2002 Governor's Chairs by State

The Green Papers: Midterm Election 2002

2002 Governor's Chairs
by State

36 Governor's Chairs up for election in 2002

36 Elected

14 Governor's Chairs not up for election in 2002

10 Democrats
4 Republicans

20 Open Governor's Chairs (voluntary retirement, seeking other political office, term limits)

16 Incumbents renominated by same party

196 Candidates seeking a Governor's Chair

This is a list of the current Governors' seats, the incumbents occupying them, and the candidacy status of said incumbents. Chairs up for election in the year 2002 are marked as such.

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

Governor Links



Delaware Term Limit: No one can serve more than 2 4-year terms in a lifetime
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat

		Democrat	Governor Ruth Ann Minner • First elected: 2000 • Chair up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004 • The current Governor is NOT affected by this state's term limit.

Indiana Term Limit: No more than 2 4-year terms in any 3-term period
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat

		Democrat	Governor Frank O'Bannon • First elected: 1996; re-elected: 2000 • Chair up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004 • The current Governor is affected by a term limit and CANNOT run in the next election for Governor.

Kentucky Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat

		Democrat	Governor Paul Patton • First elected: 1995; re-elected; 1999 • Chair up for election: Tuesday 4 November 2003 • The current Governor is affected by a term limit and CANNOT run in the next election for Governor.

Mississippi Term Limit: No one can serve more than 2 4-year terms in a lifetime
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat

		Democrat	Governor Ronnie Musgrove • First elected: 1999 • Chair up for election: Tuesday 4 November 2003 • The current Governor is NOT affected by this state's term limit.

Missouri Term Limit: No one can serve more than 2 4-year terms in a lifetime
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat

		Democrat	Governor Bob Holden • First elected: 2000 • Chair up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004 • The current Governor is NOT affected by this state's term limit.

New Jersey Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat

		Democrat	Governor James E. ["Jim"] McGreevey • First elected: 2001 • Chair up for election: Tuesday 8 November 2005 • The current Governor is NOT affected by this state's term limit.
	Tuesday 8 January 2002 - from Noon EST (1700 UTC) today until Noon EST (1700 UTC) on Tuesday 15 January 2002, the duties of Acting Governor of NEW JERSEY will be shared by Democrat State Senator Richard J. Codey and Republican State Senator John O. Bennett who will- after Noon (1700 UTC), 8 January- be co-Presidents of the State Senate. The reason for this is that the Senate term of Acting Governor (and outgoing State Senate President) Donald T. DeFrancesco will have ended when the Legislature elected in last November's elections takes office at Noon (1700 UTC) on 8 January: since Governor-elect James E. McGreevey will NOT take office for a full 4-year term until Noon (1700 UTC) on 15 January and the new NJ State Senate is split along party lines- 20 Democrats to 20 Republicans- this rather unique situation, lasting a week, has been created due to the fact that the State Constitution of New Jersey has not provided for a Lieutenant Governor or some similar state official to fill a vacancy in the State's Governor's Chair.

North Carolina Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat

		Democrat	Governor Mike Easley • First elected: 2000 • Chair up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004 • The current Governor is NOT affected by this state's term limit.

Virginia Term Limit: 1 4-year term
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat

		Democrat	Governor Mark Warner • First elected: 2001 (succeeding Republican James S. Gilmore) • Chair up for election: Tuesday 8 November 2005 • The current Governor is affected by a term limit and CANNOT run in the next election for Governor.

Washington Term Limit: None; 4-year term
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat

		Democrat	Governor Gary Locke • First elected: 1996, 2000 • Chair up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004 • The current Governor is NOT affected by this state's term limit.

West Virginia Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat

		Democrat	Governor Robert E. Wise, Jr. • First elected: 2000 • Chair up for election: Tuesday 2 November 2004 • The current Governor is NOT affected by this state's term limit.