Photo: Stuart Seeger / CC BY2.0 (archive)
Democrats are projected to hold a majority of U.S. governorships after Tuesday’s elections, with 28 offices to Republicans’ 20 and races in Kansas and Alaska still uncalled, according to Fox News’ Wednesday morning report.
NBC News independently reported that Democrats clinched a majority for the first time since 2010, flipping the governor’s offices in Georgia, Iowa, Texas, Ohio and Nevada.
For families and businesses, the shift changes who proposes state budgets, signs or vetoes bills and leads state agencies handling schools, health care and public safety.
Three candidates made history. In Georgia, Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms became the country’s first Black woman elected governor. In Texas, Democrat Gina Hinojosa became the first Latina governor in the state’s history, unseating a well-financed Republican incumbent in a historically conservative state. And in New Mexico, Democrat Deb Haaland became the country’s first female Native American governor.
A total of three dozen governor races were on the ballot in the elections, with US President Donald Trump’s unpopularity and the cost of living at the top of voters’ minds, alongside local concerns ranging from water rights and data centers to cancer rates.
Here are eight key governor races:
Texas
Hinojosa, a Texas state representative, defeated Texas Governor Greg Abbott to become the first Democrat to be elected governor since 1990. She also became the first Latina governor in the state’s history.
Hinojosa emerged as an unexpected competitor to one of the best-known and best-funded Republican governors in the country. Abbott outspent Hinojosa nearly 8-1, according to the Texas Tribune.
Democrats initially wrote off the Texas governor’s race and struggled to find a candidate willing to run against Abbott.
Georgia
Bottoms, the former Atlanta mayor, beat Republican Rick Jackson, a billionaire healthcare executive, in the race to succeed Republican Governor Brian Kemp. In doing so, she became the first Black woman elected governor in the US and the first Democrat elected governor of Georgia in more than a quarter century.
Both parties viewed the gubernatorial race as an early test of voter sentiment in a state that will likely be a key presidential battleground in 2028.
Jackson, who spent more than $100 million of his own money on the race, generally aligned himself with Trump’s agenda, while Bottoms sought to mobilize the diverse Democratic coalition that helped Biden win the state in 2020.
Bottoms rose to national prominence in 2020 as she guided Georgia’s largest city through protests, civil unrest and the COVID-19 pandemic. Her base is in the Atlanta metro area, whose rapid growth has reshaped Georgia politics.
Ohio
Democrat Amy Acton, a physician, defeated Republican entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy after a race that drew national attention over an explosive attack ad featuring Acton’s estranged mother. In a video run by the Ramaswamy campaign, Donna Arthur disputed Acton’s account of a childhood marked by homelessness and sexual abuse and urged Ohioans not to vote for her.
Acton, a former director of the Ohio Department of Health who led the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, has said she was sexually abused by her stepfather. The stepfather, who died in 2004, fled the state after he was charged with raping his stepdaughter and never stood trial.
The state’s reputation as a perennial swing state faded after 2016 when Trump won it with strong support from working-class voters, who helped to turn it into a reliably Republican state. Democrats have won just one of the state’s last nine gubernatorial elections.
Iowa
State Auditor Rob Sand, the only Iowa Democrat currently holding statewide elected office, beat Republican businessman Zach Lahn in the state’s first open governor’s race since 2006. Incumbent Republican Governor Kim Reynolds did not seek reelection.
The state’s incidence of cancer, at the second-highest rate in the country behind Kentucky, emerged as a major campaign topic alongside kitchen-table issues such as the cost of living. Interest was fueled by worries that exposure to nitrates, pesticides, and other environmental contaminants may be contributing to the high cancer rate.
The race also focused on education and government accountability. Sand campaigned as an independent watchdog critical of Republican fiscal management and the state’s private-school voucher program.
Lahn embraced lower taxes, school choice and a more conservative approach to social issues.
Wisconsin
A central question in Wisconsin’s gubernatorial race has been whether voters, who backed Trump in 2024 and Biden in 2020, want a governor aligned with the Republican president. Republican Tom Tiffany, a three-term US representative endorsed by Trump, has played down that connection. But his Democratic opponent, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, won the race after seeking to link Tiffany to Trump’s agenda.
In Congress, Tiffany has supported conservative causes such as gun rights and lower taxes, and co-sponsored federal legislation that would have banned most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy. Crowley campaigned on support for abortion rights. Wisconsin bans abortion after 20 weeks and requires a 24-hour waiting period as well as parental consent for minors.
Nevada
Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford defeated Republican Governor Joe Lombardo in Nevada, NBC News reported. Ford will become the state’s first Black governor.
Nevada residents have voiced concerns over tariffs, a tourism slowdown and high gas prices, giving Ford an opening to defeat Lombardo despite the incumbent’s 2-1 fundraising advantage.
Data centers have also emerged as a central campaign issue. Ford has proposed a halt to new data-center tax abatements and wants to require that developers shield residents from higher energy costs. He has also called for strong regulations to protect jobs from AI.
Lombardo, while imposing new restrictions on some of the tax incentives that lured the industry to the state, has generally championed data centers as an economic driver.
Arizona
Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs won reelection over Republican US Representative Andy Biggs in Arizona, NBC News reported. Water, the cost of living and immigration were major campaign issues.
Biggs is a former head of the right-wing US House Freedom Caucus, which has pushed for deep cuts in federal spending.
Abortion rights have featured prominently in the race, with Hobbs a supporter while Biggs has a long record as an opponent. Arizona voters approved a constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights in 2024.
Michigan
Democrat Jocelyn Benson defeated Republican US Representative John James in Michigan, NBC News reported. Benson, the state’s top election official, will succeed term-limited Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
Michigan is a closely divided swing state that Trump won in 2016 and 2024, while Biden carried it in 2020. Neither party has elected back-to-back governors in the state since the 1960s.
