Democratic Party gubernatorial primaries, 2026

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Primaries by state
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Out of all top state executive offices, only the governor and attorney general exist in all 50 states, and only the governor is elected in all 50 states. As the chief executive officer, the governor is among the most powerful figures in state government. There are 36 gubernatorial seats on the ballot in 2026.

Of those 36 governor's offices, 18 are held by Democrats prior to the November 2026 elections, and 18 are held by Republicans.

On this page, you will find:

• Election dates and results
• List of Democratic primary candidates by state

• Click here for more on the Republican gubernatorial primaries in 2026.
• Click here for more on the gubernatorial general elections in 2026.

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.

Election dates

The following table details 2026 gubernatorial filing deadlines and primary dates in each state. The signature filing deadline is the date by which candidates must file nominating signatures with election officials in order to have their name placed on the ballot.

2026 Election Dates

State	Filing deadline	Primary election
Alabama	TBD	TBD
Alaska	TBD	TBD
Arizona	April 6	August 4
Arkansas	TBD	TBD
California	TBD	TBD
Colorado	March 18	June 30
Connecticut	TBD	TBD
Florida	TBD	TBD
Georgia	TBD	TBD
Hawaii	TBD	TBD
Idaho	TBD	TBD
Illinois	November 3	March 17
Iowa	TBD	TBD
Kansas	TBD	TBD
Maine	TBD	TBD
Maryland	February 24	June 23
Massachusetts	TBD	TBD
Michigan	TBD	TBD
Minnesota	TBD	TBD
Nebraska	TBD	TBD
Nevada	TBD	TBD
New Hampshire	TBD	TBD
New Mexico	TBD	TBD
New York	TBD	TBD
Ohio	February 4	May 5
Oklahoma	TBD	TBD
Oregon	TBD	TBD
Pennsylvania	TBD	TBD
Rhode Island	TBD	TBD
South Carolina	TBD	TBD
South Dakota	March 31	June 2
Tennessee	TBD	TBD
Texas	December 8	March 3
Vermont	TBD	TBD
Wisconsin	TBD	TBD
Wyoming	TBD	TBD

Seats up for election

There are 18 Republican and 18 Democratic seats up for election in 2026. The table and map below show which states are holding gubernatorial elections in 2026.

By state

Note: Prior to filing deadlines, the following lists of potential and declared candidates are unofficial. They will be updated after each candidate filing deadline has passed and the official list of candidates becomes available. Please contact us if you notice a candidate who declared for election missing from the list or a candidate who withdrew still listed.

Alabama

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There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Alaska

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There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Arizona

---

See also: Arizona gubernatorial election, 2026 (August 4 Democratic primary)

 Democratic primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

Arkansas

---

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

California

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There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Colorado

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See also: Colorado gubernatorial election, 2026 (June 30 Democratic primary)

 Democratic primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

• Michael Bennet
• David Hughes
• William Moses 
• Daniel Thomas
• Phil Weiser

---

= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey

Connecticut

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There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Florida

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There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Georgia

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There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Guam

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There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Hawaii

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There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Idaho

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There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Illinois

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See also: Illinois gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2026 (March 17 Democratic primary)

 Democratic primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

• J.B. Pritzker (Incumbent)

Iowa

---

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Kansas

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There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Maine

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There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Maryland

---

See also: Maryland gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2026 (June 23 Democratic primary)

 Democratic primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

• Wes Moore (Incumbent)

Massachusetts

---

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Michigan

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There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Minnesota

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There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Nebraska

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There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Nevada

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There are no official candidates yet for this election.

New Hampshire

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There are no official candidates yet for this election.

New Mexico

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There are no official candidates yet for this election.

New York

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There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Ohio

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See also: Ohio gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2026 (May 5 Democratic primary)

 Democratic primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

• Amy Acton

Oklahoma

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There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Oregon

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There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Pennsylvania

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There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Rhode Island

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There are no official candidates yet for this election.

South Carolina

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There are no official candidates yet for this election.

South Dakota

---

See also: South Dakota gubernatorial election, 2026 (June 2 Democratic primary)

 Democratic primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

Tennessee

---

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Texas

---

See also: Texas gubernatorial election, 2026 (March 3 Democratic primary)

 Democratic primary candidates

Note: The candidate list in this election may not be complete.

• Bobby Cole
• Nick Pappas 
• Meagan Tehseldar 

---

= candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey

Vermont

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There are no official candidates yet for this election.

U.S. Virgin Islands

---

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Wisconsin

---

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Wyoming

---

There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Election coverage by office

Click the tiles below to navigate to 2026 election coverage:

• 
  U.S. Senate
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• 
  U.S. House
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• 
  Governors
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• 
  Secretary of state
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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
  Read more
• 
  Recalls
  Read more

See also

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

Footnotes

2026 state executive official elections

Governor

Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Florida • Georgia • Guam • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Iowa • Kansas • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Mexico • New York • Northern Mariana Islands • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Vermont • U.S. Virgin Islands • Wisconsin • Wyoming

Lieutenant Governor

Alabama • Alaska • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Florida • Georgia • Guam • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Iowa • Kansas • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Nebraska • Nevada • New Mexico • New York • Northern Mariana Islands • Ohio • Oklahoma • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Texas • Vermont • U.S. Virgin Islands • Wisconsin

Attorney General

Alabama • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Guam • Idaho • Illinois • Iowa • Kansas • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Nebraska • Nevada • New Mexico • New York • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Texas • Vermont • Wisconsin

Secretary of State

Alabama • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Georgia • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Nebraska • Nevada • New Mexico • North Dakota • Ohio • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Vermont • Wisconsin • Wyoming

Treasurer

Alabama • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Massachusetts • Nebraska • Nevada • New Mexico • Ohio • Oklahoma • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Vermont • Wisconsin • Wyoming

Auditor

Alabama • Arkansas • Delaware • Iowa • Massachusetts • Minnesota • Missouri • Nebraska • New Mexico • Ohio • Oklahoma • South Dakota • Vermont • Wyoming

Comptroller

California • Connecticut • Idaho • Illinois • Maryland • Nevada • New York • South Carolina • Texas

Education officials

Alabama (board of education) • Arizona (superintendent) • California (superintendent) • Colorado (board of education) • Colorado (board of regent) • District of Columbia (board of education) • Georgia (superintendent) • Guam (education board) • Idaho (superintendent) • Kansas (board of education) • Michigan (board of education) • Michigan (board of regent) • Michigan (board of trustees) • Michigan (board of governors) • Nebraska (board of education) • Nebraska (board of regents) • Nevada (board of regents) • New Mexico (board of education) • Northern Mariana Islands (board of education) • Ohio (board of education) • Oklahoma (superintendent) • South Carolina (superintendent) • Texas (board of education) • Utah (board of education) • U.S. Virgin Islands (board of education) • Wyoming (superintendent)

Commissioners

Alabama (agriculture) • Alabama (public service) • Arizona (corporation) • Arizona (mine inspector) • Arkansas (public lands) • California (board of equalization) • California (insurance) • Florida (agriculture) • Georgia (agriculture) • Georgia (labor) • Georgia (insurance) • Georgia (public service) • Guam (utilities) • Hawaii (Hawaiian affairs) • Iowa (agriculture) • Kansas (insurance) • Louisiana (public service) • Massachusetts (governor's council) • Montana (public service) • Nebraska (public service) • New Hampshire (executive council) • New Mexico (public lands) • North Dakota (agriculture) • North Dakota (public service) • North Dakota (tax) • Oklahoma (corporation) • Oklahoma (insurance) • Oklahoma (labor) • Oregon (labor) • South Carolina (agriculture) • South Dakota (public lands) • South Dakota (public utilities) • Texas (agriculture) • Texas (public lands) • Texas (railroad)