Lieutenant gubernatorial elections, 2025
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There are two lieutenant gubernatorial offices on the ballot in 2025. These elections are in New Jersey and Virginia. New Jersey's lieutenant governor is elected on a joint ticket with the governor, and Virginia's lieutenant governor is separately elected.
Incumbent lieutenant governors Tahesha Way (D-N.J.) and Winsome Earle-Sears (R-Va.) are not running for re-election. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) appointed Way on September 8, 2023, to replace Sheila Oliver (D), who died on August 1, 2023. Earle-Sears is running for governor instead of re-election.
Ballotpedia has identified both New Jersey's gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election and the lieutenant gubernatorial election in Virginia as battlegrounds. Click here to learn more.
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 the 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 2024, there were nine lieutenant gubernatorial seats on the ballot. These elections were in Delaware, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Utah, Vermont, and Washington. In four states (Indiana, Montana, North Dakota, and Utah), the lieutenant governor was elected on a joint ticket, and in five states (Delaware, Missouri, North Carolina, Vermont, and Washington), the lieutenant governor was elected separately. In two states, North Carolina and Vermont, the party out of power won the lieutenant governorship. A Democrat won in North Carolina and a Republican won in Vermont.
In 2021, the last time the lieutenant gubernatorial offices in New Jersey and Virginia were up for election, Sheila Oliver (D) was re-elected in New Jersey and Winsome Earle-Sears (R) was elected to succeed Justin Fairfax (D) in Virginia.
- Partisan balanceThe partisan balance of U.S. lieutenant governors
- On the ballotA list of elections and candidates on the ballot
- Pre-election analysisAnalysis leading up to the 2025 gubernatorial elections
- Important dates and deadlinesA list of important dates and deadlines for the 2025 election cycle
- About the officeInformation about lieutenant governors across all 50 states
Partisan balance
The following chart displays the number of lieutenant governors' offices held by each party before and after the 2025 elections.
Party | As of October 2025 | After the 2025 elections |
---|---|---|
Democratic | 20 | TBD |
Republican | 25 | TBD |
Total | 45 | 45 |
The chart below shows historical partisan breakdown information for lieutenant 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
There is one Democratic-held and one Republican-held office up for election in 2025. The table below displays more information about these races.
2025 Lieutenant gubernatorial races | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
State | Current Incumbent | Incumbent running? | ||
New Jersey | Tahesha Way | No | ||
Virginia | Winsome Earle-Sears | No |
Pre-election analysis
Incumbent lieutenant governors Tahesha Way (D-N.J.) and Winsome Earle-Sears (R-Va.) are not running for re-election.
New Jersey's lieutenant governor is elected on a joint ticket with the governor. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) appointed Way on September 8, 2023, to replace Sheila Oliver (D), who died on August 1, 2023.
Virginia's lieutenant governor is popularly elected every four years by a plurality and, unlike the governor, may run for re-election. Earle-Sears is running for governor instead of re-election.Important dates and deadlines
The table below lists important dates throughout the 2025 election cycle, including filing deadlines and primary dates.
State | Election date | Filing deadline | Source |
---|---|---|---|
New Jersey | June 10, 2025 | March 24, 2025 - New Jersey statewide primary candidate filing deadline | Source |
Pennsylvania | May 20, 2025 | March 11, 2025 - Pennsylvania statewide primary candidate filing deadline | Source |
Virginia | June 17, 2025 | April 3, 2025 - Virginia statewide primary candidate filing deadline | Source |
Wisconsin | Feb. 18, 2025 | Jan. 7, 2025 - Wisconsin statewide spring primary candidate filing deadline | Source |
About the office
In the United States, the office of lieutenant governor is the second-highest executive office in a state and is nominally subordinate to the governor. In the U.S., the main duty of the lieutenant governor is to act as governor should the governor be temporarily absent from the office. In addition, the lieutenant governor generally succeeds a governor who dies, resigns, or is removed by trial by the legislative branch. In most states, the lieutenant governor then becomes governor, with the title and its associated salary, office, and privileges. In a few states, like Massachusetts, the lieutenant governor instead becomes "acting governor" until the next election.
Other than this primary constitutional duty, most state constitutions do not prescribe the duties of the lieutenant governor in detail.
In Hawaii, the lieutenant governor serves concurrently as the secretary of state. In Tennessee and West Virginia, the president of the Senate also serves as lieutenant governor and is elected from within the legislature.
As of 2025, five states did not have a lieutenant governor position: Arizona, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon, and Wyoming.
In 26 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 eight 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 18 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.[1]
- 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 (10): 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 (5): Arizona, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon, Wyoming
Election coverage by office
See also
- Past lieutenant gubernatorial elections: 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016
- Past state executive elections: 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016
- Past election analysis: 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018
External links
Footnotes
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