Summaries of the governor’s races on the ballot in 36 states
Governor’s races are on the ballot this November in 36 states. The most competitive races are expected to be in states where Republicans now hold the job. Summaries of each race: ALABAMA Republican Kay Ivey is being challenged by the mayor of Tuscaloosa, Democrat Walter Maddox, who is seeking to be the first Democrat elected governor in the state in 20 years. Maddox favors expanding Medicaid and starting a lottery. Ivey became governor last year when Robert Bentley resigned amid a sex scandal. Ivey is running on her conservative credentials on issues such as opposing abortion and supporting gun rights. ALASKA Independent Gov. Bill Walker has challenges from the right in Republican former state Sen. Mike Dunleavy and from the left in Mark Begich, a former U.S. senator and mayor of Anchorage. The state has been wrestling with the impact of a crash in oil prices, which has made it harder to balance the state budget. Walker has addressed that by cutting the annual dividend checks that Alaskans receive from the state’s oil-wealth fund, a decision Dunleavy says is too important to have been made without public involvement. Some Democrats have called for Begich to leave the race to give Walker a clearer shot at winning against the conservative Dunleavy. ARKANSAS Democrat Jared Henderson says his top priority in his run for governor against incumbent Republican Asa Hutchinson is education. Henderson, a former state director for Teach for America, is calling for teacher raises of 10 percent in his first year in office and 25 percent over a decade to attract more teachers. In a Republican-dominated state, Henderson’s run is a long-shot. Hutchinson also called for a 13 percent one-year raise for teachers. ARIZONA Education is the big issue this year, where Democrat David Garcia is challenging incumbent Republican Doug Ducey. Garcia, a former official in the state Education Department, is trying to capitalize on the energy of educators who walked off the job earlier year to call for more funding. Ducey agreed to a 20 percent raise for teachers over time but did not go as far with additional funding as protesters called for. CALIFORNIA Democrat Gavin Newsom, the California lieutenant governor and former mayor of San Francisco, is a heavy favorite to be the next governor of California in an election against Republican businessman John Cox. The next governor of the nation’s most populous state will replace Democrat Jerry Brown, who is leaving office because of term limits. A homeless and housing crisis, increasing costs and destruction from wildfires, exploding pension obligations for state workers and teachers, and whether to expand the state’s water supply and delivery systems will be among the top issues facing the next governor. COLORADO In Colorado, which has been a swing state recently, Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Polis is taking on Republican state Treasurer Walker Stapleton. The governor’s seat is open this year because Democrat John Hickenlooper is facing term limits. A Polis victory would make him the first openly gay man to be elected governor in the U.S. Polis, an entrepreneur who has started multiple companies, is calling for universal health care in Colorado and full-day preschool and kindergarten. Stapleton, who previously worked at technology startups, led a campaign against a 2016 ballot measure that would have brought the state universal health coverage. The measure lost by a margin of nearly 4 to 1. CONNECTICUT Connecticut has become heavily Democratic, but the race between Democrat Ned Lamont and Republican Bob Stefanowski is rated by some experts as a toss-up. Both candidates are wealthy businessmen. Lamont founded a company that provides TV services to colleges, and ran previously for U.S. Senate in 2006 and governor in 2010. He is largely funding his own campaign. Stefanowski has served as an executive at General Electric and UBS Investment Bank. Stefanowski, who has Trump’s endorsement, wants to eliminate the state’s income tax and has tried to tie Lamont’s policies to incumbent Democrat Dannel Malloy, who has a low approval rating. Lamont has criticized Stefanowski as being too much like Trump. FLORIDA Florida voters will choose between U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, one of Trump’s biggest supporters in Congress, and Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, who supports universal health care but has not proposed a state-specific plan for it. One day after the August primary, DeSantis said Florida should not “monkey up” the election — language that drew accusations of racism because Gillum is black. Trump also has taken to Twitter to bash Gillum, whose campaign must contend with an FBI probe of a redevelopment deal in Tallahassee involving an ally of Gillum’s. GEORGIA Republican Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who has made a priority of opposing illegal immigration, is seeking the governorship against Democrat Stacey Abrams, a former state House of Representatives minority leader who is attempting to become the first black woman to be elected governor in the U.S. The state’s white majority is overwhelmingly Republican, but elections have been tightening in part due to demographic shifts. Abrams calls for overhauling the criminal justice system, with changes that include eliminating cash bail. Kemp has made a tough-on-crime stance a centerpiece of his campaign. HAWAII First-term Gov. David Ige survived a challenge in the Democratic primary and now faces state Rep. Andria Tupola, the House minority leader. Tupola is calling for more affordable housing and giving native Hawaiians the right to use land that was set aside for them. The state has had only two Republican governors in its history. IDAHO Republican Lt. Gov. Brad Little could benefit from a heavily GOP state as he runs for governor against Democrat Paulette Jordan. A win by Jordan would make her the first Native American governor of a state. She’s running on a liberal platform, calling for Medicaid expansion and raises for public school teachers. Little also said he supports teacher raises and would abide by a ballot measure calling to expand Medicaid if voters support it in November. ILLINOIS In a matchup of self-funding wealthy businessmen, incumbent Republican
