Gubernatorial elections, 2025

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On the Ballot takes an early look at 2025's gubernatorial elections.

There were two gubernatorial offices on the ballot in 2025. These elections were in New Jersey and Virginia.

Heading into the 2025 elections, 27 governors were Republicans and 23 were Democrats. The 2025 elections resulted in 26 governors being Republicans and 24 being Democrats.

Abigail Spanberger (D) won election as governor of Virginia on Nov. 4, 2025. Incumbent Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) was term-limited and unable to run for re-election. Spanberger's win meant Virginia would change from a divided government to a Democratic trifecta.

Mikie Sherrill (D) won election as governor of New Jersey on Nov. 4, 2025. Incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy (D) was term-limited and unable to run for re-election. Sherrill's win meant New Jersey would remain a Democratic trifecta as Democrats maintained partisan control of both legislative chambers.

In the 2025 elections, Democrats gained a trifecta. As a result, there were 23 Republican trifectas, 16 Democratic trifectas, and 11 divided governments.

In the 2025 elections, Democrats gained a triplex. As a result, there were 25 Republican triplexes, 20 Democratic triplexes, and 5 divided governments where neither party held triplex control.

Eleven states held elections for governor in 2024. Heading into the election, three states (Delaware, North Carolina, and Washington) had Democratic governors, while eight states (Indiana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Missouri, Montana, Utah, Vermont, and West Virginia) had a Republican governor. No seats changed hands as a result of the 2024 elections. To read more about those elections, click here.

Explore Ballotpedia's coverage of these elections:
  • Partisan balance
    The partisan balance of U.S. governors
    Read more
  • On the ballot
    A list of elections and candidates on the ballot
    Read more
  • Pre-election analysis
    Analysis leading up to the 2025 gubernatorial elections
    Read more
  • Trifectas and triplexes
    Information on trifectas and triplexes
    Read more
  • Important dates and deadlines
    A list of important dates and deadlines for the 2025 election cycle
    Read more
  • About the office
    Information about governors across all 50 states
    Read more


Partisan balance

The following chart displays the number of governors' offices held by each party before and after the 2025 elections.

U.S. governors partisan breakdown
Party As of December 2025 After the 2025 elections
Democratic 23 24
Republican 27 26
Total 50 50



The chart below shows historical partisan breakdown information for governors.

Republicans led in governorships from 1994 until 2006, after which there were 28 Democratic governors to the Republicans' 22. Republicans regained their national majority in the 2010 midterm elections. Between 2010 and 2017, the number of Republican governors continued to increase, reaching a high point of 33 following West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice's switch to the Republican Party in August 2017.[1] From 2017 to 2019, Democrats won Republican-held governorships in Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Wisconsin. Republicans, meanwhile, gained a governorship in Alaska previously held by independent Bill Walker. No governorships changed party hands in 2024. Democrats gained one governorship in Virginia in 2025.

Election results

Gubernatorial elections, 2025
State Incumbent Incumbent running? Election winner Last time office changed parties 2025 election result 2021 gubernatorial result 2024 presidential result
New Jersey Democratic Party Phil Murphy No Democratic Party Mikie Sherrill 2017 D+13.2 D+3.2 D+5.9
Virginia Republican Party Glenn Youngkin No Democratic Party Abigail Spanberger 2021 D+13.5 R+2 D+5.7

On the ballot

Click the tabs below to view information about the elections this year. In this section, you will find:

  • A list of seats up for election
  • A list of candidates running
  • Ballotpedia's Sample Ballot Lookup Tool

There was one Democratic and one Republican seat up for election in 2025. These statistics do not include elections in the U.S. territories. The table and map below shows which states held gubernatorial elections in 2025.

2025 Gubernatorial Races
2025 Gubernatorial races
State Current Incumbent Term-limited (Y/N)
New Jersey Phil Murphy Yes
Virginia Glenn Youngkin Yes



Pre-election analysis

Incumbent governors Glenn Youngkin (R-Va.) and Phil Murphy (D-N.J.) were term-limited and could not seek re-election.

As of 2025, governors of Virginia could not run for consecutive terms, although they could run for another term after spending a term out of office. Governors of New Jersey were limited to two four-year terms, and could run again after a four-year break.

Trifectas and triplexes

The office of governor is a component of both trifectas and triplexes. Click the tabs below to view the current status of trifectas and triplexes across the country.

See also: State government trifectas

A state government trifecta is a term used to describe when a single-party government in which one political party holds the governorship and majorities in both chambers of the state legislature.

As of December 9, 2025, there are 23 Republican trifectas, 15 Democratic trifectas, and 12 divided governments where neither party holds trifecta control.

Presidential data

See also: Presidential election, 2024

Kamala Harris (D) carried both states that held gubernatorial elections in 2025 in the 2024 presidential election. Harris carried New Jersey by a margin of 5.9 percentage points and Virginia by a margin of 5.7 percentage points.

See also: Presidential election in New Jersey, 2024


Presidential election in New Jersey, 2024
 
Candidate/Running mate
%
Popular votes
Electoral votes
✔
Image of
Image of
Kamala D. Harris/Tim Walz (D)
 
52.0
 
2,220,713 14
Image of
Image of
Donald Trump/J.D. Vance (R)
 
46.1
 
1,968,215 0
Image of
Image of
Jill Stein/Samson LeBeau Kpadenou (G)
 
0.9
 
39,041 0
Image of
Image of
Robert F. Kennedy Jr./Nicole Shanahan (Independent)
 
0.5
 
23,479 0
Image of
Image of
Chase Oliver/Mike ter Maat (L)
 
0.2
 
10,500 0
Image of
Image of
Claudia De La Cruz/Karina Garcia (Party for Socialism and Liberation)
 
0.1
 
5,105 0
Image of
Image of
Randall Terry/Stephen E. Broden (Constitution Party)
 
0.1
 
3,024 0
Image of
Image of
Joseph Kishore/Jerry White (Socialist Equality Party)
 
0.0
 
1,371 0
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Rachele Fruit/Margaret Trowe (Socialist Workers Party)
 
0.0
 
1,277 0

There were no incumbents in this race The results have been certified.

Total votes: 4,272,725

Important dates and deadlines

The table below lists important dates throughout the 2025 election cycle, including filing deadlines and primary dates.

Statewide filing deadlines
StateElection dateFiling deadlineSource
New JerseyJune 10, 2025

March 24, 2025 - New Jersey statewide primary candidate filing deadline

Source
PennsylvaniaMay 20, 2025

March 11, 2025 - Pennsylvania statewide primary candidate filing deadline

Source
VirginiaJune 17, 2025

April 3, 2025 - Virginia statewide primary candidate filing deadline

Source
WisconsinFeb. 18, 2025

Jan. 7, 2025 - Wisconsin statewide spring primary candidate filing deadline

Source


2021 gubernatorial elections

See also: Gubernatorial elections, 2021

Two states—New Jersey and Virginia—held elections for governor in 2021. California also held a recall election for Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on September 14, 2021.

Incumbent Phil Murphy (D) was re-elected in New Jersey. Glenn Youngkin (R) was elected to succeed term-limited Ralph Northam (D) in Virginia. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) was retained in the recall election.

The following table details the margin of victory for winning candidates in states that held gubernatorial elections in 2005, 2009, 20132, 2017, and 2021.

Margin of victory analysis, 2005-2021
State 2021 margin of victory (%) 2017 margin of victory (%) 2013 margin of victory (%) 2009 margin of victory (%) 2005 margin of victory (%)
New Jersey D+3.2 D+14.1 R+22.1 R+3.6 D+10.5
Virginia R+2 D+8.9 D+2.6 R+17.3 R+5.7

Gubernatorial offices that changed party control in 2021

One gubernatorial office changed party control in 2021. In Virginia, Glenn Youngkin (R) was elected to succeed term-limited Gov. Ralph Northam (D).

About the office

See also: Governor (state executive office)

In the United States, the title governor refers to the chief executive of each state. The governor is not directly subordinate to the federal authorities but is the political and ceremonial head of the state. The governor may also assume additional roles, such as the commander-in-chief of the National Guard when the role is not federalized. The governor may also have the ability to commute or pardon a criminal sentence.

In all states, the governor is directly elected and, in most cases, has considerable practical powers. Notable exceptions with weak governorships include the office of the governor in Texas, though this may be moderated by the state legislature and, in some cases, by other elected executive officials. Governors can veto state bills. The specific duties and powers vary widely between states.


According to compensation figures for 2023 compiled by the Council of State Governments in the Book of the States, the highest salary for a governor was $250,000 in New York, while the lowest was $70,000 in Maine. To view the compensation of a particular governor, hover your mouse over the state.[60]

Analysis of state elections

State legislative elections

State Houses-Tile image.png
See also: State legislative elections, 2025


As of December 9th, 2025, Republicans controlled 55.33% of all state legislative seats nationally, while Democrats held 43.47%. Republicans held a majority in 57 chambers, and Democrats held the majority in 39 chambers. Two chambers (Alaska House and Alaska Senate) were organized under multipartisan, power-sharing coalitions. One chamber (Minnesota House of Representatives) was split evenly between both parties.

Partisan balance of all 7,386 state legislative seats
Legislative chamber Democratic Party Republican Party Grey.png Other Vacant
State senates 827 1,120 6 20
State houses 2,384 2,967 21 41
Total: 3,211

4,087

27

61


More related analysis

Tap the box below to show more analysis articles related to the 2025 state legislative elections.

State executive elections

State-capitol-utah.jpg
See also: State executive official elections, 2025



More related analysis

Tap the box below to show more analysis articles related to the 2025 state executive elections.

State judicial elections

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See also: State judicial elections, 2025


More related analysis

Tap the box below to show more analysis articles related to the 2025 state judicial elections.


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See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Because Justice switched his registration more than halfway through the year, he was counted as a Democrat in 2017 for the purposes of the chart.
  2. ↑ For more information on the difference between margins of error and credibility intervals, see explanations from the American Association for Public Opinion Research and Ipsos.
  3. ↑ Pew Research Center, "5 key things to know about the margin of error in election polls," September 8, 2016
  4. ↑ RV=Registered Voters
    LV=Likely Voters
  5. ↑ The sponsor is the person or group that funded all or part of the poll.
  6. ↑ Undecided: 1%
  7. ↑ Other: 2%; Undecided: 7%
  8. ↑ Other: 1%; Undecided: 1%
  9. ↑ Other: 1%; Undecided: 2%
  10. ↑ Undecided: 3%
  11. ↑ Undecided: 5%
  12. ↑ Other: 2%; Undecided: 4%
  13. ↑ Undecided: 4%
  14. ↑ Other: 2%
  15. ↑ Other: 1%; Undecided: 6%
  16. ↑ Undecided: 5%
  17. ↑ Other: 1%; Undecided: 5%
  18. ↑ Undecided: 8%
  19. ↑ Undecided: 11%
  20. ↑ Undecided: 5%
  21. ↑ Undecided: 9%
  22. ↑ Other: 4%; Undecided: 7%
  23. ↑ Undecided: 3%
  24. ↑ Undecided: 8%
  25. ↑ Undecided: 8%
  26. ↑ Other: 2%; Undecided: 4%
  27. ↑ Undecided: 4%
  28. ↑ Other: 4%; Undecided: 9%
  29. ↑ Undecided: 12%
  30. ↑ Undecided: 8%
  31. ↑ Undecided: 8%
  32. ↑ Undecided: 6%
  33. ↑ Undecided: 8%
  34. ↑ Undecided: 11%
  35. ↑ Undecided: 7%
  36. ↑ Undecided: 7%
  37. ↑ Other: 3%; Undecided: 11%
  38. ↑ Undecided: 10%
  39. ↑ Undecided: 9%
  40. ↑ Other: 2%; Undecided: 6%
  41. ↑ Undecided: 7%
  42. ↑ Undecided: 8%
  43. ↑ Undecided: 12%
  44. ↑ Undecided: 12%
  45. ↑ Undecided: 27%
  46. ↑ Other: 2%; Undecided: 12%
  47. ↑ Other: 2%; Undecided: 8%
  48. ↑ Other: 3%; Undecided: 17%
  49. ↑ Other: 3%; Undecided: 12%
  50. ↑ Other: 1%; Undecided: 9%
  51. ↑ Other: 3%; Undecided: 15%
  52. ↑ Undecided: 11%
  53. ↑ Undecided: 7%
  54. ↑ Undecided: 18%
  55. ↑ Undecided: 9%
  56. ↑ Undecided: 12%
  57. ↑ Undecided: 12%
  58. ↑ For more information on the difference between margins of error and credibility intervals, see explanations from the American Association for Public Opinion Research and Ipsos.
  59. ↑ Pew Research Center, "5 key things to know about the margin of error in election polls," September 8, 2016
  60. ↑ Book of the States, "2023 edition: Chapter 4 - Selected State Administrative Officials: Annual Salaries," accessed December 18, 2024
  61. ↑ Council of State Governments' Book of the States 2022 Table 4.3: The Governors: Compensation, Staff, Travel and Residence provided to Ballotpedia by CSG personnel
  62. ↑ 62.0 62.1 Council of State Governments' Book of the States 2022 Table 4.4: The Governors: Powers provided to Ballotpedia by CSG personnel
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