2024 Governor Elections (Ricky's Future Elections)

Summary
Most of the seats up for re-election were not competitive, with either Republicans or Democrats easily winning. The one exception was North Carolina - a swing state. Although North Carolina went to Donald Trump in the Presidential Election by five points, Democrats were still able to hold this seat, with Attorney General Josh Stein winning the election by a rather solid margin. As such, there was no change in results.

Delaware
Incumbent Governor John Carney was term limited and was unable to run for re-election. Lieutenant Governor Bethany Hall-Long won the Democratic Primary unopposed whilst Republican John Horan won the Republican primary. In the general election, Hall won by an unexpectedly low margin.

Republican Primary
Candidates
 * John Horan, advocate and high school teacher
 * Robert Hughes, state representative

Democratic Primary
Candidate
 * Bethany Hall-Long, incumbent Lieutenant Governor of Delaware

Indiana
Incumbent Governor Eric Holcomb was term limited and unable to run for re-election. In the Republican primary, former Representative Trey Hollingsworth won the Republican primary whilst Democrat Joe Donnelly, an US Ambassador and former US Senator, won the Democratic nomination unopposed. In the general election, Hollingsworth defeated Donnelly by a very narrow margin.

Republican Primary
Originally, US Representative Greg Pence, the brother of former Vice President and Governor Mike Pence, expressed interest in the race and was the early frontrunner, leader in a poll against runner up Trey Hollingsworth by over 13 points. However, Pence declined to run in January, and the race became a 3 way race between State Senator Jim Merritt, Trey Hollingsworth and former Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill. Following Hollingsworth endorsement by President Trump, he became the frontrunner and won the Republican primary. 'Candidates'
 * Trey Hollingsworth, former US Representative from Indiana's 9th Congressional District
 * Curtis Hill, former Attorney General of Indiana
 * Jim Merritt, Indiana State Senator

Democratic Primary
Candidate
 * Joe Donnelly, US Ambassador to the Holy See and former Senator from Indiana

Missouri
Incumbent Governor Mike Parson was term limited for a second full term in office. To succeed him, Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe won a hotly contested Republican primary against former Governor Eric Greitens and former US Representative Vicky Hartzler. Lucas Kunce, the Democratic nominee for the Senate in 2022, won the Democratic nomination.

Republican Primary
Kehoe announced his bid to replace Parson early on, and was generally considered the front runner. Former Governor Eric Greitens, after losing the Republican Nomination for Senate in 2022, expressed interest in running later on. Vicky Hartlzer, who also ran in the Senate against Greitens announced her bid later on. The race was a pure tossup, with President Trump not giving an endorsement of any candidate. Kehoe narrowly won the three way race, with Hartzler finishing second. Candidates
 * Mike Kehoe, Lieutenant Governor of Missouri
 * Vicky Hartzler, former US Representative from Missouri's 4th Congressional District and candidate for the Senate in 2022
 * Eric Greitens, former Governor of Missouri and candidate for the Senate in 2022

Democratic Primary
Former Secretary of State Jason Kander was speculated to run early on, however declined to run. Lucas Kunce was the only other major candidate to announce his bid and defeated five other perennial candidates to win the nomination. Candidates
 * Lucas Kunce, nominee for Senate in 2022
 * Alex Palin, perennial candidate
 * Scott Lang, activist
 * Jimbo Qyuale, news reporter
 * Sarah Smith, farmer
 * Dan Bolin, former Fulton city councilman

Republican Primary
Greg Gianforte was unopposed in the Republican primary. Candidates
 * Greg Gianforte, incumbent Governor of Montana

Democratic Primary
Tom Brales was unopposed in the Democratic primary Candidates
 * Tom Brales, state Representative

New Hampshire
Incumbent Governor Chris Sununu won re-election to a fifth term as governor, defeating former State Senator Tom Sherman in a rematch of the 2022 election. Both candidates were unopposed in their respective primaries. Despite Joe Biden narrowly carrying the state, Sununu easily won re-election.

Republican Primary
Brigadier general Don Bolduc, who had run in the past two senate elections, originally expressed interest in challenging Sununu in the primary. Former Trump official and Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown also expressed interest in running, and in the Republican primary, lead Sununu 46-42. Brown instead later announced a bid for New Hampshire's first congressional district. Candidates
 * Chris Sununu, incumbent Governor of New Hampshire

Democratic Primary
former Governor and current US Senator Maggie Hassan originally expressed interest in running for another term as governor, and started what seemed like the start of a campaign to run in early January. However, hypothetical polling showed her behind Sununu by 11 points, and Hassan soon declined to run. With Hassan's announcement not to run, The Democratic Governor's association withdrew funding from the race. Candidates
 * Tom Sherman, former State Senator and nominee for Governor in 2022

North Carolina
Incumbent Governor Roy Cooper is term limited and could not seek a third term. Josh Stein, the state attorney general won the Democratic primary unopposed and defeated Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson in the general election, despite the state going to Trump by 5 points. The win was largely attributed to Stein's campaign successful attacks of Robinson's support of conspiracy theories.

Republican Primary
After losing the primary for Senator in 2022, Mark Walker announced that he would run for governor in 2023. Whilst he was the early frontrunner, hypothetical polls that put him against Robinson had the latter lead 47-40, and against former Representative Madison Cawthorn 45-42, as well as against Lara Trump, Trump lead 65-30. Of those mentioned, only Robinson filed to run, and defeated Walker in the primary by a landslide. Candidates
 * Mark Robinson, Lieutenant Governor
 * Mark Walker, Former US Representative

Democratic Primary
Candidates
 * Josh Stein, North Carolina attorney General

North Dakota
Incumbent Governor Doug Burgum won re-election to a third term.

Republican Primary
Doug Burgum won the Republican primary unopposed. Lieutenant Governor Brent Sanford was selected as his running mate. Candidates
 * Doug Burgum, Incumbent Governor of North Dakota
 * Running mate: Brent Sanford, Incumbent Lieutenant Governor.

Democrat Primary
Former Republican State Senator Mark Trevor, who switched parties in 2023, was the front runner for the nomination, and defeated 9 other perennial candidates to win the nomination. Candidates
 * Mark Trevor, former Republican State Senator
 * Running Mate: Wayland Burdick, former member of the Fargo school board.
 * Lisa Blaint, farmer
 * Curtis Wesley, businessman
 * Running Mate: George Taylor, state representative
 * Alder Edwards, banker
 * Neil Brown, small business owner
 * Lou Rogers, former actor
 * Adam Cook, candidate for State Representative in 2022
 * Julia Bell, businessman
 * Ted Meyers, football player
 * Alec Scott, chef

Utah
Incumbent Governor Spencer Cox won re-election to a second term.

Republican primary
Nominated at convention
 * Spencer Cox, incumbent Governor of Utah
 * Running mate: Deidre Henderson, incumbent lieutenant Governor of Utah

Democratic primary
Nominated at convention
 * Kael Weston, candidate for the Senate in 2022
 * Running mate: Allen Grey, lawyer

Vermont
Incumbent Governor Phil Scott won re-election unopposed.

Republican Primary
Candidates
 * Phil Scott, incumbent governor of Vermont
 * Tobias Carter, former campaigner for Senator Adam Laxalt

Washington
Incumbent Governor Jay Inslee ran for re-election to a fourth term. In the top 2 primary, Inslee and 2022 Republican Senate nominee Tiffany Smiley prevailed. Inslee defeated Smiley in the general election, becoming the first Washington governor to win re-election.

Top 2 Primary
Candidates
 * Jay Inslee (Democratic), incumbent Governor of Washington
 * Tiffany Smiley (Republican), nurse and nominee for Senate in 2022
 * Jim Nelson (Republican), businessman
 * Nadine Woodward (Republican), mayor of Spokane
 * Grant Warren (Independent), Lawyer and advocate

West Virginia
Incumbent Governor Jim Justice was term limited and unable to serve a second term. The primary race to succeed him was gruesome, with David McKinley narrowly winning the primary. McKinley defeated Democrat Jeff Flint in the general election.

Republican Primary
Chris Miller was the first to announce his intention to run, followed by McCuskey and then McKinley. McCuskey was the early frontrunner, however worry that he might lose to Democrat Earl Ray Tomblin. McKinley, who was more moderate, was given more funding and many withdrew endorsements from McCuskey and gave them McKinley. Even when Tomblin dropped out of the running, McKinley had enough support to narrowly defeat McCuskey in the primary Candidates
 * David McKinley, former US Representative from West Virginia's 1st congressional district
 * JP McCuskey, West Virginia State Auditor
 * Chris Miller, businessman and son of Representative Carol Miller

Democratic Primary
the Democratic primary was eyed on when former Governor Earl Ray Tomblin announced his intention to run. However, Tomblin dropped out of the running, and the party instead embraced coal businessman Jeff Flint. Candidates Withdrew
 * Jeff Flint, CEO of United Coal Co.
 * Earl Ray Tomblin, former Governor of West Virginia
 * Ron Stollings, former state Senator.