States with both gubernatorial and U.S. Senate elections, 2018-present
This page compiles analyses of states that held both gubernatorial and U.S. Senate elections in the same election year since 2018. It features summaries of and links to each individual analysis.
Click on a year below to read analysis from that year.
2024
Nine states held elections for both governor and U.S. Senate in 2024: Delaware, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Utah, Washington, West Virginia, and Vermont.
- In five of these states, Delaware, Indiana, Missouri, North Dakota, and West Virginia, the gubernatorial election was an open-seat race, due to term limits. Three of these nine states featured an open-seat race for the U.S. Senate: Delaware, Utah, and West Virginia.
- The incumbent governor and senator were both Democrats in one of these states, Delaware, and in four of them, Utah, Missouri, North Dakota, and West Virginia, both were Republicans.
- Three states held gubernatorial and senate elections with incumbents from opposite parties. In two of those states, Montana and West Virginia, the incumbent governor was Republican while the incumbent senator was Democratic. In Vermont, the incumbent governor was Republican while the incumbent senator was Independent.
A map and table of where these elections occurred, the names of incumbents prior to the 2024 elections, and links to our coverage of these races appear below:
| States holding both gubernatorial and U.S. Senate elections in 2020 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Incumbent Governor | Open Seat? | Incumbent Senator | Open Seat? |
| Delaware |  John Carney Jr. |
No | Thomas Carper |
Yes |
| Indiana | Eric Holcomb |
Yes |  Mike Braun |
No |
| Missouri | Mike Parson |
Yes | Josh Hawley |
No |
| Montana | Greg Gianforte |
No | Jon Tester |
No |
| North Dakota | Doug Burgum |
Yes | Kevin Cramer |
No |
| Utah | Spencer Cox |
No | Mitt Romney |
Yes |
| Washington | Jay Inslee |
Yes | Maria Cantwell |
No |
| West Virginia | Jim Justice |
Yes | Joe Manchin |
Yes |
| Vermont | Phil Scott |
No |  Bernie Sanders |
No |
2020
Five states held elections for both governor and U.S. Senate in 2020: Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and West Virginia.
- In one of these states, Montana, the gubernatorial election was an open-seat race, due to term limits. None of these five states featured an open-seat race for the U.S. Senate.
- The incumbent governor and senator were both Democrats in one of these states, Delaware, and in one of them, West Virginia, both were Republicans.
- Three states held gubernatorial and senate elections with incumbents from opposite parties. In two of those states, Montana and North Carolina, the incumbent governor was Democratic while the incumbent senator was Republican. In New Hampshire, the incumbent governor was Republican while the incumbent senator was Democratic.
A map and table of where these elections occurred, the names of incumbents prior to the 2020 elections, and links to our coverage of these races appears below:
| States holding both gubernatorial and U.S. Senate elections in 2020 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Incumbent Governor | Open Seat? | Incumbent Senator | Open Seat? |
| Delaware | John Carney Jr. |
No | Chris Coons |
No |
| Montana | Steve Bullock |
Yes | Steve Daines |
No |
| New Hampshire | Chris Sununu |
No | Jeanne Shaheen |
No |
| North Carolina | Roy Cooper |
No | Thom Tillis |
No |
| West Virginia | Jim Justice |
No | Shelley Moore Capito |
No |
2018
Twenty-two states held elections for both governor and U.S. Senate in 2018.
- Only one state saw a party switch of both the governor and U.S. Senator, as both offices flipped from Republican to Democratic control - Nevada. Jacky Rosen defeated incumbent Sen. Dean Heller while Steve Sisolak won the open-seat race for governor over Adam Laxalt.
- Arizona and Florida saw their U.S. Senate seats change parties while the governor remained a member of the same party that held the office previously.
- - In Arizona, Kyrsten Sinema (D) won the U.S. Senate seat previously held by Republican Jeff Flake, while Doug Ducey (R) was re-elected as the state's governor.
- - In Florida, Rick Scott (R) won the Senate seat previously held by Democrat Bill Nelson, while Ron DeSantis (R) was elected to succeed Scott as the state's governor.
- - In Arizona, Kyrsten Sinema (D) won the U.S. Senate seat previously held by Republican Jeff Flake, while Doug Ducey (R) was re-elected as the state's governor.
- Four other states saw Republican governors replaced by Democratic ones, and all four had Democratic or Democratic-caucusing Senators prior to the election:
- - Those elected governor in those states in 2018 were Janet Mills in Maine, Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan, Michelle Lujan Grisham in New Mexico, and Tony Evers in Wisconsin.
In 11 of these 22 states, the gubernatorial election was an open-seat race, primarily due to term limits. Only two of these 22 states featured open-seat races for the U.S. Senate (Arizona and Tennessee).
The incumbent governor and senator in six of these states were both Republicans, while in seven of them, both were Democrats. Nine states held gubernatorial and senate elections with incumbents from opposite parties. In all nine cases, the incumbent governor was Republican while the incumbent U.S. Senator was either a Democrat or an independent who caucuses with the Democrats (Sens. Bernie Sanders in Vermont and Angus King in Maine).
A map and table of where these elections occurred, the names of incumbents prior to and following the 2018 elections, and links to our coverage of these races appears below:
See also
- Congressional Analysis Archive
- Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2024
Footnotes
