated Goddard in the election.
Arkansas
Governor Mike Beebe sought a second term in 2010. He was elected with 55% of the vote in 2006.Governor Beebe was unopposed in the Democratic Primary and will be opposed in the general election by restaurant CEO and former Republican State Senator Jim Keet, and Tull Mayor Frank Gilbert, who would be running on either the Libertarian or Constitution Party lines. In March 2009 Beebe's approval rating was 68%, according to Public Policy Polling. Jim Keet, a former State Senator, was the Republican nominee.
Beebe defeated Keet in a landslide election.
California
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was term-limited in 2010.
Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman was the Republican nominee for the Gubernatorial election, defeating state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner in the California Republican Party primary.
Former Governor and current Attorney General Jerry Brown was the Democratic nominee.
Brown defeated Whitman in the general election.
Colorado
Governor Bill Ritter declined to run for re-election. He had been elected with 57% of the vote in 2006. Following Ritter's announcement, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper announced his candidacy. Hickenlooper faced no opposition in the Democratic primary.
Businessman Dan Maes became the Republican nominee by winning the August 10 primary election.
Former Congressman Tom Tancredo ran under the banner of the American Constitution Party.
In the general, Hickenlooper decisively defeated Tancredo and Maes. Maes won only 11.6% of the vote, nearly reducing the Republican Party to minor-party status in Colorado.
Connecticut
On November 9, 2009, incumbent Governor Jodi Rell announced she would not seek a second full term in 2010. She was elected to a full term in 2006 with 63% of the vote.
The Republican nomination was won by former United States Ambassador to Ireland Thomas C. Foley, who defeated Lt. Governor Michael Fedele.
The Democratic nominee was Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy, who defeated businessman and 2006 Democratic Senatorial nominee Ned Lamont.
Florida
First-term Governor Charlie Crist was eligible to seek re-election, but decided instead to run for the United States Senate seat held by George LeMieux. After a tough primary challenge the Republican Party chose businessman Rick Scott over Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum. The Democratic Party nominated Florida CFO Alex Sink.
Crist was elected as a Republican, but left the party and became an independent during his Senate campaign.
Scott defeated Sink in the election.
Georgia
Governor Sonny Perdue was term-limited in 2010.