HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democrats scored stunning victories in governor’s races in states long controlled by Republicans, riding a wave of voter discontent in Tuesday’s midterm elections to deliver a rebuke to President Donald Trump and GOP policymaking.
Democrats looked to be on their way to winning a majority of governorships for the first time in two decades.
They also landed a historic victory, as Keisha Lance Bottoms’ victory in Georgia — a presidential
battleground state — made her the first Black woman to be elected governor in the U.S.
Democrats also won in Iowa, Ohio and Texas, all states where Republicans have controlled state government for years.
The number of states in play was surprisingly large — a reflection of Trump’s poor approval ratings dragging on his party, with Democrats rolling up victories in presidential battleground states, heavily populated states and states that Trump won easily in 2024.
In the weeks leading up to Election Day, Trump went to heavily Republican areas to headline rallies attended by GOP gubernatorial candidates looking for a boost.
All told, 36 states that are home to about 80% of the nation’s population were electing a governor Tuesday. In 19 states, the office is open. Heading into the elections, Democratic governors represented 60% of the nation’s population, but Republicans held 26 of the nation's 50 governors’ offices.
Democrats last gained a majority of governorships in 2006, flipping six governors’ offices in the last midterm under a second-term Republican president. Republicans recaptured the majority four years later.
More states under Democratic leadership could mean more governors fighting — or ignoring — Trump's agenda.
Trump has tested the power of states, clashing primarily with Democratic-led states over call-ups of National Guard troops, immigration operations, conditions on federal aid and efforts to assert federal control over election requirements, including restricting mail voting.
Bottoms, a former Atlanta mayor and onetime White House adviser to former President Joe Biden, overcame GOP attacks on her management of the city during the COVID-19 pandemic to defeat Rick Jackson, a billionaire who plunged more than $200 million of his own money into the race.
She accused him of getting rich off a broken healthcare system and profiting off pain.
Her victory breaks GOP control of state government in Georgia, as does Democrat Amy Acton’s victory in Ohio, in a campaign that made national headlines when Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, a biotech billionaire, aired a widely criticized attack ad featuring Acton’s estranged mother.
Iowa Democrat Rob Sand defeated Republican Zach Lahn, while Democratic state Rep. Gina Hinojosa beat third-term Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in Texas, where no Democrat had been elected to statewide office since 1994.
Hinojosa was seen as a long shot after she emerged from a primary with a fraction of Abbott’s cash total. But as Republicans began to express misgivings over Abbott, fellow Latino politicians and politicos wrote to the Democratic Governors Association to request $10 million in campaign aid, saying Hinojosa had made it a close race.
The DGA gave $1 million — far less than it spent in Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio and Wisconsin — and Hinojosa won despite being badly outspent 5-to-1 on ads, according to AdImpact data.
Notably, Abbott skipped Trump’s rally in Texas, a sign of the president’s unpopularity.
Democrats also saw opportunities to pick up a governor’s office in Alaska, where the incumbent was term-limited, and in Nevada, where state Attorney General Aaron Ford was challenging Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo.
Like Georgia, Alaska hasn't elected a Democratic governor since 1998.
Republicans' best chance to capture an executive suite was in Kansas, a normally deep red state where Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly was term-limited.
Republicans hung onto control in Florida, where U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds defeated David Jolly, a former Republican congressman-turned-independent who ran as a Democrat in the nation’s third-most populous state.
Republicans also had an eye on Michigan's open governor’s office and on Oregon, where Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek was trying to fend off a second challenge from Republican state Sen. Christine Drazan.
Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York won reelection, and Democrat Xavier Becerra, a former U.S. health and human services secretary, cruised to victory in California.
Control of the executive branch was on the line in the six swing states from the 2024 presidential election, and Democrats were making a bid to control all six: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
In Pennsylvania, Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro won reelection, while Democrat David Crowley, the Milwaukee County executive, won the governor's job in Wisconsin.
The winners could have substantial influence over election administration during the 2028 presidential election. That could be important, considering Trump’s interest in expanding federal control over elections.
Meanwhile, three Democratic governors who are considered possible presidential candidates in 2028 all won reelection: Wes Moore of Maryland, JB Pritzker of Illinois and Shapiro, of Pennsylvania.
Demonstrating a big margin of victory, fundraising prowess and the electoral strength to help other Democrats win sends a strong signal to donors and party activists, analysts say.
In Texas, Hinojosa was elected to be the state's first Latina governor, while Deb Haaland 's victory in New Mexico made her the first Native American woman elected to lead a state.
More states were poised to elect Black governors, as well. Eight Black major party gubernatorial nominees were on ballots. In the past 250 years, only three elected governors have been Black.
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Follow Marc Levy at http://twitter.com/timelywriter
