There are 37 governors' seats up for grabs this year. Of those, 24 are open seats, where no incumbent is running for re-election—12 currently held by a Democrat, 12 by a Republican.
Republicans probably will hold onto at least half a dozen of their 12 open seats. That's one set of fresh faces.
In addition, Republicans seem likely to capture three open seats currently held by Democrats, in Kansas, Wyoming and Tennessee. They have a good shot at three more, in Michigan, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania, and a decent shot at open Democratic seats in Wisconsin, Oregon and New Mexico.
On top of that, some incumbent Democratic governors running for re-election are fighting to hang on, including Pat Quinn in Illinois, Chet Culver in Iowa and Deval Patrick in Massachusetts.
However as all these races sort out, the GOP is in for a makeover outside Washington, regardless of what happens inside the Beltway. |
