United States gubernatorial elections, 2008
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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.
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[edit] 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.
[edit] Predictions
The incumbent's name in parentheses indicates an open seat.
| Republican Seats | Prediction | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Incumbent | Sabato[1] | UpFrontPolitics[2] | CQ Politics[3] |
| ND | Hoeven | Solid R | Safe R | Safe R |
| UT | Huntsman | Solid R | Safe R | Safe R |
| VT | Douglas | Solid R | Likely R | Safe R |
| IN | Daniels | Likely R | Leans R | Leans R |
| MO | (Blunt) | Tossup | Leans D | Tossup |
| Democratic Seats | Prediction | |||
| State | Incumbent | Sabato | UpFrontPolitics | CQ Politics |
| WA | Gregoire | Tossup | Leans D | Leans D |
| NC | (Easley) | Likely D | Leans D | Leans D |
| DE | (Minner) | Likely D | Safe D | D Favored |
| MT | Schweitzer | Solid D | Safe D | D Favored |
| NH | Lynch | Solid D | Safe D | Safe D |
| WV | Manchin | Solid D | Safe D | Safe D |
[edit] Retiring Democratic governors
[edit] 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. Democratic contenders include Lieutenant Governor John Carney and State Treasurer Jack Markell. Among Republicans, former state Superior Court Judge William Swain "Bill" Lee, David Graham and airline pilot Michael Protrack are contenders.
[edit] 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. A recent poll by the Civitas Institute shows the race to be too close to call [2].
[edit] Retiring Republican governors
[edit] 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.[4] 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. Republican candidates are Jennie Lee (Jen) Sievers, Scott Long, State Treasurer Sarah Steelman and Congressmen Kenny Hulshof. Democratic candidates are four-term Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon and Daniel Carroll of Shelbina. The sole Libertarian candidate is Andrew W. Finkenstadt.
[edit] Democratic incumbents
[edit] Togiola Tulafono (American Samoa)
American Samoa's Togiola Tulafono is up for reelection in 2008. He won his first term 55.7% to 44.3% in the 2004 run-off.
[edit] Brian Schweitzer (Montana)
Brian Schweitzer of Montana is favored to win re-election. He is well-funded and posts relatively high approval ratings. He is only facing token opposition, even though state Senator Roy Brown has announced his candidacy.[5]
[edit] John Lynch (New Hampshire)
In New Hampshire, John Lynch is favored to win re-election. He was reelected by a wide margin in 2006. State Senator Joseph D. Kenney seeking the Republican nomination for governor. [3]
| Source | Date | Frank Guinta (R) | Gov. Lynch (D) | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Research Group | March 21, 2008 | 20% | 62% | 18% |
| American Research Group | December 21, 2007 | 32% | 48% | 20% |
[edit] 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 reelection to his current post, is running against him. Senator Rosselló has also announced that he will permit his name to appear in the 2008 ballot, although he has consistently stated that he is not interesed in returning to the Governor's Mansion.
It remains to be seen if the Federal District Attorney's investigation into Acevedo's alleged corruption schemes when he was in Congress will affect his candidacy and chances of winning re-election. Caguas Mayor and former Puerto Rico Democratic Party Chairman, Gen. William Miranda Marín has stated that should Acevedo be indicted or resign, he would be interested in running for Governor.
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 a "Green Party" platform.
[edit] Christine Gregoire (Washington)
Christine Gregoire 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, former State Senator Dino Rossi, officially announced his candidacy on October 25, 2007[6]. Former Libertarian State Party Chair Ruth Bennett is running as the libertarian candidate [4]. Communist Political Organizer Chris Hoeppner of the Socialist Workers Party are also running. By 2008, Democrats will have controlled the Washington governorship for 24 years. However, Gregoire has not been particularly popular in office. A recent poll by SurveyUSA shows Gregoire leading Rossi by a statistically insignificant 50% to 47% margin.[7]
| Source | Date | Dino Rossi (R) | Gov. Gregoire (D) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rasmussen Reports | June 11, 2008 | 43% | 50% |
[edit] Joe Manchin (West Virginia)
Joe Manchin will likely seek reelection in West Virginia. Manchin will face former Republican State Senator Russ Weeks, and Independent Frank Kula who ran in 2004 in the November 4 general election.[8] Butch Paugh of the Constitution Party was running but failed to qualify for the ballot.[9]
[edit] Republican incumbents
[edit] Mitch Daniels (Indiana)
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. Daniels will face former Congresswoman and Undersecretary of Agriculture Jill Long Thompson in the general election, who prevailed in the May 6th primary by a slim margin over wealthy Indianapolis architect Jim Schellinger. Engineer Andy Horning who ran in 2000 as a Libertarian is once again carrying the party banner [5].
[edit] John Hoeven (North Dakota)
John Hoeven has announced he will seek re-election in 2008.[10] He is favored to win reelection over his announced Democratic opponent, state Senator Tim Mathern.[11]
[edit] Jon Huntsman, Jr. (Utah)
Jon Huntsman, Jr. is strongly 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.[12]
[edit] Jim Douglas (Vermont)
Jim Douglas is favored to win re-election should he seek it. By 2008, he will have been governor of Vermont for 6 years, or 3 terms. Anthony Pollina of the Vermont Progressive Party is the only major declared candidate to oppose him and has been endorsed by former Vermont Gov. Philip Hoff,[13] and a group of 150 Democrats who have announced an effort to write-in Pollina’s name on the Sept. 9 Democratic primary.[14] Also running is Cris Ericson of the Marijuana Party.[15] House Speaker Gaye Symington has announced she will run.
| Source | Date | Gov. Jim Douglas (R) | Peter Galbraith (D) | Anthony Pollina (P) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real Clear Politics | February 28, 2008 | 53% | 22% | 15% |
[edit] See also
- United States Senate elections, 2008
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2008
- United States presidential election, 2008
[edit] References
- ^ Sabato's Crystal Ball - 2008 Governor. UpFrontPolitics (2007-09-22). Retrieved on 2007-09-22.
- ^ 2008 Gubernatorial Races. UpFrontPolitics (2007-09-22). Retrieved on 2007-09-22.
- ^ CQ 2008 Gubernatorial ratings. Retrieved on 2007-12-01.
- ^ MattBlunt.com - Governor Matt Blunt
- ^ Missoulian: Sen. Roy Brown to seek Republican nomination for governor
Posted on Oct. 30 - ^ Politics | Rossi due to make rematch official | Seattle Times Newspaper
- ^ [1]
- ^ Politics1 - Online Guide to West Virginia Politics
- ^ Ballot Access News » Blog Archive » Constitution Party West Virginia Petition
- ^ Hoeven for Governor
- ^ Mathern for Governor
- ^ A daunting task: Springmeyer to challenge popular Gov. Huntsman - Salt Lake Tribune
- ^ Third Party Watch » Blog Archive » Former Vermont Governor endorses Pollina
- ^ Rutland Herald: Rutland Vermont News & Information
- ^ Politics1 - Online Guide to Vermont Politics
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