State executive official elections, 2025
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State executive offices up for election in 2025 included twogubernatorial seats, twolieutenant gubernatorial seats, and oneattorney general seat. Including down-ballot races, there were eight state executive seats up for election across four states in 2025.[1]
In the 2025 elections, Democrats gained a trifecta. As a result, there were 23Republican trifectas, 16Democratic trifectas, and 11 divided governments.
In the 2025 elections, Democrats gained a triplex. As a result, there were 25Republican triplexes, 20Democratic triplexes, and 5 divided governments where neither party held triplex control.
Democrats won both gubernatorial offices on the ballot in 2025.Virginia was the only state in which the partisan control of the governor's office changed afterAbigail Spanberger (D) defeatedWinsome Earle-Sears (R). Democrats retained control of the governor's office inNew Jersey afterMikie Sherrill (D) defeatedJack Ciattarelli (R).
Democrats won both lieutenant gubernatorial offices on the ballot in 2025.Virginia was the only state in which the partisan control of the lieutenant governor's office changed afterGhazala Hashmi (D) defeatedJohn Reid (R). Democrats retained control of the governor's office inNew Jersey afterMikie Sherrill (D) defeatedJack Ciattarelli (R). In New Jersey, the gubernatorial nominee chooses a lieutenant gubernatorial running mate, and they run together on a single ticket in the general election. Sherrill selectedDale Caldwell (D) as her running mate, and Ciattarelli selectedJames Gannon (R) as his running mate.
Democrats won the attorney general office on the ballot in 2025. Partisan control of the attorney general's office inVirginia changed afterJay Jones (D) defeated incumbentJason Miyares (R). Although there was no direct election for attorney general of New Jersey, the governor of New Jersey appoints itsAttorney General.
Although there were no direct elections for secretary of state in 2025,Democrats won both gubernatorial elections on the ballot. The governor of New Jersey appoints itsSecretary of State and the governor of Virginia appoints itsSecretary of the Commonwealth.
State executives act in many capacities according to the powers granted to them by their state constitutions. They are also charged with implementing and enforcing laws made by state legislatures. There are 748executive seats spread across13 distinct types of offices in the United States.[2] Of the 13 executive offices, only seven exist in all 50 states:governor,attorney general,superintendent of schools,insurance commissioner,agriculture commissioner,labor commissioner, andpublic service commissioner.
Ballotpedia identified seven state executive elections as battleground races. Clickhere to see a breakdown by office.
While this page includes links to pages on state executive elections in the U.S. Territories, it does not include the territories in its statistics.
- Post-election analysisAnalysis of the 2025 state executive election resultsRead more
- Offices up for electionA list of elections and candidates that were on the ballot in 2025Read more
- Trifectas and triplexesInformation on trifectas and triplexesRead more
- Historical election dataA compilation of data related to state executive official electionsRead more
- Pre-election analysisAnalysis leading up to the 2025 state executive electionsRead more
- Important dates and deadlinesA list of important dates and deadlines for the 2025 election cycleRead more
Post-election analysis
Offices up for election
Click the tabs below to view information about the elections this year. In this section, you will find:
- A list of seats up for election
- A list of candidates running
- Ballotpedia's Sample Ballot Lookup Tool
There weretwo gubernatorial seats on the ballot in 2025.
Out of all the state executive offices, only the governor is elected in all 50 states. As the chief executive officer, the governor is among the most powerful figures in state government. Other executive offices ordinarily report to him or her.
The table below lists all candidates for governor in 2025. The table is fully searchable bycandidate, party andcandidacy status. Depending on the size of your screen, you'll either see a menu to the left of the table or an arrow at the top right corner, which you can use to select a state.
| candidate | party | office | status |
|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Won General | ||
Republican | Lost Primary | ||
Republican | Lost Primary | ||
Republican | Lost General | ||
Republican | Lost (Write-in) Primary | ||
Republican | Lost Primary | ||
Republican | Lost Primary | ||
Democratic | Lost Primary | ||
Democratic | Lost Primary | ||
Democratic | Lost Primary | ||
Democratic | Lost Primary | ||
Democratic | Lost Primary | ||
Libertarian | Lost General | ||
Socialist Workers Party | Lost General | ||
Republican | Withdrew Primary | ||
Republican | Withdrew Primary | ||
Republican | Withdrew Primary | ||
Republican | Withdrew Primary | ||
Republican | Withdrew Primary | ||
Green | Withdrew General | ||
Green | Withdrew General | ||
Independent | Withdrew General | ||
Independent | Withdrew General |
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
| candidate | party | office | status |
|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Won General | ||
Republican | Lost General | ||
Republican | Withdrew Primary | ||
Republican | Withdrew Primary | ||
Republican | Withdrew Primary | ||
Democratic | Withdrew General | ||
Independent | Withdrew (Write-in) General | ||
Independent | Withdrew General |
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
Pre-election analysis
Ballotpedia identifiedseven state executive elections as battleground races. The breakdown of battleground races by office includes:
- Two elections for governor,
- One election for attorney general,
- Two elections for lieutenant governor,
- One election for Public Service Commissioner (two seats), and
- One election for Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Trifectas and triplexes
Trifectas and triplexes are terms used to describe party control of state political offices. Click the tabs below to view the current status of trifectas and triplexes across the country.
- See also:State government trifectas
State government trifecta is a term to describe single-party government, when one political party holds the governorship and majorities in both chambers of the state legislature.
As of November 25, 2025, there are 23 Republican trifectas, 15 Democratic trifectas, and 12 divided governments where neither party holds trifecta control.
Important dates and deadlines
The following table details 2025 statewide filing deadlines and primary dates.
| State | Election date | Filing deadline | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Jersey | June 10, 2025 | March 24, 2025 - New Jersey statewide primary candidate filing deadline | Source |
| Pennsylvania | May 20, 2025 | March 11, 2025 - Pennsylvania statewide primary candidate filing deadline | Source |
| Virginia | June 17, 2025 | April 3, 2025 - Virginia statewide primary candidate filing deadline | Source |
| Wisconsin | Feb. 18, 2025 | Jan. 7, 2025 - Wisconsin statewide spring primary candidate filing deadline | Source |
Historical election data
Ballotpedia coversAmerica's 748 state executive seats across all 50 states. The following sections look at incumbency and partisanship in state executive elections from 2011 to 2024.
Incumbency
From 2011 to 2024, 58.4% of incumbents sought re-election. Of the incumbents who sought re-election during that period, 86% were successful. The first chart below shows the number of incumbents who sought election each year compared to the number of seats up for election. The second chart shows the number of incumbents who were re-elected compared to the number of incumbents who ran for re-election.
The table below is organized by year and includes the total number of offices up for election, the number and percentage of incumbents who sought re-election, and the number and percentage of incumbents who won another term.
| Year | Total seats | Incumbents who sought re-election | % incumbents who sought re-election | Incumbents who were re-elected | % incumbents who were re-elected |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 167 | 87 | 52.10% | 74 | 85.10% |
| 2023 | 36 | 19 | 52.80% | 17 | 89.50% |
| 2022 | 305 | 209 | 68.50% | 183 | 87.60% |
| 2021 | 7 | 3 | 42.90% | 2 | 66.70% |
| 2020 | 166 | 106 | 63.90% | 91 | 85.80% |
| 2019 | 36 | 21 | 58.30% | 20 | 95.20% |
| 2018 | 298 | 184 | 61.70% | 149 | 81.00% |
| 2017 | 8 | 3 | 37.50% | 2 | 66.70% |
| 2016 | 93 | 51 | 54.80% | 40 | 78.40% |
| 2015 | 25 | 16 | 64.00% | 15 | 93.80% |
| 2014 | 226 | 152 | 67.30% | 139 | 91.40% |
| 2013 | 6 | 3 | 50.00% | 3 | 100.00% |
| 2012 | 94 | 67 | 71.30% | 59 | 88.10% |
| 2011 | 26 | 19 | 73.10% | 18 | 94.70% |
| Total | 1,493 | 940 | 58.40% | 812 | 86.00% |
Partisanship
The table below details how many state executive seats changed parties from 2011 to 2024. The largest single-year gain by a party was in 2018, when Democrats gained 41 net seats. That year also had the highest number of seats up for election, with 303. The lowest net change was in 2011, when no parties gained or lost any seats. Twenty-six seats were on the ballot that year. The table is organized by year and shows the number of seats held by each party before the election and after the election and the net change each party saw.
| Year | Total seats | Before election | After election | Net change | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democrats | Republicans | Other | Democrats | Republicans | Other | Democrats | Republicans | Other | ||
| 2024 | 167 | 50 | 86 | 31 | 46 | 90 | 31 | -4 | 4 | 0 |
| 2023 | 36 | 7 | 29 | 0 | 6 | 30 | 0 | -1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2022 | 307 | 125 | 156 | 26 | 124 | 158 | 25 | -1 | 2 | -1 |
| 2021 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | -3 | 3 | 0 |
| 2020 | 171 | 59 | 71 | 41 | 56 | 75 | 40 | -3 | 4 | -1 |
| 2019 | 36 | 8 | 28 | 0 | 7 | 29 | 0 | -1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2018 | 303 | 81 | 184 | 38 | 122 | 143 | 38 | 41 | -41 | 0 |
| 2017 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | -2 | 0 |
| 2016 | 93 | 50 | 39 | 3 | 37 | 53 | 2 | -13 | 14 | -1 |
| 2015 | 25 | 8 | 16 | 1 | 6 | 19 | 0 | -2 | 3 | -1 |
| 2014 | 226 | 79 | 144 | 3 | 67 | 156 | 3 | -12 | 12 | 0 |
| 2013 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -3 | 0 |
| 2012 | 94 | 50 | 38 | 6 | 49 | 42 | 3 | -1 | 4 | -3 |
| 2011 | 26 | 9 | 17 | 0 | 9 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Partisan control of governorships
The chart below looks at the number of governorships held by the Democratic and Republican parties between 1977 and 2025. The biggest difference between the number of seats held by Democrats compared to those held by Republicans was in 1977 and 1978, when Democrats held 37 seats and Republicans held 12. The lowest difference between the number of seats held by Democrats compared to those held by Republicans was in 1987, 2003, and 2019. In 1987, Democrats held 26 governorships and Republicans held 24; in both 2003 and 2019, Democrats held 24 governorships and Republicans held 26. Republicans gained one governorship in both the 2020 and 2021 elections. Democrats gained two net governorships in 2022. Republicans gained one net governorship in 2023. No governorships changed party hands in 2024. Democrats gained one governorship inVirginia in 2025.
Election coverage by office
Congressional special electionsRead more
GovernorsRead more
Attorney generalRead more
Other state executivesRead more
State legislaturesRead more
State ballot measuresRead more
Local ballot measuresRead more
State judgesRead more
Local judgesRead more
Municipal governmentRead more
School boardsRead more
RecallsRead more
Analysis of state elections
State legislative elections
- See also:State legislative elections, 2025
As ofNovember 25th, 2025, Republicans controlled55.29% of all state legislative seats nationally, while Democrats held43.53%. Republicans held a majority in57 chambers, and Democrats held the majority in39 chambers.Two chambers (Alaska House andAlaska Senate) were organized under multipartisan, power-sharing coalitions.One chamber (Minnesota House of Representatives) was split evenly between both parties.
| Partisan balance of all 7,386 state legislative seats | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legislative chamber |  |  |  Other | Vacant | ||||
| State senates | 829 | 1,118 | 6 | 20 | ||||
| State houses | 2,386 | 2,966 | 20 | 41 | ||||
| Total: | 3,215 | 4,084 | 26 | 61 | ||||
More related analysis
Tap the box below to show more analysis articles related to the 2025 state legislative elections.
- Ballotpedia's Top 10 Elections to Watch, 2025
- Annual Competitiveness Report
- State legislative special elections
- Primary election competitiveness in state government, 2025
- Impact of term limits
- Trifecta vulnerability in the 2025 elections
- Data on incumbents defeated in 2025
- Characteristics of incumbents defeated in 2025
- Veto-proof state legislatures and opposing party governors in the 2025 elections
- Contested primaries
- Open seats
- Incumbents in contested primaries
- Major party competition
- Unconstested incumbents
State executive elections
More related analysis
Tap the box below to show more analysis articles related to the 2025 state executive elections.
- Ballotpedia's Top 10 Elections to Watch, 2025
- Annual Competitiveness Report
- State executive official elections overview
- Primary election competitiveness in state government, 2025
- Gubernatorial elections
- Secretary of State elections
- Attorney General elections
- Historical and potential changes in trifectas
- State government trifectas
- Endorsements of school board members by state executive officeholders and candidates, 2025
- Impact of term limits on state executive elections
- Veto-proof state legislatures and opposing party governors
State judicial elections
- See also:State judicial elections, 2025
More related analysis
Tap the box below to show more analysis articles related to the 2025 state judicial elections.
See also
- Past gubernatorial elections:2024 •2023 •2022 •2021 •2020 •2019 •2018 •2017 •2016
- Past state executive elections:2024 •2023 •2022 •2021 •2020 •2019 •2018 •2017 •2016
- Past election analysis:2024 •2023 •2022 •2021 •2020 •2019 •2018
Footnotes
- ↑Ballotpedia describes the offices of governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and secretary of state as top-ballot state executive offices. Down-ballot state executive offices that exist in all 50 states include superintendent of schools, insurance commissioner, agriculture commissioner, labor commissioner, and public service commissioner. Examples of other down-ballot state executive offices include treasurer, auditor, and comptroller.
- ↑There are 13 state executive offices as Ballotpediadefines the term, however, there are other executive offices that Ballotpedia does not cover in some states.
