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Democratic Party gubernatorial primaries, 2018
Out of all top state executive offices, only the governor and attorney general exist in all 50 states, and 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. Thirty-six states held elections for governor in 2018, meaning that almost three-quarters of the nation's gubernatorial seats were contested.
Of those 36 governor's offices, nine were held by Democrats prior to the November 2018 elections, 26 were held by Republicans, and one was held by an independent. Fourteen governors were unable to run for re-election in 2018 due to term limits.
Democratic Party primary elections were held in all of those states with the exception of California, which held a top-two primary election instead. This page provides links to deeper coverage of these Democratic primaries. For more on the Republican primaries, click here. For more on the general election coverage, click here.
For more information about gubernatorial elections in 2018, click here.
| SETTING THE STAGE | |
By state
Alabama
Democratic primary candidates
Alaska
Democratic primary candidates
Arizona
Democratic primary candidates
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey
- Mirza Fareed Baig (write-in candidate)
Arkansas
Democratic primary candidates
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey
Colorado
Democratic primary candidates
Did not make the ballot:
Connecticut
- Connecticut gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2018 (August 14 Democratic primary)
Democratic primary candidates
Did not make the ballot:
Declined to run
- Chris Mattei - Former federal prosecutor[1]
- Nancy Wyman - Lieutenant governor[2]
Florida
Democratic primary candidates
Did not make the ballot:
- Not running
- Patrick Murphy - Former U.S. representative[3]
Georgia
Democratic primary candidates
Hawaii
Democratic primary candidates
Did not make the ballot:
Idaho
Democratic primary candidates
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey
Not on ballot
- Troy Minton[4]
Illinois
Democratic primary candidates
Did not file
Withdrew from race
- Scott Drury - State Rep.[6]
- Ameya Pawar - Chicago Alderman[7]
Removed from ballot
Iowa
Democratic primary candidates
Withdrew
Kansas
Democratic primary candidates
Did not make the ballot:
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey
Maine
Democratic primary candidates
Did not make the ballot:
Maryland
Democratic primary candidates
- Rushern Baker III
- Ralph Jaffe
- Ben Jealous ✔
- James Jones
- Richard Madaleno
- Alec Ross
- Jim Shea
- Krishanti Vignarajah
Not on ballot
- Kevin Kamenetz, Baltimore County executive[12]
Massachusetts
Democratic primary candidates
Michigan
Democratic primary candidates
Did not make the ballot:
Minnesota
Democratic primary candidates
Did not make the ballot:
Nebraska
Democratic primary candidates
Nevada
Democratic primary candidates
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey
New Hampshire
Democratic primary candidates
New Mexico
Democratic primary candidates
Did not make the ballot:
New York
Democratic primary candidates
- Andrew Cuomo (Incumbent) ✔
- Cynthia Nixon
Did not make the ballot:
Ohio
Democratic primary candidates
Did not make the ballot:
Oklahoma
Democratic primary candidates
Oregon
Democratic primary candidates
- Kate Brown (Incumbent) ✔
- Ed Jones
- Candace Neville
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey
Pennsylvania
Democratic primary candidates
- Tom Wolf (Incumbent) ✔
Rhode Island
Democratic primary candidates
- Gina Raimondo (Incumbent) ✔
- Matt Brown
- Spencer Dickinson
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey
South Carolina
Democratic primary candidates
South Dakota
Democratic primary candidates
Tennessee
Democratic primary candidates
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey
Texas
Democratic primary candidates
- James Clark
- Cedric Davis
- Joe Mumbach
- Adrian Ocegueda
- Jeffrey Payne
- Lupe Valdez ✔
- Thomas Wakely
- Andrew White ✔
- Grady Yarbrough
Vermont
Democratic primary candidates
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey
- John Rodgers (Write-in)
Wisconsin
Democratic primary candidates
- Tony Evers ✔
- Matthew Flynn
- Andy Gronik
- Michael McCabe
- Mahlon Mitchell
- Josh Pade
- Kelda Roys
- Paul Soglin
- Kathleen Vinehout
- Dana Wachs
Did not make the ballot:
Wyoming
Democratic primary candidates
= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey
Footnotes
- ↑ Hartford Courant, "Democrat Chris Mattei Declares Candidacy For Attorney General," December 11, 2017
- ↑ The CT Mirror, "Nancy Wyman says she won’t run for governor in 2018," November 16, 2017
- ↑ Politico, "Murphy won't rule out bid for Florida governor, with Jolly as running mate," April 23, 2018
- ↑ The Guardian, "Homeless, a Democrat and in jail: is this America's most unlikely candidate?" May 5, 2017
- ↑ Chicago Sun Times, "Handicapping the field in Illinois’ unprecedented governor’s race," June 11, 2017
- ↑ Chicago Tribune, "Drury drops governor bid to run for attorney general," September 19, 2017
- ↑ Politico, "Pawar drops out of Illinois governor's race," October 12, 2017
- ↑ WMAY, "Terry Getz Removed From Ballot for Governor," December 20, 2017
- ↑ Des Moines Register, "Democrat Rich Leopold drops out of Iowa governor's race," June 7, 2017
- ↑ Bleeding Heartland, "IA-Gov: Jon Neiderbach Officially Launches Campaign," February 9, 2017
- ↑ Des Moines Register, "Democrat Jon Neiderbach quits bid for Iowa governor," March 14, 2018
- ↑ The Baltimore Sun, "Kevin Kamenetz, Baltimore County executive and Democratic candidate for governor dies of heart attack," May 10, 2018
