Gubernatorial elections, 2027

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2027 Election Results

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State Executive Officials

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There are three gubernatorial seats on the ballot in 2027. These elections are in Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

Explore Ballotpedia's coverage of these elections:

• Partisan balance

  The partisan balance of U.S. governors
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• On the ballot

  A list of elections and candidates on the ballot
  Read more
• Trifectas and triplexes

  Information on trifectas and triplexes
  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 2027 elections.

U.S. governors partisan breakdown

Party	As of September 2025	After the 2027 elections
Democratic	24	TBD
Republican	26	TBD
Total	50	50

The chart below shows historical partisan breakdown information for governors.

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

Seats up for election

List of candidates

What's on your ballot?

There are two Republican-held seats and one Democratic-held seat up for election in 2027. The table below show which states are holding gubernatorial elections in 2027.

2027 Gubernatorial Races

State	Current Incumbent	Term-limited (Y/N)
Kentucky	Andy Beshear	Yes
Louisiana	Jeff Landry	No
Mississippi	Tate Reeves	Yes

The table below contains a list of all candidates for governor in 2027. The table is fully searchable by candidate, party and candidacy status. Depending on the size of your screen, you'll either see a menu to the left of the table or an arrow at the top right corner, which you can use to select a state.

STATESelect Tab

• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Mississippi

Kentucky Governor Candidates - 2027

candidate	party	office	status
No candidates available for this race		Governor of Kentucky

= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Louisiana Governor Candidates - 2027

candidate	party	office	status
No candidates available for this race		Governor of Louisiana

= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Mississippi Governor Candidates - 2027

candidate	party	office	status
No candidates available for this race		Governor of Mississippi

= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

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.

Trifectas

Triplexes

See also: State government trifectas

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

As of September 6, 2025, there are 23 Republican trifectas, 15 Democratic trifectas, and 12 divided governments where neither party holds trifecta control.

See also: State government triplexes

A state government triplex is a term used to describe when a state's governor, attorney general, and secretary of state are all members of the same party.

As of September 6, 2025, there are 25 Republican triplexes, 20 Democratic triplexes, and 5 divided governments where neither party holds triplex control.

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.

Compensation

Vacancy fill offices

Staff size

Involvement in budget proposals

Term limits

Line-item veto powers

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.

According to figures for 2022 compiled by the Council of State Governments in the Book of the States, gubernatorial offices range in size from 9 staffers in Nebraska to 277 staffers in Texas.

Although all governors have some involvement in the process of developing a state budget, the specific level of involvement differs from state to state. According to information published in the 2022 Book of the States, 24 governors share responsibility for developing a budget proposal, while 11 governors have full responsibility for developing an initial budget proposal and the remaining 15 have full responsibility for developing a budget.

See also: States with gubernatorial term limits

Most states impose some form of term limits on governors; of those that do, all but Virginia limit a governor to two four-year terms or to eight years in office. Although most states' term limit laws allow a governor who has served two terms to be elected once again after time has elapsed, some states impose a lifetime term limit like that on the presidency. Although Vermont and New Hampshire do not have term limit laws, they are the only states whose governors serve two-year terms rather than four-year terms.

The term line-item veto refers to the ability of a governor or other chief executive to veto specific parts of a bill while signing the rest of the bill into law. Currently, 44 states grant their governors line-item veto powers.

Election coverage by office

Click the tiles below to navigate to 2027 election coverage:

• 
  Congressional special elections
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• 
  Governors
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• 
  Attorney general
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• 
  Other state executives
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  State legislatures
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• 
  State ballot measures
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• 
  Local ballot measures
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• 
  State judges
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• 
  Local judges
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• 
  Municipal government
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• 
  School boards
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• 
  Recalls
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See also

• Past gubernatorial elections: 2026 • 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016
• Past state executive elections: 2026 • 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016
• Past election analysis: 2026 • 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018

Footnotes

2027 state executive official elections

Governor

Kentucky • Louisiana • Mississippi

Lieutenant Governor

Kentucky • Louisiana • Mississippi

Attorney General

Kentucky • Louisiana • Mississippi

Secretary of State

Kentucky • Louisiana • Mississippi

Treasurer

Kentucky • Louisiana • Mississippi

Auditor

Kentucky • Mississippi

Commissioners

Kentucky (agriculture) • Louisiana (agriculture) • Louisiana (insurance) • Mississippi (agriculture) • Mississippi (insurance) • Mississippi (public service) • Mississippi (transportation)

Education officials

Louisiana (board of education)