16 October 2008
Voters in 11 States Will Elect Governors in 2008
Only eight women currently serve as state chief executives
Washington — On November 4, voters throughout the United States will be casting their votes for president and for their delegates to the U.S. House of Representatives. In 33 states, voters also will be choosing U.S. senators. But in a few — 11, to be precise — voters also will select their state’s chief executive.
In Indiana, North Dakota, Utah and Vermont, Republican incumbents are seeking re-election. In Montana, New Hampshire, Washington state and West Virginia, Democratic governors are asking voters to return them to office. Races in three other states — Delaware, Missouri and North Carolina — are “open” contests in which the current governor either is retiring or is barred by term limits from running for re-election.
In each of the 50 states, the structure of state government loosely mirrors that of the U.S. federal government, with executive, legislative and judicial branches. At the head of state government is a governor, who performs many of the same functions at the state level that the U.S. president does at the national level: sets policy, appoints department heads, prepares and administers a budget, recommends legislation, and signs laws. In most states, the governor also plays an important role in appointing state and local judges. (See “U.S. Governors Head American ‘Laboratories of Democracy.’”)
Most state governors serve four-year terms, and many are limited to serving no more than two terms. Virginia bars its governor from serving two consecutive terms (but serving multiple, nonconsecutive terms is permissible). Most states elect governors in even-numbered years, but a few, including Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi, elect governors in so-called off years, the odd-numbered years in which no congressional candidates stand for office. (See “Louisiana Elects First Indian-American U.S. Governor.”)
PARTY AFFILIATIONS NOT DECIDING FACTOR
The 2008 governors’ races help illustrate that American voters elect candidates, not political parties.
In Montana, for instance, voters have a long history of leaning Republican, and recent polls give Republican presidential candidate John McCain a solid lead over Democratic candidate Barack Obama. However, both of Montana’s current senators are Democrats, and incumbent Democratic governor Brian Schweitzer is out-polling his Republican rival by a 2-to-1 margin.
In Indiana, polls suggest the presidential race is too close to call, but Republican incumbent Mitch Daniels, a former White House budget director in the current Bush administration, enjoys a substantial lead over a Democratic challenger who worked in the Clinton administration.
North Carolina, a battleground state in the race for the White House, is also a battleground in the race for the governor’s mansion. Democrat Bev Perdue battles Republican Pat McCrory to succeed term-limited Democrat Michael Easley.
However, several seats — Delaware, New Hampshire and West Virginia for the Democrats and North Dakota and Utah for the Republicans — are likely to remain firmly under the control of the party that currently holds them.
GENDER GAP IN THE GOVERNOR’S MANSION
In 2008, only eight women serve as state chief executives. One, Democrat Ruth Ann Minner of Delaware, will leave office in January 2009. She will be succeeded by a man, most likely Democrat Jack Markell, who seems to enjoy an almost insurmountable lead over Republican Bill Lee.
Another woman, Democrat Christine Gregoire of Washington, faces a strong challenge from Republican Dino Rossi, her opponent in 2004. Gregoire’s victory in that race — 48.87 percent of the vote to Rossi’s 48.86 — was one of the narrowest ever recorded in a state race.
If Gregoire is victorious, and if Perdue ekes out a win in North Carolina, women would continue to govern eight states in 2009. The only other female candidate, Democrat Jill Long Thompson, is unlikely to win in Indiana.
For four decades, the governor’s mansion has served as a springboard to the U.S. presidency: Jimmy Carter from Georgia, Ronald Reagan from California, Bill Clinton from Arkansas and George W. Bush from Texas.
That pattern will be broken November 4, when Americans for the first time since the 1960 election of John F. Kennedy will send a sitting U.S. senator to the White House.
