Gubernatorial elections are scheduled to be held in the United States on November 3, 2026. This election will take place in 36 states and three territories. The previous gubernatorial elections for this group of states took place in 2022, except in New Hampshire and Vermont, where governors serve two-year terms and elected their governors in 2024.
Fifteen of the thirty-six states and two of the three United States territories with elections in this cycle have officially term-limited incumbents.
Partisan composition
Going into the election, there are 26 Republican governors and 24 Democratic governors in the United States. This class of governors is made up of 18 Republicans and 18 Democrats. Republicans are defending two governorships in states that Kamala Harris won in 2024 (New Hampshire and Vermont). Democrats are defending five governorships in states that Donald Trump won in 2024 (Arizona, Kansas, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin).
Retirements
There are 22 incumbent governors (11 Democrats, 10 Republican, and one Independent) retiring, of which 17 incumbent governors (eight Democrats and nine Republicans) are term-limited. The remaining five incumbent governors (three Democrats, one Republican, and one Independent) have announced they are not seeking reelection.
Democratic
- California: Gavin Newsom is term-limited after 2 terms.
- Colorado: Jared Polis is term-limited after 2 terms.
- District of Columbia: Muriel Bowser is retiring.
- Guam: Lou Leon Guerrero is term-limited after 2 terms.
- Kansas: Laura Kelly is term-limited after 2 terms.
- Maine: Janet Mills is term-limited after 2 terms.
- Michigan: Gretchen Whitmer is term-limited after 2 terms.
- Minnesota: Tim Walz is retiring.
- New Mexico: Michelle Lujan Grisham is term-limited after 2 terms.
- United States Virgin Islands: Albert Bryan Jr. is term-limited after 2 terms.
- Wisconsin: Tony Evers is retiring.
Republican
- Alabama: Kay Ivey is term-limited after 2 full terms.
- Alaska: Mike Dunleavy is term-limited after 2 terms.
- Florida: Ron DeSantis is term-limited after 2 terms.
- Georgia: Brian Kemp is term-limited after 2 terms.
- Iowa: Kim Reynolds is retiring.
- Ohio: Mike DeWine is term-limited after 2 terms.
- Oklahoma: Kevin Stitt is term-limited after 2 terms.
- South Carolina: Henry McMaster is term-limited after 2 full terms.
- Tennessee: Bill Lee is term-limited after 2 terms.
- Wyoming: Mark Gordon is term-limited after 2 terms.
Independents
- Northern Mariana Islands: David M. Apatang is retiring.
Incumbents defeated
In primary elections
Democrats
One Democrat lost renomination. The last elected incumbent governor to lose renomination was Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii in 2014.
- Rhode Island: Dan McKee lost renomination to Helena Foulkes.
Predictions
Several sites and individuals published predictions of competitive seats. These predictions looked at factors such as the strength of the incumbent (if the incumbent was running for reelection) and the other candidates, and the state's partisan lean (reflected in part by the state's Cook Partisan Voting Index rating). The predictions assigned ratings to each seat, indicating the predicted advantage that a party had in winning that seat. Most election predictors used:
- "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" or "solid": near-certain chance of victory
Alabama
Governor Kay Ivey, a Republican, was re-elected in 2022 with 67.4% of the vote. She will be term-limited by the Constitution of Alabama in 2026 and cannot seek re-election to a third consecutive full term. Republican U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville entered the gubernatorial race in May 2025, joined by former candidate for Alabama's 6th congressional district in 2024 Ken McFeeters and event center operations manager Will Santivasci.
Democratic candidates include former U.S. Senator Doug Jones; the 2022 gubernatorial nominee Yolanda Flowers; Will Boyd, a former city councilor of Greenville, Illinois, and the nominee for Alabama Lieutenant Governor in 2018 and for U.S. Senate in 2022; pastor Ja'Mel Brown; candidate for governor in 2022 Chad Chig Martin; and former state representative Nathan Mathis.
As Jones and Tuberville won their respective primaries, the gubernatorial election will be a rematch of the 2020 United States Senate election, which saw Tuberville defeat Jones. Tuberville has faced several challenges to his eligibility for the governorship.
Alaska
Governor Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, was re-elected in 2022 with 50.3% of the vote. He will be term-limited by the Constitution of Alaska in 2026 and cannot seek re-election to a third consecutive term.
A nonpartisan primary was held on August 18, 2026, with the top four candidates advancing to the general election, which will be conducted using ranked-choice voting. The advancing candidates are Republicans former state Attorney General Treg Taylor, businesswoman Bernadette Wilson; former Anchorage mayor Dave Bronson; and Democrat former state representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins.
After initially finishing second in the primary, former state senator Tom Begich withdrew and endorsed Kreiss-Tomkins, allowing fifth-place finisher Taylor to advance to the general election. However, the Alaska Public Offices Commission recommended against certifying Taylor's candidacy after finding that his financial disclosure did not substantially comply with state law. On August 31, Lieutenant Governor Nancy Dahlstrom declined to certify Taylor, temporarily elevating his running mate, Candice English, to the gubernatorial nomination; English subsequently selected Taylor's wife, Jodi Taylor, as her running mate. On September 4, Dahlstrom reversed her decision and announced that Taylor would be certified after a preliminary review by the Alaska Department of Law raised questions about whether the financial-disclosure requirements had been applied consistently.
Arizona
Governor Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, was elected in 2022 with 50.3% of the vote. Starting with this election cycle, gubernatorial candidates will be required to nominate a running mate for the newly established office of Lieutenant Governor. Hobbs is running for re-election to a second term and is the nominee, as no other candidates successfully filed for the Democratic primary.
U.S. Representative from Arizona's 5th congressional district Andy Biggs defeated U.S. Representative from Arizona's 1st congressional district David Schweikert, as well as business owner Ken Miceli and concrete plumbing contractor Scott Neely with 74% of the vote in the Republican primary.
Healthcare entrepreneur Hugh Lytle and Teri Hourihan are running in the No Labels/Arizona Independent Party primary. Former Democratic state representative Leezah Sun has announced a campaign as an independent, but will not appear on the ballot.
This will be the first gubernatorial election in which a candidate is required to select a running mate, following the passage of Proposition 131 in the 2022 elections.
Arkansas
Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a Republican, was elected in 2022 with 63.1% of the vote. She is seeking re-election to a second term and ran unopposed for the Republican nomination.
State senator Fredrick Love defeated former Walmart executive Supha Xayprasith Mays in the Democratic primary on March 3, 2026.
Farmer Colt Shelby is running in the general election as a Libertarian.
California
Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom was re-elected in 2022 with 59.2% of the vote. He is term-limited by the California Constitution in 2026, and cannot seek re-election to a third term. More than sixty candidates appeared on the June 2026 primary ballot. Democrat Xavier Becerra, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services and former California Attorney General, and Republican political commentator Steve Hilton advanced to the general election.
Other Democratic candidates included San Jose mayor Matt Mahan; former congresswoman for California's 47th congressional district Katie Porter; businessman and 2020 presidential candidate Tom Steyer; State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond; and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
U.S. representative Eric Swalwell initially announced a campaign in November 2025, but withdrew and resigned from Congress in April 2026 amid sexual assault allegations, with his name still on the ballot. Former state Controller Betty Yee also withdrew from the race in April 2026 and will remain on the ballot.
Former Vice President of the United States and 2024 Democratic nominee for President Kamala Harris had considered running, but ultimately decided not to enter the race.
Other Republican candidates included Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, diplomat Tim Nelson and businessman Leo Zacky.
Butch Ware, the Green Party's 2024 vice presidential nominee, announced his candidacy but did not meet the requirements to appear on the primary ballot and instead ran as a write-in candidate.
Colorado
Governor Jared Polis, a Democrat, was re-elected in 2022 with 58.5% of the vote. He will be term-limited by the Colorado Constitution in 2026 and cannot seek re-election to a third consecutive term.
State Attorney General Phil Weiser defeated U.S. Senator Michael Bennet for the Democratic nomination.
On the Republican side, ministry leader Victor Marx defeated state representative Scott Bottoms and state senator Barbara Kirkmeyer for the nomination.
Former U.S. Representative for Colorado's 4th congressional district Greg Lopez initially announced his campaign as a Republican but later left the party in January 2026 and is continuing his campaign as an independent.
Connecticut
Governor Ned Lamont, a Democrat, was re-elected in 2022 with 56% of the vote. Because Connecticut does not have gubernatorial term limits in its Constitution, Lamont has announced that he is running for a third term. Lamont fended off a primary challenge from State representative for the 88th district Josh Elliott.
State senator for the 36th district Ryan Fazio is the Republican nominee. Former lieutenant governor of New York Betsy McCaugheyinitially announced her candidacy for the Republican nomination in March 2026 but withdrew after not receiving 15% of the convention vote in May. New Britain mayor Erin Stewart initially ran but dropped out of the race in May 2026, after allegations of misconduct during her tenure as mayor.
Florida
Republican Governor Ron DeSantis was re-elected in 2022 with 59.4% of the vote. He is term-limited by the Florida Constitution in 2026 and cannot seek re-election to a third consecutive term.
U.S. representative for Florida's 19th congressional district Byron Donalds announced his candidacy on February 25, 2025, becoming the first major Republican to enter the race. Paul Renner, former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, announced his candidacy in September 2025, and Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins joined the race in January 2026. Other Republican candidates include Surfside mayor Charles Burkett and entrepreneur James Fishback.
Former Republican U.S. representative for Florida's 13th congressional district David Jolly, a staunch critic of Trump, joined the Democratic Party in 2025 and announced his candidacy June 2025. Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings is also running for the Democratic nomination.
Former State Senate Minority Leader Jason Pizzo launched an independent bid for governor in May 2025, while Moliere Dimanche announced his own independent campaign in July 2024, becoming the first Haitian candidate for governor in Florida's history.
Georgia
Republican Governor Brian Kemp was re-elected in 2022 with 53.4% of the vote. He is term-limited by the Georgia Constitution in 2026 and cannot seek re-election to a third consecutive term.
Attorney General Chris Carr, Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, and healthcare executive Rick Jackson all announced bids for the Republican nomination. Jackson and Jones advanced to a runoff that took place on June 16, which Jackson won, thus becoming the Republican nominee.