2015 Governor's Chairs by State

The Green Papers: 2015 General Election

2015 Governor's Chairs
by State

3 Governor's Chairs up for election in 2015

3 Elected

47 Governor's Chairs not up for election in 2015

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

1 Incumbent renominated by same party

1 Republican

79 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 2015 are marked as such.

There have been 0 deaths, 1 resignation, and 0 changes of party affiliation in 2015.

Governor John A. Kitzhaber ( (Democratic - Oregon) resigned 18 February 2015 amid scandal involving payments from and advocacy group. Secretary of State Kate Brown (Democratic) ascended to the Governor's chair upon his resignation.

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



Delaware 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2012, 2016. Term Limit: No one can serve more than 2 4-year terms in a lifetime
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic

	Republican			state Senator Colin R. J. Bonini • 7 November 2014: Announced his candidacy.
	Republican			Lacey Lafferty

Indiana 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2012, 2016. Term Limit: No more than 2 4-year terms in any 3-term period
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican
	*Republican*			*Governor Mike Pence* • 19 May 2015: Announced that on 18 June he will announce that he will run for re-election in 2016.
	Republican			Robert "Bob" Thomas

Kentucky 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2011, 2015. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic
		Open Chair (no incumbent)
	Republican			Matthew Griswold "Matt" Bevin • for Lieutenant Governor: Jenean Hampton.

Louisiana 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2011, 2015. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican
	Republican	505,929	43.89%	Senator David Vitter • Received 23% in the 24 October primary. Proceeds to 21 November 2015 runoff
Total		1,152,789	100.00%

Mississippi 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2011, 2015. Term Limit: No one can serve more than 2 4-year terms in a lifetime
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican
	Republican			Governor Phil Bryant

Missouri 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2012, 2016. Term Limit: No one can serve more than 2 4-year terms in a lifetime
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic
	~~Republican~~			~~former state Representative Randy Asbury - apparently not a candidate~~ • 25 September 2015: Withdrew stating "We have no regrets but must bring the campaign to its end...".
	Republican			John G. Brunner
	~~Republican~~			~~state Senator Bob Dixon - apparently not a candidate~~ • 23 November 2015: Ending his campaign for Governor of Missouri.
	Republican			Eric Greitens
	Republican			former U.S. Attorney Catherine L. Hanaway
	Republican			Lieutenant Governor Peter Kinder • 9 November 2014: Media reports indicate Mr. Kinder will run for re-election in 2016. 10 July 2015: Media reports indicate Mr. Kinder will run for Governor in 2016.
	~~Republican~~			~~Bart Korman - apparently not a candidate~~
	~~Republican~~			~~Auditor Thomas A. "Tom" Schweich - apparently not a candidate~~ • 28 January 2015: Announced his candidacy for Governor. 26 February 2015: Mr. Schweich, 54, commits suicide.

Montana 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2012, 2016. Term Limit: No more than 2 4-year terms in any 4-term period
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic
	Republican			Public Service Commissioner Brad Johnson • Montana Secretary of State 2005-2009
	Republican			Mark Perea

New Hampshire 2 year term, Election Cycle: 2014, 2016. Term Limit: None. GOVERNOR is the only Statewide elected officer
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic
	Republican			state Representative Frank Edelblut
	Republican			Chris Sununu

North Carolina 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2012, 2016. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican
	*Republican*			*Governor Patrick "Pat" McCrory*

North Dakota 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2012, 2016. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican
	Republican			state Representative Rick C. Becker
	~~Republican~~			~~state Senator Tom Campbell - apparently not a candidate~~ • 17 November 2015: Will not run for Governor.
	Republican			Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem • circa 19 October 2015: Formed a campaign committee to run for Governor in 2016. 19 November 2015: Confirmed his candidacy.

Oregon 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2014, 2018. Term Limit: No more than 2 4-year terms in any 3-term period
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic
	Republican			William C. "Bud" Pierce

Tennessee 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2014, 2018. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms. GOVERNOR is the only Statewide elected officer
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican
	Republican			Mark "Coonrippy" Brown

Utah 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2012, 2016. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican
	*Republican*			*Governor Gary R. Herbert*
	Republican			Jonathan Johnson

Vermont 2 year term, Election Cycle: 2014, 2016. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic
	Republican			Bruce Lisman
	Republican			Lieutenant Governor Phil Scott • 8 September 2015: Announced his candidacy for Governor in 2016.

Virginia 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2013, 2017. Term Limit: ineligble to immediately succeed after a given 4-year term
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic
	Republican			Ed Gillespie • former Republican National Committee Chairman

Washington 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2012, 2016. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic
	Republican			Port of Seattle Commissioner Bill Bryant

West Virginia 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2012, 2016. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic
	Republican			state Senator William P. "Bill" Cole, III
	Republican			Andrew Utterback
	Republican			Edwin Vanover

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
	• Republican
Major Third Parties
	• Constitution
	• Libertarian
	• Reform
Other Third Parties
	• Marijuana
Independents
	• Independent
Write-in/Scattered/otherwise not readily classifiable
	• Write-in

Notes

Candidates for office appear on this page in italics where 'The Green Papers' does not yet have independent confirmation from a legal election authority that the person has been officially certified to appear on the ballot.