2006 Governor's Chairs by State

The Green Papers: 2006 Midterm Election

2006 Governor's Chairs
by State

36 Governor's Chairs up for election in 2006

36 Elected

19 Democratic
16 Republican
1 Democratic, Independence, Working Families

14 Governor's Chairs not up for election in 2006

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

26 Incumbents renominated by same party

1 Incumbent lost primary - no longer a candidate for this office

1 Republican

213 Candidates seeking a Governor's Chair (Candidates may run under the banner of multiple parties. Hence, the number of parties may be greater than the number of candidates.)

This is a list of the current Governors' chairs, the incumbents occupying them, and the candidacy status of said incumbents. Chairs up for election in the year 2006 are marked as such.

Friday May 26, 2006: The United States Senate confirmed Governor Dirk Kempthorne of Idaho as Secretary of the Interior by a vote of 85 yeas, 8 nays and 7 not voting. Governor Kempthorne was first elected Governor of Idaho in 1998 and re-elected in 2002. He served in U.S. Senate (elected: 1992) and was nominated by President George W. Bush to be the Secretary of the Interior on 16 March 2006. Upon the confirmation of Governor Kempthorne, Lieutenant Governor James E. "Jim" Risch (Republican) ascended to the position of Governor of Idaho. Mr. Risch was was first elected as Lieutenant Governor in 2002 and was renominated for Lieutenant Governor in the 23 May 2006 Republican Primary.

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

Gubernatorial Links



Arizona 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: The Governor can not serve for more than 8 years
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic
	Democratic	727,739	62.92%	Governor Janet Napolitano
Total		1,156,609	100.00%

Arkansas 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: No one can serve more than 2 4-year terms in a lifetime
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican
		Open Chair (no incumbent)

	Democratic	421,051	55.41%	Attorney General Mike Beebe
Total		759,918	100.00%

Colorado 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican
		Open Chair (no incumbent)
	Democratic	779,741	56.30%	Willliam "Bill" Ritter, Jr. • For Lt. Governor: Barbara O'Brien
Total		1,384,905	100.00%

Illinois 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic
	Democratic	1,736,219	49.80%	Governor Rod R. Blagojevich • for Lt. Governor Pat Quinn
Total		3,486,671	100.00%

Iowa 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic
		Open Chair (no incumbent)
	Democratic	565,199	54.03%	Secretary of State Chester "Chet" Culver • For Lieutenant Governor Secretary of Agriculture and Land Stewardship Patty Judge
Total		1,046,140	100.00%

Kansas 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic
	Democratic	480,532	57.84%	Governor Kathleen Sebelius • for Lt. Governor: Mark Parkinson (former chairman of the Kansas Republican Party)
Total		830,849	100.00%

Maine 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms. GOVERNOR is the only Statewide elected officer
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic
	Democratic	206,991	38.01%	Governor John Elias Baldacci
Total		544,573	100.00%

Maryland 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican
	Democratic	875,352	53.01%	Martin O'Malley • For Lt. Governor: Anthony G. Brown
Total		1,651,259	100.00%

Massachusetts 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican
		Open Chair (no incumbent)
	Democratic	1,230,065	55.74%	Deval L. Patrick • for Lt. Governor: Timothy P. "Tim" Murray
Total		2,206,916	100.00%

Michigan 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic
	Democratic	2,139,839	56.36%	Governor Jennifer M. Granholm • for Lt. Governor: Lieutenant Governor John D. Cherry, Jr.
Total		3,796,449	100.00%

New Hampshire 2 year term, Election Cycle: 2004, 2006. Term Limit: None. GOVERNOR is the only Statewide elected officer
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic
	Democratic	298,761	73.95%	Governor John Lynch
Total		404,003	100.00%

New Mexico 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic
	Democratic	373,926	68.70%	Governor William B. "Bill" Richardson • for Lt. Governor: Lieutenant Governor Diane D. Denish
Total		544,278	100.00%

Ohio 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican
		Open Chair (no incumbent)
	Democratic	2,307,420	60.39%	Congressman Ted Strickland • for Lt. Governor: Lee Fisher Congressman Strickland is currently serving as Congressman CD 6.
Total		3,820,795	100.00%

Oklahoma 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic
	Democratic	615,973	66.50%	Governor Brad Henry
Total		926,306	100.00%

Oregon 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: No more than 2 4-year terms in any 3-term period
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic
	Democratic	652,279	50.83%	Governor Theodore R. "Ted" Kulongoski
Total		1,283,262	100.00%

Pennsylvania 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic
	Democratic	2,470,517	60.31%	Governor Edward G. "Ed" Rendell • for Lt. Governor Lieutenant Governor Catherine Baker Knoll
Total		4,096,077	100.00%

Tennessee 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms. GOVERNOR is the only Statewide elected officer
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic
	Democratic	1,245,992	68.59%	Governor Phil Bredesen
Total		1,816,648	100.00%

Wisconsin 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic
	Democratic	1,136,726	52.78%	Governor Jim Doyle • for Lt. Governor: Lieutenant Governor Barbara C. Lawton
Total		2,153,859	100.00%

Wyoming 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: No more than 2 4-year terms in any 4-term period. The Wyoming Supreme Court determined on 4 May 2004 that term limits require an amendment to the state constitution rather than, as they were, imposed by a 1992 ballot initiative. At the time, the ruling was not applied to statewide offices. Reference: CATHCART v. MEYER, 2004 WY 49, 88 P.3d 1050, Case Number: 04-32, 04-33, 04-34, Decided: 05/04/2004
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic
	Democratic	135,516	69.89%	Governor Dave Freudenthal
Total		193,892	100.00%

Political Parties Parties appear in parenthesis and italics when a candidate receives the endorsement of a given Party and/or official sources indicate a candidate's association with a particular Party but only where the Party in question does not appear on the actual ballot as such.

Major Parties
	• Democratic
	• Democratic-Farmer Labor
	• Republican
Major Third Parties
	• Green
	• Green-Rainbow
	• Libertarian
	• Pacific Green
	• Reform
Other Third Parties
	• Alaskan Independence
	• American
	• American Constitution
	• American Independent
	• Concerned Citizens
	• Conservative
	• Constitution
	• Independence
	• Independent American
	• Liberty Union
	• Marijuana
	• Nebraska
	• Peace And Freedom
	• Populist
	• Quit Raising Taxes
	• Rent is too High
	• Right to Life
	• Socialist Party USA
	• Socialist Workers Party
	• U.S. Taxpayers
	• Veterans Party of America
	• Working Families
Independents
	• By Petition
	• Independent
	• No Party Affiliation
	• Unaffiliated
	• Unenrolled
Write-in/Scattered/otherwise not readily classifiable
	• None of these candidates
	• Scattering
	• Write-in

Notes

Candidates for office appear on this page in italics where 'The Green Papers' does not yet have independent confirmation from an election authority that this candidate is actually on the ballot.