2021 Governor's Chairs by State

The Green Papers: 2021 General Election

2021 Governor's Chairs
by State

2 Governor's Chairs up for election in 2021

2 Democratic

48 Governor's Chairs not up for election in 2021

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

1 Incumbent Governor - election status not yet determined (primaries and/or nominating conventions yet to be held)

1 Democratic

92 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.)

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



Arkansas 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2018, 2022. Term Limit: No one can serve more than 2 4-year terms in a lifetime
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican



	Democratic	James "Rus" Russell, III

	Republican	Sarah Huckabee Sanders • Daughter of former Governor Mike Huckabee
	Republican	Attorney General Leslie Rutledge

California 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2018, 2022. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic


	Republican	John Cox
	Republican	former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer • Exploratory
	Republican	Rhonda Furin
	No Party Preference	Adriel Hampton
	No Party Preference	Joseph Luciano
	Democratic	Chamath Palihapitiya • ?
	Democratic	Errol Webber
	Libertarian	Nickolas Wildstar

Colorado 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2018, 2022. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic


	Republican	former Parker Mayor Greg Lopez

	Unaffiliated	Peter J. Carr

Florida 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2018, 2022. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican



	Democratic	Richard Paul Dembinsky
	Democratic	David Nelson Freeman
	Democratic	Jonathan Karns
	Democratic	Amaro Lionheart
	Democratic	Alexander "Alex" "Lundy" Lundmark
	Democratic	Timothy Lemont Mosley

	Republican	John Joseph Mercadante

	No Party Affiliation	Kyle "KC" Gibson
	No Party Affiliation	Mark B. Graham
	No Party Affiliation	Frank J. Hughes, Jr.

Georgia 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2018, 2022. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican



	Republican	Jonathan Garcia
	Republican	Kandiss Taylor

	Libertarian	Shane Hazel

Illinois 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2018, 2022. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic



	Republican	state Senator Darren Bailey
	Republican	Gary Rabine
	Republican	former state Senator Paul Schimpf

Iowa 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2018, 2022. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican



	Democratic	Katie Geltz

Kansas 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2018, 2022. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic



	*Democratic*	*Governor Laura Kelly*

Maine 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2018, 2022. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms. GOVERNOR is the only Statewide elected officer
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic


	Republican	former Governor Paul R. LePage • First elected Governor: 2010; re-elected: 2014. At term limit in 2018.

Maryland 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2018, 2022. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican



	Democratic	Comptroller Peter Franchot
	Democratic	Ashwani Jain
	Democratic	Ed Tinus

	Republican	former state Delegate Robin Ficker

Massachusetts 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2018, 2022. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican


	Democratic	Danielle Allen
	Democratic	former state Senator Ben Downing
	Democratic	Scott M. Khourie

	Libertarian	Carlos Perez

	Write-in	Philip Mitza • Register Republican; was considering running as a Libertarian.

Michigan 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2018, 2022. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic


	Republican	Austin Chenge

Minnesota 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2018, 2022. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic


	Republican	Lexington Mayor Mike Murphy

Nebraska 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2018, 2022. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican



	Democratic	former state Senator Robert J. "Bob" Krist

	Republican	Charles W. Herbster

Nevada 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2018, 2022. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic



	Republican	Eddie Hamilton

New Jersey 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2017, 2021. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic



	*Democratic*	Governor Philip "Phil" Murphy • for Lieutenant Governor: Lieutenant Governor Sheila Y. Oliver • 1 October 2020: Announced re-election bid.

	Republican	former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli
	Republican	former Somerset Count Commissioner Brian D. Levine
	Republican	Phil Rizzo
	Republican	Hirsch Singh
	~~Republican~~	~~former Lopatcong Mayor Doug Steinhardt - apparently not a candidate~~ • 12 January 2021: "... unforeseen professional obligations have made it untenable for me to continue in this race as a candidate for Governor ...."
	~~Republican~~	~~Ocean County Commissioner Joseph H. "Joe" Vicari - apparently not a candidate~~ • 22 January 2021: Dropped out.

	Libertarian	Gregg Mele • for Lieutenant Governor: Eveline Brownstein

	Socialist Workers Party	Joanne Kuniansky • for Lieutenant Governor: Candace Wagner • Petition requirements: 800 valid signatures due in June 2021.

	Independent	Justin Maldonado

	Not readily classifiable	David Winkler • New Jersey Patriot Party

New York 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2018, 2022. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic



	*Democratic*	*Governor Andrew M. Cuomo*

	Republican	Lewis County Sheriff Mike Carpinelli
	Republican	Derrick Gibson

Ohio 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2018, 2022. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican


	Republican	state Representative John Becker

Oklahoma 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2018, 2022. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican


	Republican	former state Sentor Ervin Yen

Oregon 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2018, 2022. Term Limit: No more than 2 4-year terms in any 3-term period
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic


	Republican	Bud Pierce
	Republican	Paul Romero, Jr.

Pennsylvania 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2018, 2022. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic


	Republican	Montgomery County Commissioner Joseph C. "Joe" Gale

South Carolina 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2018, 2022. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican


	Republican	Peggy Kandies
	*Republican*	*Governor Henry D. McMaster*

Texas 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2018, 2022. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican



	Democratic	Michael Cooper
	Democratic	Deirdre Gilbert

	*Republican*	*Governor Greg Abbott*
	Republican	Rusk City Councilmember Martin Holsome
	Republican	Chad Prather

	Libertarian	Dan "Taxation is Theft" Behrman

	Independent	Patrick Scott Wynne

Virginia 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2017, 2021. Term Limit: ineligble to immediately succeed after a given 4-year term
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic



	Democratic	former state Delegate Jennifer D. Carroll Foy
	Democratic	state Delegate Lee J. Carter
	Democratic	Lieutenant Governor Justin E. Fairfax
	Democratic	former Governor Terry McAuliffe
	Democratic	state Senator Jennifer L. "Jenn" McClellan

	Republican	state Senator Amanda F. Chase
	Republican	state Delegate M. Kirkland "Kirk" Cox
	Republican	Paul Davis
	Republican	Sergio de la Peña
	Republican	Peter Doran
	Republican	Merle Rutledge, Jr.
	Republican	Kurt Santini
	Republican	Pete Snyder
	Republican	Glenn A. Youngkin

	Constitution	Timothy "TC Country" Phipps

	Independent	Princess Blanding • Liberation Party
	Independent	Brad Froman

Wyoming 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2018, 2022. 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 Republican



	Republican	Rex Rammell

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
Other Third Parties
	• Socialist Workers Party
Independents
	• Independent
	• No Party Affiliation
	• No Party Preference
	• Unaffiliated
Write-in/Scattered/otherwise not readily classifiable
	• Not readily classifiable
	• Write-in