UNITED STATES
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The governor is the chief executive of each of the 50 US states. Governors sign or veto laws, propose the state budget, command the state National Guard and can usually appoint judges and many state officials. In most states they are elected for four years, in New Hampshire and Vermont for two.
On 3 November 2026, 36 of the 50 governorships are on the ballot. The other 14 states elected their governor in 2024 or 2025: Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Utah, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia. Before the election, 26 governors are Republicans and 24 are Democrats. Because many governors are limited to two terms, a large number of the races are open seats without an incumbent.
The elections take place together with the elections to the House of Representatives, 35 seats in the Senate and many state legislatures. Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the US Virgin Islands also elect their governors in 2026. They are not part of the 50 governorships and are listed separately below the states.
Governors are elected statewide, and every voter has one vote. In most states the candidate with the most votes wins, even without an absolute majority. In many states, the candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run together on one ticket.
Some states use different rules: Georgia requires an absolute majority and holds a run-off if nobody reaches it. Alaska uses a nonpartisan top-four primary followed by ranked-choice voting in the general election. In Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the US Virgin Islands, a runoff between the top two follows if no ticket wins a majority. In Vermont, the legislature chooses the governor if no candidate wins a majority. In some states, such as Connecticut, New York and Oregon, a candidate can be nominated by several parties at once.