Democratic nominees for governor are facing the stiffest competition this year as the party tries to hold on to its gains from the “blue wave” of 2018, even though Republicans are defending more governorships in November.
Democrats hold 16 of the 36 gubernatorial seats on the ballot, including in key states like Arizona, Pennsylvania and Michigan. Events of the past two years have brought to the fore the power of governors, who have played decisive roles in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic, the aftermath of former President Donald Trump’s defeat in 2020 and new clashes over the future of abortion rights following the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Gubernatorial races are on the ballot in the five states that flipped from Trump in 2016 to now-President Joe Biden four years later. Those contests, all but one of which feature Trump-backed GOP nominees will test of the strength of the former President’s movement and his ability to boost his picks in a general election.
Meanwhile, Republican incumbents in states such as Florida and Texas could be using their reelection campaigns as possible jumping-off points for future presidential bids.
The 2022 races are also expected to mark the end of an era in states such as Maryland and Massachusetts, where two-term moderate Republican governors are on their way out – one via term limits, the other facing dissent within his own party – with Democrats poised to replace them.
As the campaign hits the home stretch, these are the 10 states – eight where Democrats currently hold the governorship – with the most consequential contests on the ballot.
The Grand Canyon State became ground zero for Trump’s 2020 election conspiracy theories after voters there narrowly backed Biden and Trump-aligned state lawmakers later forced a deeply flawed partisan ballot review in Maricopa County that ultimately did not alter the outcome.
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