2026 Governor's Chairs by State

The Green Papers: 2026 General Election

2026 Governor's Chairs
by State

36 Governor's Chairs up for election in 2026

14 Governor's Chairs not up for election in 2026

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

17 Incumbents renominated by same party

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

1 Democratic

293 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 2024 are marked as such.

There have been 0 deaths, 0 resignation, and 0 changes of party affiliation in 2023.

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



Alaska 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2022, 2026. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican


		Open Chair (no incumbent)
	Write-in; (Democratic; Republican)		former Angoon City Council Member James Willia"JP4" Parkin, IV • for Lieutenant Governor: Ramadhani "Ram" Greer • 18 August 2026: Lost the primary. Now running as a write-in. Parkin is a registered Republican. Greer is a registered Democrat.

Arizona 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2022, 2026. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic



	Write-in; (Republican)		Gertritrude Gonzalez
	Write-in; (Republican)		Alice Novoa

Florida 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2022, 2026. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican


		Open Chair (no incumbent)
	Write-in		Kathleen Gail "Kathy" Anderson • for Lieutenant Governor: Daniel Nokovich
	Write-in; (Independent)		~~David "DJ" DeJesus - apparently not a candidate~~ • 27 August 2026: Removed.
	Write-in; (Democratic)		~~Richard Paul Dembinsky - apparently not a candidate~~ • 27 August 2026: Removed.
	~~Write-in~~		~~Mohammad Wajid "M.W." Khan - apparently not a candidate~~ • 17 August 2026: Withdrew.
	Write-in		Erik Edward Morris • for Lieutenant Governor: LeRoy Alaways

Georgia 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2022, 2026. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican


		Open Chair (no incumbent)
	Write-in		David C. Byrne
	Write-in		Jacqueline Angela DaCosta
	Write-in		Deb Broughton Davis
	Write-in		Milton J. Lofton
	Write-in		David Leon Moreland
	Write-in		Leland Jake Olinger, II
	Write-in		Andrew Pacetti

Idaho 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2022, 2026. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican


	Write-in; (Independent)		Jacob Burnett

Illinois 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2022, 2026. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic


	Write-in; (Libertarian)		Taegun Eimer • for Lieutenant Governor: Chicago Police District Councilor Christopher "Chris" Laurent
	Write-in		Richard Mayers
	Write-in		Mistry Metroz
	Write-in; (Green)		Griselda Romero • for Lieutenant Governor: Eyde Arndell • 14 July 2026: Removed from ballot. Now running as a write-in.
	Write-in		Elizabeth Sebesta
	Write-in; (Republican)		Joseph "Joe" Severino - apparently not a candidate • for Lieutenant Governor: Rantch Isquith
	Write-in		Patricia L. Tillman • for Lieutenant Governor: Joseph L. Mosley
	Write-in		Rafael Varela
	Write-in; (American Solidarity)		Mike Vick

Kansas 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2022, 2026. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic


		Open Chair (no incumbent)
	Write-in; (Independent)		Sharilyn Ray

Maine 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2022, 2026. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms. GOVERNOR is the only Statewide elected officer
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic


		Open Chair (no incumbent)
	Write-in; (Independent; Unenrolled)		John Glowa, Sr.
	Write-in; (Republican)		Randy Wilcox

New York 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2022, 2026. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic


	Write-in; (Socialist Workers Party)		Paul Mailhot • for Lieutenant Governor: Willie Cotton
	Write-in; (Prohibition Party)		Jonathan Makeley

Ohio 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2022, 2026. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican


		Open Chair (no incumbent)
	Write-in; (Forward Party; Independent)		Timothy "Tim" Grady • for Lieutenant Governor: Andrea Neutzling
	Write-in		Heather Hill • for Lieutenant Governor: Patrick Manley
	Write-in		Renea Turner • for Lieutenant Governor: Jalen Turner
	Write-in		Ron Ula • for Lieutenant Governor: Michael C. "Mike" Lehnerd

Pennsylvania 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2022, 2026. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic


	Write-in; (Green)		Anthony James "Tony" Dastra • for Lieutenant Governor: Craig Joseph Bolton • 10 August 2026: Petitions challenged. 25 August 2026: Withdrew as a balloted candidate.
	Write-in; (Socialist Workers Party)		Tony Lane
	Write-in; (Republican)		~~Doug Mastriano - apparently not a candidate~~
	Write-in		James Moore

Tennessee 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2022, 2026. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms. GOVERNOR is the only Statewide elected officer
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican


		Open Chair (no incumbent)
	Write-in		Stephen C. Maxwell

Texas 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2022, 2026. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican


	Write-in		Edward Earl Giles
	Write-in		Jinghpaw Majoishingra
	Write-in		Mike Miller
	Write-in; (Independent)		Jenn Mack Raphoon • aka Jenn Mack

Vermont 2 year term, Election Cycle: 2022, 2024. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican


	Write-in; (Constitution)		Mark Grimek
	Write-in; (Democratic)		~~Brett Hulsey - lost primary~~
	Write-in		David King
	Write-in		Bryan Ponnwitz
	Write-in; (Democratic)		~~Tim Reppen - lost primary~~
	Write-in; (Republican)		~~Dennis Williams - lost primary~~

Wisconsin 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2022, 2026. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic


		Open Chair (no incumbent)
	~~Write-in~~		~~former Assembly Member Brett Hulsey - apparently not a candidate~~
	Write-in; (Independent)		David D. King

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
	• American Constitution
	• Constitution
	• Green
	• Green-Rainbow
	• Libertarian
	• Pacific Green
	• Peace And Justice
	• U.S. Taxpayers
Other Third Parties
	• America First
	• American Solidarity
	• Approval Voting
	• Coalition Party
	• Conservative
	• Forward Party
	• Freedom and Unity Party
	• Independent Party of Connecticut
	• Legal Marijuana Now
	• No Labels
	• Progressive
	• Prohibition Party
	• Socialist Workers Party
	• United Citizens
	• Unity
	• Vote Affordable
	• Working Class
	• Working Families
Independents
	• Independent
	• No Party Affiliation
	• No Political Party
	• Nonpartisan
	• Unaffiliated
	• Unenrolled
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.

"Apparently not a candidate" indicates that someone we once listed as a candidate for an elective office will not, in fact, be running for that office (primarily because said candidate is not listed on an official ballot provided by a jurisdiction's election authorities, where that candidate has not previously withdrawn his/her candidacy or otherwise indicated no longer [or even ever] being a candidate for that office).

"FEC" indicates the Federal Election Commission (FEC) Campaign Finance Summary.

When available, we post each candidate's FEC identification number, the date of their most recently filed Report of Receipts and Disbursements, their "Tot" [Total Receipts (contributions received or what came in: FEC Form 3, Line 16, Column B)] and their "Dsb" [Total Disbursements (expenditures or what was spent: FEC Form 3, Line 23, Column B)]. A link is provided to the Federal Election Commission's Summary Report for those who might wish to explore the details.

If a candidate raises or spends $5,000 or less, he or she is not subject to FEC reporting requirements.