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Lieutenant gubernatorial elections, 2024
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The lieutenant governor's office was on the ballot in nine states in 2024. These elections were in Delaware, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Utah, Vermont, and Washington.
As a result of the 2024 elections, two seats changed partisan control, one for each party. In North Carolina, Rachel Hunt (D) defeated Hal Weatherman (R) in an open race to succeed Mark Robinson (R), who ran for governor. In Vermont, John Rodgers (R) defeated incumbent David Zuckerman (Vermont Progressive Party).[1] Of the states up in 2024, heading into 2025, three will have Democratic lieutenant governors, and eight will have Republican lieutenant governors. Among all lieutenant governorships, 25 are held by Republicans and 20 by Democrats. This is the same number of seats each party controlled when heading into the election.
In 45 states, the lieutenant governor is the second-highest executive office, behind the governor. Although the powers and duties of the lieutenant governor vary from state to state, lieutenant governors are responsible for filling vacancies in the office of governor. In many states, lieutenant governors often sit on boards or commissions and are often involved in the proceedings of the state Senate.
The process for selecting a lieutenant governor varies from state to state. In Tennessee and West Virginia, the member of the state Senate chosen to serve as its president becomes the lieutenant governor. In the other 43 states with lieutenant governors, the officeholder is elected—this election is separate from the gubernatorial election in 17 states and is held on a joint ticket in the other 26.
In 2022, there were 30 lieutenant gubernatorial seats on the ballot. Before the elections, these offices were held by 15 Republicans and 15 Democrats. Eleven lieutenant governors did not seek re-election—four Democrats and seven Republicans. The partisan control of three lieutenant governors' offices changed, resulting in a pickup of one net office for Democrats. The only incumbent that was defeated was in Nevada, where Stavros S. Anthony (R) defeated Lisa Cano (D). In two states—Maryland and Massachusetts—the partisan control of the lieutenant governor's office changed as a Democratic governor succeeded a Republican one. In Maryland, Aruna Miller (D) succeeded incumbent Boyd Rutherford (R), and in Massachusetts, Kim Driscoll (D) succeeded incumbent Karyn Polito (R). The governor and lieutenant governor were elected on a joint ticket in both states.
In 2020, nine states held elections for lieutenant governor. No incumbent lieutenant governors were defeated; incumbents sought and won re-election in four states. Five incumbent lieutenant governors did not seek re-election in 2020. Two lieutenant gubernatorial offices changed partisan control, resulting in a pickup of one net office for Republicans. In Montana, Kristen Juras (R) succeeded Mike Cooney (D). Montana is one of eight states where a lieutenant governor candidate is chosen by the gubernatorial candidate before the primary, and they run as a single ticket in both the primary and the general election. Greg Gianforte (R) defeated Cooney in that state's gubernatorial election. In Vermont, Molly Gray (D) succeeded David Zuckerman (Vermont Progressive Party), who did not run for re-election.
While this page includes links to pages on state executive elections in the U.S. Territories, it does not include the territories in its statistics.
Partisan balance
The following chart displays the number of lieutenant governors' offices held by each party before and after the 2024 elections.
| U.S. lieutenant governors partisan breakdown | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of the 2024 elections | After the 2024 elections | |
| Democratic Party | 20 | 20 | |
| Republican Party | 25 | 25 | |
| Total | 45 | 45 | |
List of elections
| State | Incumbent | Incumbent running? | Election type | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delaware |   Bethany Hall-Long |
No (term-limited) | Elected separately | Kyle Evans Gay
|
| Indiana |   Suzanne Crouch |
No | Joint ticket with Gov. | Micah Beckwith
|
| Missouri |  Mike Kehoe |
No | Elected separately | David Wasinger
|
| Montana |  Kristen Juras |
Yes | Joint ticket with Gov. | Kristen Juras
|
| North Carolina |  Mark Robinson |
No | Elected separately | Rachel Hunt
|
| North Dakota |  Tammy Miller |
No | Joint ticket with Gov. | Michelle Strinden
|
| Utah |  Deidre Henderson |
Yes | Joint ticket with Gov. | Deidre Henderson
|
| Vermont |   David Zuckerman |
Yes | Elected separately | John Rodgers
|
| Washington |  Denny Heck |
Yes | Elected separately | Denny Heck
|
List of candidates
The table below contains a list of all candidates for lieutenant governor in 2024. 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.
| candidate | party | office | status |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Nonpartisan | Won General Runoff | |
 | Nonpartisan | Lost General Runoff | |
Nonpartisan | Lost General |
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
| candidate | party | office | status |
|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Won General | ||
Republican | Lost General | ||
 | Democratic | Lost Primary | |
Democratic | Lost Primary | ||
Democratic | Withdrew Primary |
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
| candidate | party | office | status |
|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Won General | ||
 | Republican | Lost Convention | |
Democratic | Lost Convention | ||
 | Democratic | Lost General | |
 | Democratic | Lost Convention | |
 | Democratic | Lost Convention | |
Libertarian | Lost Convention | ||
Libertarian | Lost General |
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
| candidate | party | office | status |
|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Won General | ||
Republican | Lost Primary | ||
 | Republican | Lost Primary | |
 | Republican | Lost Primary | |
Republican | Lost Primary | ||
 | Republican | Lost Primary | |
Democratic | Lost General | ||
Democratic | Lost Primary | ||
Green | Lost General | ||
Libertarian | Lost General | ||
Republican | Withdrew Primary | ||
 | Republican | Withdrew Primary | |
 | Republican | Withdrew Primary |
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
| candidate | party | office | status |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Republican | Won General | |
 | Republican | Lost Primary | |
Democratic | Lost Primary | ||
 | Democratic | Lost General | |
Libertarian | Lost General |
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
| candidate | party | office | status |
|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Won General | ||
 | Republican | Lost Primary | |
Republican | Lost Primary | ||
Republican | Lost Primary | ||
 | Republican | Lost Primary | |
Republican | Lost Primary | ||
Republican | Lost Primary | ||
 | Republican | Lost Primary Runoff | |
 | Republican | Lost Primary | |
 | Republican | Lost Primary | |
 | Republican | Lost General | |
Republican | Lost Primary | ||
 | Constitution Party | Lost General | |
Democratic | Lost Primary | ||
 | Democratic | Lost Primary | |
 | Libertarian | Lost General | |
 | Democratic | Withdrew Primary | |
Independent | Withdrew (Write-in) General | ||
 | Libertarian | Withdrew General |
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
| candidate | party | office | status |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Republican | Won General | |
 | Republican | Lost Primary | |
 | Democratic | Lost General | |
 | Independent | Lost General |
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
| candidate | party | office | status |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Republican | Won General | |
 | Democratic | Lost General | |
 | Independent American Party | Lost General | |
 | Libertarian | Lost General | |
 | Unaffiliated | Lost (Write-in) General | |
 | Unaffiliated | Lost (Write-in) General | |
 | Unaffiliated | Lost General | |
Republican | Disqualified Primary | ||
Unaffiliated | Withdrew (Write-in) General |
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
| candidate | party | office | status |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Republican | Won General | |
 | Republican | Lost Primary | |
 | Democratic | Lost Primary | |
 | Democratic, Vermont Progressive Party | Lost General | |
Green Mountain Peace and Justice Party of Vermont | Lost General | ||
 | Vermont Progressive Party | Withdrew General |
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
| candidate | party | office | status |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Democratic | Won General | |
 | Republican | Lost Primary | |
Republican | Lost General | ||
 | Democratic | Lost Primary | |
 | Liberal Republican Party | Lost Primary | |
 | Republican | Withdrew Primary |
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
Historical control
In 1977, the Democratic Party held a total of 34 lieutenant governorships to the Republican Party's 10. The Democratic lead in lieutenant governorships would be maintained until the midterm elections of 1994, which gave the Republican Party control of 23 lieutenant governorships to the Democrats' 21. The midterm elections of 2006 led to the Democratic Party regaining its lead in lieutenant governorships, with 23 to the Republicans' 21. However, the Republican Party regained its lead in the 2008 elections. After that election, lieutenant governorships trended Republican until the 2018 elections, with the party reaching a high of 32 lieutenant governorships to Democrats' 13 in 2015 and 2016. In 2018, Democrats and Republicans each won 15 of the 30 seats up for election, narrowing the gap in seats but keeping the Republican lead in place. In 2019, Democrats gained Kentucky's lieutenant governorship, giving Democrats 21 seats to Republicans' 24. Republicans gained one net lieutenant governorship each in 2020 and 2021, and Democrats gained one net lieutenant governorship in 2022.
Important dates and deadlines
The following table details 2024 gubernatorial filing deadlines and primary dates in each state. The signature filing deadline was the date by which candidates had to file nominating signatures with election officials in order to have their name placed on the ballot.
| 2024 Election Dates | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Filing deadline | Primary election | ||||
| Delaware | July 9 | September 10 | ||||
| Indiana | February 9 | May 7 | ||||
| Missouri | March 26 | August 6 | ||||
| Montana | March 11 | June 4 | ||||
| New Hampshire | June 14 | September 10 | ||||
| North Carolina | December 15 | March 5 | ||||
| North Dakota | April 8 | June 11 | ||||
| Utah | January 8 | June 25 | ||||
| Vermont | May 30 | August 13 | ||||
| Washington | May 17 | August 6 | ||||
| West Virginia | January 27 | May 14 | ||||
About the office
Selection process
In 27 states, the lieutenant governor is selected on a ticket with the governor, meaning that lieutenant gubernatorial candidates serve as running mates to gubernatorial candidates, with the winning gubernatorial candidate's running mate becoming lieutenant governor. In seven of these states, there are separate primaries for governor and lieutenant governor, with the winning candidate in each primary appearing on the general election ticket. In the remaining 20 states, gubernatorial candidates may pick their own running mates in a similar fashion to presidential candidates. In 17 states, the lieutenant governor is elected separately from the governor. In Tennessee and West Virginia, the title of lieutenant governor is given to the president of the state Senate.[2]
- Lt. gov. nominated in separate primary and elected in separate general election (17): Alabama, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington
- Lt. gov. nominated in separate primary but runs on a single ticket with gubernatorial nominee in general election (7): Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin
- Lt. gov. chosen by gubernatorial candidate before primary and runs on a single ticket with gubernatorial candidate in both the primary and general election (9): Alaska, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Utah
- Lt. gov. chosen by gubernatorial nominee after primary and runs on a single ticket with gubernatorial nominee in the general election (11): Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey, South Carolina, South Dakota
- Lt. gov. is a member of the legislature (2): Tennessee, West Virginia
- Lt. gov. office does not exist in state (4): Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon, Wyoming
Partisan affiliation
There are currently a total of 30 Republican lieutenant governors and 14 Democratic lieutenant governors, including David Zuckerman of Vermont, whose primary affiliation is with the Vermont Progressive Party. The position of lieutenant governor of Alabama is vacant following Kay Ivey's (R) promotion to the governorship in April 2017.
Compensation
According to compensation figures for 2023 compiled by the Council of State Governments in the Book of the States, the highest salary for a lieutenant governor was $210,000 in New York while the lowest was $7,200 in Texas. To view the compensation of a specific lieutenant governor, hover your mouse over the state.
Legislative powers
In 27 states, the lieutenant governor is involved with the legislative process as the presiding officer of the state Senate. In 24 of those states, the lieutenant governor also has the power to cast a tiebreaking vote in the Senate, although some states limit this ability to votes on specific issues.[3]
Gubernatorial delegation
In 24 states, the governor may formally transfer a portion of their power to the lieutenant governor.[3]
Acting governor
In 29 states, the lieutenant governor serves as acting governor while the governor is out of the state; three of these states place limits on this role.[3]
Term limits
To view term limits for a particular state, hover your mouse over that state.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Zuckerman is affiliated with the Vermont Progressive Party, which affiliates with Democrats.
- ↑ National Lieutenant Governors Association, "Methods of Election," accessed August 27, 2025
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Council of State Governments, "Book of the States 2017 - Lieutenant Governors: Powers and Duties," accessed December 3, 2017
