When Governors Seek Re-Election

The Center on the American Governor has found that across the country when modern incumbent governors have sought re-election, they have been successful over 74% of the time. Over the last 75 years, the rate has increased almost every decade – from an average of 68.26% between 1948 and 1979 to an average of 79.22% from 1980 through 2013 to an average of 89.5% since 2013. Since 2020, 39 of the 40 incumbents who have run for reelection have won.

The full data set, including year, incumbent name, challenger name and winner (26-page PDF) is available here.

Years	Incumbents Running	Incumbents Winning	Success Rate
1948-2023	668	498	74.55%
1948-1979	318	211	68.26%
1980-2013	255	202	79.22%
2014-2023	95	85	89.47%

The re-election success rate for incumbent governors has gone up almost every decade with the largest jumps occurring from 1980-1990 and from the 2000s to the 2010s and 2020s.

Decade	Incumbents Running	Incumbents Winning	Success Rate
1948-1959	128	85	66.41%
1960s	96	61	63.54%
1970s	94	65	69.15%
1980s	73	54	73.97%
1990s	89	72	80.90%
2000s	69	55	79.71%
2010s	79	67	84.81%
2020-2023	40	39	97.50%

Re-election Rates by Region

Regionally, governors seeking re-election have had the greatest success in the Northeast where, since 1948, 79.87% have won their races. In every region of the country, however, incumbents have been successful at a rate over 72%.

Region	Incumbents Running	Incumbents Winning	Success Rate
Northeast	154	123	79.87%
South	157	115	73.25%
Midwest	187	136	72.72%
West	167	121	72.46%

Note: Census Bureau designated regions have been used to define this chart.

Re-election Rates in New Jersey

In New Jersey, eight of the eleven incumbent governors to run for re-election since 1948 have been successful. Those who lost were Governor William Cahill, defeated in the Republican primary in 1973, and Governors Jim Florio in 1993 and Jon Corzine in 2009, beaten by Christine Todd Whitman and Chris Christie respectively. Most recently, in 2021, Phil Murphy won re-election, defeating challenger Jack Ciattarelli.

Re-election Rates by Gender

Since 1970, 34 women have run for re-election as incumbent governors and 31 (91.12%) have been successful. Of these races, 30 took place in 1990 or later and 28 of them were successful; all 16 women who have run for reelection as governor since 2013 have won. A woman running for re-election as governor has not been defeated since Ann Richards (D-TX) lost to George W. Bush (R) in 1994.

Gubernatorial Incumbent Success Rate by State, 1948-2013

State	Incumbents Running	Incumbents Winning	Success Rate
Alabama	10	6	0.60
Alaska	11	5	0.45
Arizona	17	14	0.82
Arkansas	22	17	0.77
California	10	9	0.90
Colorado	15	12	0.80
Connecticut	14	11	0.79
Delaware	11	7	0.64
Florida	11	7	0.64
Georgia	9	7	0.78
Hawaii	12	10	0.83
Idaho	12	10	0.83
Illinois	16	9	0.56
Indiana	7	5	0.71
Iowa	20	16	0.80
Kansas	18	12	0.67
Kentucky	7	5	0.71
Louisiana	8	5	0.63
Maine	13	11	0.85
Maryland	11	9	0.82
Massachusetts	17	10	0.59
Michigan	19	16	0.84
Minnesota	17	11	0.65
Mississippi	6	4	0.67
Missouri	8	5	0.63
Montana	11	7	0.64
Nebraska	15	11	0.73
Nevada	14	8	0.57
New Hampshire	27	22	0.81
New Jersey	11	8	0.73
New Mexico	13	8	0.62
New York	15	12	0.80
North Carolina	5	5	1.00
North Dakota	17	14	0.82
Ohio	15	10	0.67
Oklahoma	7	5	0.71
Oregon	13	9	0.69
Pennsylvania	7	6	0.86
Rhode Island	24	18	0.75
South Carolina	9	7	0.78
South Dakota	16	13	0.81
Tennessee	10	8	0.80
Texas	22	16	0.73
Utah	15	12	0.80
Vermont	26	25	0.96
Virginia	0	0	N/A
Washington	13	9	0.69
West Virginia	9	7	0.78
Wisconsin	19	14	0.74
Wyoming	11	8	0.73

Gubernatorial Incumbent Success Rate by Year, 1948-2013

Year	Incumbents Running	Incumbents Winning	Success Rate
1948	24	12	0.50
1949	1	1	1.00
1950	20	15	0.75
1951	1	1	1.00
1952	21	16	0.76
1953	0	0	n/a
1954	19	12	0.63
1955	0	0	n/a
1956	20	15	0.75
1957	1	1	1.00
1958	20	11	0.55
1959	1	1	1.00
1960	14	8	0.57
1961	0	0	n/a
1962	28	15	0.54
1963	0	0	n/a
1964	15	12	0.80
1965	1	1	1.00
1966	24	15	0.62
1967	0	0	n/a
1968	14	10	0.71
1969	0	0	n/a
1970	25	17	0.68
1971	0	0	n/a
1972	11	7	0.64
1973	1	0	0
1974	23	17	0.74
1975	2	2	1.00
1976	8	5	0.62
1977	1	1	1.00
1978	23	16	0.70
1979	0	0	n/a
1980	12	7	0.58
1981	0	0	n/a
1982	25	19	0.76
1983	1	0	0
1984	6	4	0.67
1985	1	1	1.00
1986	18	15	0.83
1987	1	0	0
1988	9	8	0.89
1989	0	0	n/a
1990	23	17	0.74
1991	2	0	0
1992	4	4	1.00
1993	1	0	0
1994	23	17	0.74
1995	1	1	1.00
1996	7	7	1.00
1997	1	1	1.00
1998	25	23	0.92
1999	2	2	1.00
2000	6	5	0.83
2001	0	0	n/a
2002	16	12	0.75
2003	1	0	0
2004	8	4	0.5
2005	0	0	n/a
2006	27	25	0.93
2007	2	1	0.50
2008	8	8	1.00
2009	1	0	0
2010	14	11	0.79
2011	3	3	1.00
2012	6	6	1.00
2013	1	1	1.00
2014	29	25	0.86
2015	1	1	1.00
2016	4	3	0.75
2017	0	0	0.00
2018	19	16	0.84
2019	2	1	0.50
2020	9	9	1.00
2021	1	1	1.00
2022	28	27	0.96
2023	2	2	1.00

Note on Sources

Information on past governors is available at the National Governors Association Website, www.nga.org. Detailed election results from past campaigns are available at www.ourcampaigns.com. Many state archives also have websites with information about that state’s former governors.

Colin McDowell, a Rutgers University undergraduate assisting the Center on the American Governor as an Aresty Research Assistant in 2012 – 2013, was responsible for collecting and analyzing much of the data in this section. Rutgers undergraduates Seth Farina and Michelle Musheyev helped collect data to update the information.

Navigate this page