Gubernatorial battlegrounds, 2022
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Thirty-six states held elections for governor in 2022. Of those, Ballotpedia identified 13 as general election battlegrounds: Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Georgia, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
Of the 13, nine were in states with Democratic incumbents and four were in states with Republican incumbents. Three states had a governor of a party different from the candidate who won the state in the 2020 presidential election.
These battleground races were selected using the following criteria. For more information on our methodology, click here:
- the results of the 2020 presidential election in each state,
- whether the incumbent was seeking re-election,
- whether the governor's office changed partisan control the last time it was up for election, and
- how the Cook Political Report, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and Inside Elections with Nathan Gonzales rated the race.
In addition to the competitiveness data above, races were included if they were particularly compelling or meaningful to the balance of power in governments for other reasons.
In 2020, Ballotpedia identified six gubernatorial battleground races: four Republican-held governorships and two Democratic-held governorships. Republicans gained control of the governor's office in Montana
Click on the links below to learn more about battleground races of other types:
- U.S. Senate battlegrounds, 2022
- U.S. House battlegrounds, 2022
- Republican Party battleground primaries, 2022
- Democratic Party battleground primaries, 2022
- Top-two and top-four battleground primaries, 2022
Battleground list
The following map displays all states that held gubernatorial elections in 2022 shaded by the incumbent's or most recent incumbent's political affiliation. Battleground races are highlighted in brighter colors. Hover over a state for more information.
| Battleground gubernatorial elections, 2022 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Incumbent | Open seat? | 2020 presidential Margin | Margin in previous election[1] |
| Alaska |  Mike Dunleavy |
No | R+10.0 | R+7.0 |
| Arizona | Doug Ducey |
Yes | D+0.3 | R+14.2 |
| Connecticut |  Ned Lamont |
Yes | D+20.1 | D+3.2 |
| Georgia | Brian Kemp |
No | D+0.2 | R+1.4 |
| Kansas | Laura Kelly |
No | R+14.6 | D+5.0 |
| Maine | Janet Mills |
No | D+9.1 | D+7.7 |
| Michigan | Gretchen Whitmer |
No | D+2.8 | D+9.6 |
| Minnesota | Tim Walz |
No | D+7.1 | D+11.4 |
| Nevada | Steve Sisolak |
No | D+2.4 | D+4.1 |
| Oklahoma | Kevin Stitt |
No | R+33.1 | R+12.1 |
| Oregon | Kate Brown |
No | D+16.1 | D+6.4 |
| Pennsylvania | Tom Wolf |
Yes | D+1.2 | D+17.1 |
| Wisconsin | Tony Evers |
No | D+0.7 | D+1.1 |
Race ratings
The following table compared gubernatorial race ratings from The Cook Political Report, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and Inside Elections prior to the November 2022 elections.
Presidential election data
The following section compares state-level returns for the 2020 presidential election across the 13 states which held battleground gubernatorial elections in 2022.
- Joe Biden (D) carried one state—Connecticut—by a margin larger than 20%. At the time of the 2022 election, Connecticut had a Democratic governor.
- Joe Biden (D) carried three states—Maine, Minnesota, and Oregon—by margins between 5% and 20%. At the time of the 2022 election, none of these states had Republican governors.
- Joe Biden (D) carried six states—Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin—by a margin smaller than 5%. At the time of the 2022 election, two states (Arizona and Georgia) had Republican governors.
- Donald Trump (R) carried no states by a margin smaller than 5%.
- Donald Trump (R) carried two states—Alaska and Kansas—by margins between 5% and 20%. At the time of the 2022 election, Kansas' governor was Democrat Laura Kelly and Alaska's governor was Republican Mike Dunleavy.
- Donald Trump (R) carried one state—Oklahoma—by a margin larger than 20%. At the time of the 2022 election, Oklahoma had a Republican governor.
Change log
This section lists every change that was made to our battleground list between the publishing of this page in January 2022 and the end of the 2022 election cycle.
- October 17, 2022: Added Oklahoma.
- September 19, 2022: Removed Massachusetts.
- August 18, 2022: Added Connecticut.
- August 1, 2022: Added Oregon. Removed Maryland.
- July 1, 2022: Added Alaska and Minnesota. Removed Florida, New Hampshire, and Texas.
- March 7, 2022: Added Texas.
- January 31, 2022: Published initial battlegrounds list with 12 states.[2]
See also
- Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2022
- Governor (state executive office)
- Gubernatorial elections, 2022
- State executive official elections, 2022
Footnotes
