2020 United States gubernatorial elections

← 2019 November 3, 2020 2021 →
← 2016 2024 →
13 governorships 11 states; 2 territories
Majority party Minority party   Party Republican Democratic Seats before 26 24 Seats after 27 23 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 10,698,657 9,001,081 Percentage 52.41% 44.09% Seats up 7 4 Seats won 8 3
Democratic hold     Republican hold      Republican gain      New Progressive hold     Nonpartisan politician

United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 3, 2020, in 11 states and two territories. The previous gubernatorial elections for this group of states took place in2016, except in New Hampshire and Vermont where governors only serve two-year terms. These two states elected their current governors in 2018. Nine state governors ran for reelection and all nine won,^[a] whileDemocratSteve Bullock ofMontana could not run again due to term limits andRepublicanGary Herbert ofUtah decided to retire at the end of his term.^[1]

In addition to state gubernatorial elections, theterritories ofAmerican Samoa andPuerto Rico also held elections for their governors.Puerto RicangovernorWanda Vázquez Garced lost theNew Progressive Party primary toPedro Pierluisi,^[2] whileLolo Matalasi Moliga ofAmerican Samoa could not run again due to term limits.^[3]

The elections took place concurrently with the2020 presidential election,elections to the House of Representatives andSenate, and numerousstate andlocal elections. This round of gubernatorial elections marked the first time sinceWest Virginia governorJim Justice's party switch in mid-2017 that Republicans flipped any governorships held previously by Democrats, and the first round of gubernatorial elections since2016 where Republicans made net gains, ending a streak of Democratic net gains that had occurred in prior elections during the presidency of RepublicanDonald Trump.

Montana was considered the most competitive race in this cycle and was rated a tossup by four of six major pundits. Incumbent Democratic governorSteve Bullock was term-limited, but his lieutenant governor,Mike Cooney, a longtime political figure in the state since 1977, was the Democratic nominee. The Republican nominee was Montana at-large congressmanGreg Gianforte, who is a controversial figure because he was arrested for body-slamming a reporter the day of a2017 special election..^[4] The Bullock administration had an approval rating of 52% and a disapproval of 31%, according to a poll by theMorning Consult, meaning Cooney's election chances were higher in the otherwise solidly Republican state.^[5]North Carolina was the next most competitive race, as it is a Republican-leaning swing state with a Democratic governor,Roy Cooper, meaning that Cooper faced a tough reelection. Cooper won his 2016 election by a mere 10,277 votes, or 0.22%.^[6] However, most forecasters gave the race a Democratic lean as Cooper had an approval rating of 59%.^[7] Cooper had also lead most polls against his Republican challenger,Dan Forest, by an average of a 11-point lead, according toRealClearPolitics.^[8]

Vermont andNew Hampshire are both races that could have become competitive as they are Democratic states with Republican governors in a presidential year. However, Republican incumbentsPhil Scott of Vermont andChris Sununu of New Hampshire are ranked among the most popular governors in theUnited States, and both races were rated likely to be safe Republican. Both are viewed as centrists who attract Democratic and independent voters. Scott's challenger wasDavid Zuckerman, the state's lieutenant governor, who ran on both the Democratic andProgressive nominations. Zuckerman had been endorsed by Vermont U.S. senatorBernie Sanders. Sununu was running againstNew Hampshire Senate Majority LeaderDan Feltes.

InMissouri, Republican incumbentMike Parson assumed office after the resignation ofEric Greitens due to sexual harassment and violations of campaign finance laws,^[9] and his lack of name recognition and unpopularity could have made hisrace against state auditorNicole Galloway, Missouri's only Democratic statewide office holder, competitive, though most forecasters still rated the race as lean Republican due to Missouri's heavy Republican lean.West Virginia’sgubernatorial race was seen as safe for Republicans because the state heavily leans Republican, but some forecasts rated it as likely Republican due to corruption allegations against incumbentJim Justice^[10][11][12] that have led to rising unpopularity. Justice faced centrist DemocratBen Salango, who was endorsed by U.S. senatorJoe Manchin and multiple local unions.^[13]

The gubernatorial races forJohn Carney inDelaware andJay Inslee inWashington were seen as safe for Democrats, while the races forEric Holcomb inIndiana,Doug Burgum inNorth Dakota, andSpencer Cox inUtah were seen as safe for Republicans.

Several sites and individuals published predictions of competitive seats. These predictions looked at factors such as the strength of theincumbent (if the incumbent is running for re-election), the strength of the candidates, and the partisan leanings of the state (reflected in part by the state'sCook Partisan Voting Index rating). The predictions assigned ratings to each seat, with the rating indicating the predicted advantage that a party has in winning that seat.

Most election predictors use:

• "tossup": no advantage
• "tilt" (used by some predictors): advantage that is not quite as strong as "lean"
• "lean": slight advantage
• "likely": significant, but surmountable, advantage
• "safe": near-certain chance of victory

States where the margin of victory was between 1% and 5%:

1. Puerto Rico, 1.37%
2. North Carolina, 4.51%

Red denotes races won by Republicans.Blue denotes races won by Democrats.Dark blue denotes race won by New Progressives.

These were the election dates for the regularly scheduled general elections.

2020 Delaware gubernatorial election

← 2016 November 3, 2020 2024 →

Nominee John Carney Julianne Murray Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 292,903 190,312 Percentage 59.5% 38.6%

County results Carney:     50–60%     60–70% Murray:     50–60%

Governor before election John Carney Democratic ElectedGovernor John Carney Democratic

One-term incumbent DemocratJohn Carney ran for re-election to a second term.^[31][32] Primaries took place on September 15. Carney decisively defeated progressive community activist and environmentalist^[33] David Lamar Williams, Jr. in the Democratic primary.^[34] Multiple candidates ran in the Republican primary, including attorney Julianne Murray,Delaware state senator from the16th districtColin Bonini, small business owner David Bosco, local Republican politician David Graham, Delaware state senator from the21st districtBryant Richardson, and perennial candidate Scott Walker. Murray narrowly defeated Bonini with a plurality of the vote. Carney won reelection by a large margin.

2020 Indiana gubernatorial election

← 2016 November 3, 2020 2024 →

Nominee Eric Holcomb Woody Myers Donald Rainwater Party Republican Democratic Libertarian Running mate Suzanne Crouch Linda Lawson William Henry Popular vote 1,706,727 968,094 345,569 Percentage 56.5% 32.1% 11.4%

County results Holcomb:     50-60%     60-70%     70-80% Myers:     50-60%

Governor before election Eric Holcomb Republican ElectedGovernor Eric Holcomb Republican

One-term incumbentRepublicanEric Holcomb ran for re-election in 2020 alongside his running mateSuzanne Crouch. Holcomb ran against theDemocratic nominee, former Health Commissioner of IndianaWoody Myers, and his running mateLinda Lawson, the former Minority Leader of theIndiana House of Representatives.^[38] Donald Rainwater, aU.S. Navy veteran, was theLibertarian nominee.^[39] Primaries were held on June 2, although both Holcomb and Myers ran uncontested. Holcomb won the election in a landslide, though Libertarian Donald Rainwater's 11% of the vote was the highest percentage of vote for a third-party candidate in any of the 2020 gubernatorial race, and the highest any Libertarian candidate ever received in Indiana in a three-party race (The2006 United States Senate election in Indiana saw the Libertarian candidate take 12.6% of the vote, but there was no Democratic candidate running).^[40]

2020 Missouri gubernatorial election

← 2016 November 3, 2020 2024 →

Nominee Mike Parson Nicole Galloway Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,720,202 1,225,771 Percentage 57.1% 40.7%

Preliminary County results Parson:     50-60%     60-70%     70-80%     80-90% Galloway:     50-60%     80–90%

Governor before election Mike Parson Republican ElectedGovernor Mike Parson Republican

One-term incumbentRepublicanMike Parson took office uponEric Greitens' resignation due to threatening the dissemination of sexual images and campaign finance violations.^[43] Parson ran for election to a full term in 2020 and easily won the Republican primary.State auditorNicole Galloway, Missouri's onlyDemocratic statewide office holder, won the Democratic primary, defeating pastor Eric Morrison, and multiple other candidates including Jimmie Matthews, Antoin Johnson, and Robin Quaethem.^[44] Primaries took place on August 4. TheLibertarian nominee was U.S. Air Force veteran Rik Combs, while Jerome Bauer was theGreen Party nominee.^[45] Both candidates ran uncontested in their respective primaries. Despite predictions that this election could be close and that Parson could underperform national Republicans in the state, Parson won handily.

2020 Montana gubernatorial election

← 2016 November 3, 2020 2024 →

Nominee Greg Gianforte Mike Cooney Party Republican Democratic Running mate Kristen Juras Casey Schreiner Popular vote 328,548 250,860 Percentage 54.4% 41.6%

County results Gianforte:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Cooney:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%

Governor before election Steve Bullock Democratic ElectedGovernor Greg Gianforte Republican

Two-term incumbent DemocratSteve Bullock wasterm-limited in 2020, making him the only incumbent governor in the United States (not counting U.S. territories) who was term-limited in this election year. This was therefore an open-seat election, and viewed as the most competitive gubernatorial election in the 2020 cycle. Primaries were held on June 2, with heavy competition in both. Bullock's lieutenant governor,Mike Cooney, a longtime local politician, was the Democratic nominee, defeating businesswoman and daughter of former U.S. representativePat Williams,Whitney Williams, in theDemocratic primary.^[4][47][48] Cooney's running mate was Minority Leader of theMontana House of Representatives,Casey Schreiner. The Republican nominee wasMontana's at-large congressmanGreg Gianforte, who defeated Attorney GeneralTim Fox and state senator from the 6th district,Albert Olszewski.^{[4][49][50][51]} Gianforte's running mate was Kristen Juras, a businesswoman and attorney.^[52] Gianforte was a controversial figure in the state, as he was arrested for body slamming a reporter the day of a2017 special election. Despite predictions that this election would be close, Gianforte won by 12 points, making this the first time Montana has voted for a Republican for governor since 2000. This was the only gubernatorial seat to change parties in 2020.

2020 New Hampshire gubernatorial election

← 2018 November 3, 2020 2022 →

Nominee Chris Sununu Dan Feltes Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 516,609 264,639 Percentage 65.1% 33.4%

County results Sununu:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

Governor before election Chris Sununu Republican ElectedGovernor Chris Sununu Republican

New Hampshire is one of two states, alongsideVermont, that has two-year terms for their governors instead of four-year terms, meaning they held their gubernatorial latest elections in 2018. In December 2019, two-term incumbentRepublicanChris Sununu announced that he would run for a third two-year term in 2020, ending speculation he would choose to run for theU.S. Senate instead. Sununu easily defeatedFranklin city counselor Karen Testerman in the Republican primary.^[55][56] In a hotly contestedDemocratic primary, Majority Leader of theNew Hampshire SenateDan Feltes narrowly defeatedAndru Volinsky, a member of theExecutive Council of New Hampshire from the 2nd district.^{[57][58][59][60]} The primaries took place on September 8. Despite national Democrats winning by large margins in the state's presidential, senate, and house races, Sununu won by a large margin based on his popularity with voters of both parties.

2020 North Carolina gubernatorial election

← 2016 November 3, 2020 2024 →

Nominee Roy Cooper Dan Forest Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 2,834,790 2,586,605 Percentage 51.5% 47.0%

County results Cooper:     40-50%     50-60%     60-70%     70-80%     80–90% Forest:     40-50%     50-60%     60-70%     70-80%

Governor before election Roy Cooper Democratic ElectedGovernor Roy Cooper Democratic

One-term incumbentDemocratRoy Cooper, who won his2016 election by an extremely slim margin of only 10,281 votes,^[64] ran for re-election in 2020.Lieutenant GovernorDan Forest was theRepublican nominee.^[65] Primaries were held on March 3, where Cooper defeated retired U.S. Army captain and perennial candidate Ernest T. Reeves in a landslide in the Democratic primary,^[66] and Forest decisively defeated theNorth Carolina state representative from the 20th district,Holly Grange, in the Republican primary.^[66][67] Cooper won reelection as pundits predicted, though the margin was close. Cooper outperformed national Democrats in the state, who narrowly lost both the Presidential and Senate races.

2020 North Dakota gubernatorial election

← 2016 November 3, 2020 2024 →

Nominee Doug Burgum Shelley Lenz Party Republican Democratic–NPL Running mate Brent Sanford Ben Vig Popular vote 235,479 90,789 Percentage 65.8% 25.4%

County results Burgum:     50-60%     60-70%     70-80%     80-90% Lenz:     50-60%     60-70%

Governor before election Doug Burgum Republican ElectedGovernor Doug Burgum Republican

One-term incumbentRepublicanDoug Burgum ran for re-election in 2020.Brent Sanford, the incumbentlieutenant governor, remained his running mate. TheDemocratic nominee was veterinarian and formerKilldeer school board memberShelly Lenz, whose running mate wasBen Vig, a former member of theNorth Dakota House of Representatives from the 23rd district. Primaries were held on June 9, with Burgum winning by a landslide margin overU.S. Air Force veteran Michael Coachman and Lenz running uncontested. Burgum won reelection in a landslide.

2020 Utah gubernatorial election

← 2016 November 3, 2020 2024 →

Nominee Spencer Cox Christopher Peterson Party Republican Democratic Running mate Deidre Henderson Karina Brown Popular vote 918,754 442,754 Percentage 63.0% 30.4%

County results Cox:     50-60%     60-70%     70-80%     80-90% Peterson:     40-50%     50-60%

Governor before election Gary Herbert Republican ElectedGovernor Spencer Cox Republican

Two and a half-term incumbent RepublicanGary Herbert was eligible for re-election in 2020, as Utah does not have gubernatorialterm limits. However, he announced shortly after being re-elected in 2016 that he would not run for a third full term.^[73]Lieutenant GovernorSpencer Cox defeated multiple other high-profile Republicans in the competitive Republican primary on June 30 including former governorJon Huntsman Jr., Speaker of theUtah House of RepresentativesGreg Hughes, and former chairman of theUtah Republican PartyThomas Wright. Cox's running mate for lieutenant governor wasUtah senator from the 7th district,Deidre Henderson. Meanwhile,University of Utah law professorChristopher Peterson won an overwhelming majority of delegates at the Utah Democratic Convention, immediately awarding him with the Democratic nomination alongside his running mate, community organizer Karina Brown.^[74][75][76] During the general election campaign, an advertisement featuring Cox and Peterson together calling for unity went viral.^[77] Cox won in a landslide, outperforming national Republicans in the state.

2020 Vermont gubernatorial election

← 2018 November 3, 2020 2022 →

Nominee Phil Scott David Zuckerman Party Republican Progressive Alliance Democratic Popular vote 248,412 99,214 Percentage 68.5% 27.4%

County results Scott:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

Governor before election Phil Scott Republican ElectedGovernor Phil Scott Republican

Two-term incumbentRepublicanPhil Scott confirmed he was seeking a third term in 2020. However, he did not campaign due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, the handling of which awarded Scott with a 75% approval rating in the summer.^[80] Scott was re-elected with 55% of the vote in2018. Scott is a heavy critic of President Donald Trump, who holds a net negative 39% disapproval rating in Vermont.^[81] He is one of the last remaining liberal Republican politicians with center-left political leanings, and remains an outlier in the otherwise staunchlyDemocratic state.^[82][83] Primary elections were held on August 11. Scott defeated multiple challengers in the Republican primary, the most prominent of which was lawyer and pastor John Klar.^[84] Lieutenant GovernorDavid Zuckerman defeated former education secretaryRebecca Holcombe in the Democratic primary.^[85] He also defeated Cris Ericson and Boots Wardinski in theVermont Progressive Party primary, despite only being recognized as a write-in candidate. Zuckerman was endorsed byU.S. senator from VermontBernie Sanders, the most popular senator amongst his constituents in the country.^[86][87] Zuckerman chose to run under the Progressive Party ballot line in the general election, listing the Democratic Party as a secondary nomination, utilizing Vermont'selectoral fusion system. Despite Vermont being one of the most heavily Democratic states in the nation with a partisan voting index of D+15, Scott won reelection in a landslide because of his widespread popularity and focus on local issues. Scott has also been praised for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Zuckerman had also made past comments perceived as beinganti-vaccination.^[88]

2020 Washington gubernatorial election

← 2016 November 3, 2020 2024 →

Nominee Jay Inslee Loren Culp Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 2,294,243 1,749,066 Percentage 56.6% 43.1%

County results Inslee:     40–50%     50-60%     60-70%     70-80% Culp:     50-60%     60-70%     70-80%

Governor before election Jay Inslee Democratic ElectedGovernor Jay Inslee Democratic

Two-term incumbent DemocratJay Inslee was eligible to run for re-election in 2020, as Washington does not have gubernatorialterm limits. Inslee ran for re-election to a third term after dropping out of theDemocratic presidential primaries on August 21, 2019.^[90][91] He faced police chief of the city ofRepublic, Washington, Loren Culp.^[92] Atop-two,jungle primary took place on August 4, meaning that all candidates appeared on the same ballot regardless of party affiliation and the top two (Inslee and Culp) advanced to the general election in November. Washington is one of two states in the country, alongsideCalifornia andLouisiana (andNebraska for statewide offices), that holds jungle primaries rather than conventional ones.^[93] Inslee won both the primary and general elections in a landslide, becoming the first governor of Washington in decades to be elected to a third term. Culp refused to concede, citing false claims of election fraud.^[94]

2020 West Virginia gubernatorial election

← 2016 November 3, 2020 2024 →

Nominee Jim Justice Ben Salango Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 497,944 237,024 Percentage 63.5% 30.2%

County results Justice:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%

Governor before election Jim Justice Republican ElectedGovernor Jim Justice Republican

One-term incumbent RepublicanJim Justice ran for re-election in 2020. Justice was elected as a Democrat, but later switched to the Republican Party, making him the first Republican governor since Cecil H. Underwood, elected from 1997 until 2001.^[97] Justice faced centrist DemocratBen Salango, who was endorsed byU.S. senatorJoe Manchin. Primaries were held on June 9, with Justice defeating former West Virginia secretary of commerce Woody Thrasher and former member of theWest Virginia House of Delegates from the 63rd district,Mike Folk, by a large margin. Meanwhile, Salango won by a slim margin in a hotly contested Democratic primary between Salango and community organizer Stephen Smith,^[98] businessman Jody Murphy,^[99] and Douglas Hughes.

Attorney GeneralPatrick Morrisey, retired Olympic gymnastMary Lou Retton,^[97] and Secretary of StateMac Warner were mentioned as potential general election challengers, prior to Justice's decision to re-join the Republican Party.

Justice won reelection in a landslide.

2020 American Samoa gubernatorial election

← 2016 November 3, 2020 2024 →

Nominee Lemanu Peleti Mauga Gaoteote Palaie Tofau Party Nonpartisan Nonpartisan Running mate Eleasalo Ale Faiivae Iuli Alex Godinet Popular vote 7,154 2,594 Percentage 60.3% 21.9%   Nominee Iʻaulualo Faʻafetai Talia Nuanuaolefeagaiga Saoluaga T. Nua Party Nonpartisan Nonpartisan Running mate Tapaʻau Dr. Dan Mageo Aga Tapumanaia Galu Satele Jr. Popular vote 1,461 652 Percentage 12.3% 5.5%

Results by voting district: Lemanu Peleti Mauga:     40–45%     45–50%     50–55%     55–60%     60–65%     65–70%     70–75% Gaoteote Palaie Tofau:     45–50% Iʻaulualo Faʻafetai Talia:     60–65%

Governor before election Lolo Matalasi Moliga Nonpartisan ElectedGovernor Lemanu Peleti Mauga Nonpartisan

Two-term incumbentgovernorLolo Letalu Matalasi Moliga wasterm-limited in 2020. Running to replace him were Lieutenant GovernorLemanu Palepoi Sialega Mauga,American Samoa Senate PresidentGaoteote Palaie Tofau, territorial SenatorNua Sao, and executive director of the American Samoa Government Employees' Retirement Fund Iʻaulualo Faʻafetai Talia. Although individuals can and do affiliate with political parties, elections are held on anon-partisan basis with candidates running without party labels and no party primaries. The governor and lieutenant governor are elected on a shared ticket. The Mauga–Ale ticket won the election with more than 60% of the vote.^[103]

2020 Puerto Rico gubernatorial election

← 2016 November 3, 2020 2024 →

Nominee Pedro Pierluisi Carlos Delgado Altieri Alexandra Lúgaro Party New Progressive Popular Democratic Citizens' Victory Alliance Democratic Independent Popular vote 406,830 389,896 175,583 Percentage 32.9% 31.6% 14.2%   Nominee Juan Dalmau César Vázquez Muñiz Eliezer Molina Party Puerto Rican Independence Party Project Dignity Independent Popular vote 169,516 85,211 8,485 Percentage 13.7% 6.9% 0.6%

Results by municipality

Governor before election Wanda Vázquez New Progressive Party Elected Governor Pedro Pierluisi New Progressive Party

IncumbentgovernorWanda Vázquez Garced of theNew Progressive Party and theRepublican Party, who became governor afterPedro Pierluisi's succession ofRicardo Rosselló was declared unconstitutional,^[104] was defeated in theNew Progressive primary by Pierluisi in her bid to win a full term. He facedIsabela mayorCarlos Delgado Altieri, who won thePopular Democratic Party primary, as well as SenatorJuan Dalmau of thePuerto Rican Independence Party,Alexandra Lúgaro ofMovimiento Victoria Ciudadana, César Vázquez ofProyecto Dignidad, and independent candidate Eliezer Molina.^[26] Pierluisi won the election by a very slim margin.

• 2020 United States presidential election
• 2020 United States House of Representatives elections
• 2020 United States Senate elections

• 2020 United States gubernatorial elections
• November 2020 in the United States

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