2015 Governor's Chairs by State

The Green Papers: 2015 General Election

2015 Governor's Chairs
by State

3 Governor's Chairs up for election in 2015

3 Elected

47 Governor's Chairs not up for election in 2015

24 Open Governor's Chairs (voluntary retirement, seeking other political office, term limits)

1 Incumbent renominated by same party

1 Republican

79 Candidates seeking a Governor's Chair (Candidates may run under the banner of multiple parties. Hence, the number of parties may be greater than the number of candidates.)

This is a list of the current Governors' chairs, the incumbents occupying them, and the candidacy status of said incumbents. Chairs up for election in the year 2015 are marked as such.

There have been 0 deaths, 1 resignation, and 0 changes of party affiliation in 2015.

Governor John A. Kitzhaber ( (Democratic - Oregon) resigned 18 February 2015 amid scandal involving payments from and advocacy group. Secretary of State Kate Brown (Democratic) ascended to the Governor's chair upon his resignation.

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

Gubernatorial Links



California 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2014, 2018. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic
	Democratic			Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom • 11 February 2015: Announced his candidacy for Governor in 2018.
	Democratic			former state Controller Steve Westly • Served as Controller 2002 - 2006.

Delaware 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2012, 2016. Term Limit: No one can serve more than 2 4-year terms in a lifetime
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic

	~~Democratic~~			~~former state Attorney General Joseph R. "Beau" Biden, III - apparently not a candidate~~ • 17 April 2014: Announced plans to run for Governor in 2016. 30 May 2015: Beau Biden, 46, son of Vice President Joe Biden, dies from brain cancer.
	Democratic			Congressman John Charles Carney, Jr. • 16 September 2015: Announced his run for Governor.

Indiana 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2012, 2016. Term Limit: No more than 2 4-year terms in any 3-term period
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican
	Democratic			former state Representative John R. Gregg
	~~Democratic~~			~~state Senator Karen Tallian - apparently not a candidate~~ • 17 August 2015: Dropped out.

Kentucky 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2011, 2015. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic
		Open Chair (no incumbent)
	Democratic			Attorney General John William "Jack" Conway • for Lieutenant Governor: state Representative Sannie Overly.

Louisiana 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2011, 2015. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican
	Democratic	646,860	56.11%	state Representative John Bel Edwards • Received 40% in the 24 October primary. Proceeds to 21 November 2015 runoff
Total		1,152,789	100.00%

Mississippi 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2011, 2015. Term Limit: No one can serve more than 2 4-year terms in a lifetime
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican
	Democratic			Robert Gray

Missouri 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2012, 2016. Term Limit: No one can serve more than 2 4-year terms in a lifetime
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic
	Democratic			Attorney General Chris Koster

Montana 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2012, 2016. Term Limit: No more than 2 4-year terms in any 4-term period
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic
	Democratic			Greg Gianforte

New Hampshire 2 year term, Election Cycle: 2014, 2016. Term Limit: None. GOVERNOR is the only Statewide elected officer
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic
	Democratic			Mark Connolly
	Democratic			Executive Councilor Colin Van Ostern

New Jersey 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2013, 2017. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican
	Democratic			state Senator Raymond J. "Ray" Lesniak

North Carolina 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2012, 2016. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican
	Democratic			Attorney General Roy Cooper
	Democratic			former state Representative Kenneth "Ken" Spaulding

North Dakota 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2012, 2016. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican
	Democratic			Sarah Vogel

Oregon 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2014, 2018. Term Limit: No more than 2 4-year terms in any 3-term period
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic
	*Democratic*			*Governor Kate Brown* • 21 September 2015: Governor Kate Brown (Democratic) announced that she will run for the remainder of the term in the special election.

Vermont 2 year term, Election Cycle: 2014, 2016. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic
	Democratic			former state Senator Matt Dunne
	Democratic			former state Representative Sue Minter
	Democratic			H. Brooke Paige
	~~Democratic~~			~~state Representative Shap Smith - apparently not a candidate~~ • 17 November 2015: Suspended campaign citing his wife's breast cancer.

Virginia 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2013, 2017. Term Limit: ineligble to immediately succeed after a given 4-year term
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic
	Democratic			Lieutenant Governor Ralph S. Northam • 24 February 2015: Announced candidacy.

West Virginia 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2012, 2016. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democratic
	Democratic			Marcus Hatfield
	Democratic			Jim Justice
	Democratic			state Senator Jeffrey V. "Jeff" Kessler
	~~Democratic~~			~~Treasurer Johnny Duane "John" Perdue - apparently not a candidate~~ • 29 July 2014: Announced his candidacy.
	Democratic			Curtis Robinson, Jr.

Political Parties Parties appear in parenthesis and italics when a candidate receives the endorsement of a given Party and/or official sources indicate a candidate's association with a particular Party but only where the Party in question does not appear on the actual ballot as such.

Major Parties
	• Democratic
	• Republican
Major Third Parties
	• Constitution
	• Libertarian
	• Reform
Other Third Parties
	• Marijuana
Independents
	• Independent
Write-in/Scattered/otherwise not readily classifiable
	• Write-in

Notes

Candidates for office appear on this page in italics where 'The Green Papers' does not yet have independent confirmation from a legal election authority that the person has been officially certified to appear on the ballot.