United States gubernatorial elections, 2008

legend|#3299ff|Democratic retirement

The United States gubernatorial elections of 2008 will be held on Tuesday, November 4, 2008 in 11 states with 6 of the seats held by Democrats and 5 by Republicans.

These elections will coincide with the presidential election, as well as the elections of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives and countless local elections, state elections and ballot propositions.

Election summaries

2 governors are prohibited from seeking re-election in 2008. Further open seats are possible if any of the governors listed below dies, resigns, elects to retire, or is denied re-nomination in their party's primary.

Predictions

The incumbent's name in parentheses indicates an open seat.

Retiring Democratic governors

Ruth Ann Minner (Delaware)

Ruth Ann Minner will be term limited in 2008. By 2008, Democrats will have controlled the Delaware governorship for 16 years. In an upset, state Treasurer Jack Markell defeated Lieutenant Governor John Carney by 51 to 49% for the Democratic nomination on September 9.. The Republican nominee is former state Superior Court Judge William Swain "Bill" Lee, defeating airline pilot Michael Protrack. Lee was the Republican nominee for Governor in 2004, and lost to Minner by a narrow margin. The race has gotten more attention due to the Vice Presidential candidacy of U.S. Senator Joe Biden. If Biden becomes Vice President, the Governor would appoint someone to replace him in the Senate, and either Markell or Lee would go about picking his replacement. Markell would almost certainly appoint a Democrat to replace him and Lee would almost certainly appoint a Republican.

Mike Easley (North Carolina)

Mike Easley will be term limited in 2008, at which time Democrats will have had control of the governorship for 16 years. Democratic Lieutenant Governor Beverly Perdue is the Democratic nominee. Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory is the Republican nominee. All recent polls shows the race to be close, including an October 2 by Rasmussen Reports showing McCrory pulling slightly ahead by a 50% to 46% margin [http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_governor_elections/north_carolina/election_2008_north_carolina_governor] .

Retiring Republican governors

Matt Blunt (Missouri)

Matt Blunt was considered to be the most vulnerable incumbent in the 2008 election cycle, but decided on January 22, 2008 not to seek re-election. [ [http://www.mattblunt.com/news/Read.aspx?ID=298 MattBlunt.com - Governor Matt Blunt ] ] Blunt's approval rating was the nation's second-lowest after Governor Ernie Fletcher of Kentucky for much of 2007, though his approval rating has improved and approached 50% in a May poll conducted by SurveyUSA. The Republican nominee is Congressman Kenny Hulshof. The Democratic nominee is four-term Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon, who ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 1998. The latest poll by Rasmussen Reports gives Nixon a 54% to 39% lead [http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_governor_elections/missouri/election_2008_missouri_governor] . The Libertarian candidate is Andrew W. Finkenstadt. The election will be held November 4, 2008.

Democratic incumbents

Togiola Tulafono (American Samoa)

American Samoa's Togiola Tulafono is seeking re-election in 2008 with Lieutenant Governor Ipulasi Aitofele Sunia. He won his first term 55.7% to 44.3% in the 2004 run-off. cite news |first=|last=|title=CSC graduate wins runoff election in American Samoa |url=http://www.swnebr.net/newspaper/cgi-bin/articles/articlearchiver.pl?156685|work=Southwest Nebraska News |publisher=|date=2004-11-24 |accessdate=2008-09-19] Tulafono is again being challenged by Afoa Moega Lutu and Velega Savali, who are running as a nonpartisan team for governor and lieutenant governor respectively. cite news |first=|last=|title=Togiola, Ipulasi Announce Re-election Bid |url=http://www.pacificmagazine.net/news/2008/05/11/togiola-ipulasi-announce-re-election-bid|work=Pacific Magazine |publisher=|date=2008-05-11 |accessdate=2008-09-14]

Brian Schweitzer (Montana)

Democrat Brian Schweitzer of Montana (running with Lt. Governor John Bohlinger) is heavily favored to win re-election as he is well-funded and receives relatively high approval ratings. The Republican nominee is State Senator Roy Brown (running with Steve Gaines), and the Libertarian nominee is Stan Jones (running with Michael Baker). [1] [ [http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/01/25/election/state/mt69.txt Missoulian: Sen. Roy Brown to seek Republican nomination for governor
Posted on Oct. 30 ] ] Schweitzer won some press coverage with his well-received speech to the 2008 Democratic National Convention [http://blogs.forbes.com/trailwatch/2008/08/schweitzer-spee.html] . More recently, he has been criticized for a speech in July in which he jested that he helped defeat U.S. Senator Conrad Burns in 2006 by tampering with the vote totals [http://www.helenair.com/articles/2008/09/11/top/55st_080911_tampering.txt] , which he insists was purely a joke. Polls show that Schweitzer continues to lead by a comfortable margin, though Brown has made some gains in recent weeks [http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_governor_elections/montana/election_2008_montana_governor] .

John Lynch (New Hampshire)

In New Hampshire, Democrat John Lynch is favored to win re-election as he was re-elected by a wide margin in 2006. State Senator Joseph D. Kenney is the Republican nominee. [http://www.kenney08.com/]

Aníbal Acevedo Vilá (Puerto Rico)

Aníbal Acevedo Vilá of Puerto Rico is up for a second term in 2008. In 2004, Acevedo narrowly beat former Governor and Senator Pedro Rosselló, also a Democrat, by a mere 3,566 votes.

Republican at-large Resident Commissioner Luis Fortuño, who announced in December 2006 that he would not again seek re-election to his current post, is running against him. There is also a movement to elect Senator Rosselló as a write-in choice for governor.

It remains to be seen how the federal indictment of Acevedo for alleged corruption schemes when he was in Congress will affect his candidacy and chances of winning re-election.

The Puerto Rican Independence Party's candidate will be Edwin Irizarry Mora, while a fourth candidate, Rogelio Figueroa (Puerto Ricans for Puerto Rico Party), will run on an environmentalist platform.

Christine Gregoire (Washington)

Democrat Christine Gregoire ( [http://www.chrisgregoire.com/ campaign website] ) is perhaps best known for having won in 2004 by 133 votes in the third official count, after having lost the initial count by 261 votes and the first recount by 24 votes. Her 2004 opponent, Republican former State Senator Dino Rossi ( [http://www.dinorossi.com/ campaign website] ), officially announced his candidacy on October 25, 2007. [ [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2003968578_rossi23m.html Politics | Rossi due to make rematch official | Seattle Times Newspaper ] ] A recent poll by SurveyUSA shows Gregoire leading Rossi by a statistically insignificant 50% to 47% margin. [ [http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=9f4931dd-b0c7-4b2e-a5f2-e864ca429614 SurveyUSA Election Poll #13982 ] ] A September 10 poll by Rasmussen Reports shows Rossi pulling ahead by a 52% to 46% margin [http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_governor_elections/washington/election_2008_washington_governor] . This race is expected to be the most competitive in the nation.

Joe Manchin (West Virginia)

Democrat Joe Manchin is running for re-election in West Virginia and is heavily favored according to recent polls. On November 4, he will face former State Senator Russ Weeks (R), and Mountain Party candidate Jesse Johnson who ran in 2004. [ [http://www.politics1.com/wv.htm Politics1 - Online Guide to West Virginia Politics ] ] Butch Paugh of the Constitution Party also ran but failed to qualify for the ballot. [ [http://www.ballot-access.org/2008/05/18/constitution-party-west-virginia-petition/ Ballot Access News » Blog Archive » Constitution Party West Virginia Petition ] ]

Republican incumbents

Mitch Daniels (Indiana)

Incumbent Republican Mitch Daniels ( [http://www.mymanmitch.com/ campaign website] ) will be facing Democratic nominee former Congresswoman and Undersecretary of Agriculture Jill Long Thompson ( [http://hoosiersforjill.com/ campaign website] ), and Libertarian nominee engineer Andy Horning ( [http://www.horningforgovernor.com/ campaign website] ) who also ran against Daniels in 2000.

Mitch Daniels may be vulnerable. While Indiana has not voted Democratic for President since 1964, Daniels is the first Republican elected governor in 20 years. His approval rating has not risen above 50% since 2005, and has been especially low in the wake of his prominent June 2006 deal to privatize the Indiana Toll Road by selling 75 year operation rights to a foreign consortium. Some speculators believe that because Daniels was not on the ticket in 2006, public outrage over the sale of the toll road contributed to the 2006 defeats of three Republican congressmen in Indiana, Chris Chocola, John Hostettler, and Mike Sodrel. Daniels is currently facing a lawsuit from outraged truckers and commuters who claim that the decision to privatize the road went over the heads of the people, and the issue as a whole has made him very unpopular in northern Indiana.

Democratic nominee former Congresswoman and Undersecretary of Agriculture Jill Long Thompson prevailed in the May 6 primary by a slim margin over wealthy Indianapolis architect Jim Schellinger.

John Hoeven (North Dakota)

Republican John Hoeven has announced he will seek re-election in 2008. [ [http://www.hoevengovernor.com/ Hoeven for Governor ] ] He is strongly favored to win re-election over the Democratic nominee, State Senator Tim Mathern. [ [http://www.mathern.org/ Mathern for Governor ] ]

Jon Huntsman, Jr. (Utah)

Jon Huntsman, Jr. is heavily favored to win re-election in Utah. By 2008, Republicans will have controlled the Utah governorship for 24 years. Democrat Bob Springmeyer will challenge Huntsman. [ [http://origin.sltrib.com/news/ci_8529731 A daunting task: Springmeyer to challenge popular Gov. Huntsman - Salt Lake Tribune ] ]

Jim Douglas (Vermont)

Three-term incumbent Jim Douglas is running in the Republican primary, and House Speaker Gaye Symington is running in the Democratic primary. Other candidates are Anthony Pollina of the Vermont Progressive Party and Cris Ericson of the Marijuana Party. [ [http://www.politics1.com/vt.htm Politics1 - Online Guide to Vermont Politics ] ] The primary will be held September 9, 2008.

ee also

*Opinion Polling for the United States Gubernatorial Elections, 2008
*United States Senate elections, 2008
*United States House of Representatives elections, 2008
*United States presidential election, 2008

References