Governors Predictions

Alabama: Democrats ain't whistlin' Dixie anymore; State Rep. Robert

Bentley (R) defeats Ag Commissioner Ron Sparks (D)--55%-45%

Alaska: Palin replacement Sean Parnell (R) elected in his own right

over former State Rep. Ethan Berkowitz (D)--59%-41%

Arizona: Don't-Cross-The-Border Gov. Jan Brewer (R) declares

victory over AZ Attorney General Terry Goddard (D)--54%-46%

Arkansas: Democrats hold on here as incumbent Gov. Mike Beebe

soundly defeats former State Sen. Jim Keet (R)--60%-40%

California: A HUGE personal loan doesn't help Meg Whitman (R), as she

narrowly loses to decades-ago Gov. Jerry Brown (D)--51%-49%

Colorado: Scary fanatical Tom Tancredo (ACP) barely loses out to

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper (D), while campaign finance
offender Dan Maes (R) takes 3rd place--49%-44%-7%

Connecticut: Former Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy (D) suffers defeat
by former Ambassador to Ireland Tom Foley (R)--50.8%-49.2%

Florida: In 2000-esque results, Florida CFO Alex Sink (D) beats out

Rick Scott (R), becoming FL's first woman governor--50.3%-49.7%

Georgia: Some voters can't forgive ex-Gov. Roy Barnes' (D) decision

to change the flag; he loses out to U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal (R), with

John Monds (L) in distant 3rd--51%-45%-4%

Hawaii: Longtime U.S. Rep Neil Abercrombie (D) barely defeats

Lt. Governor Duke Aiona (R)--52%-48%

Idaho: Keith Allred (D) loses out to incumbent Gov. Butch Otter

(R) with an unsurprising margin--57%-43%

Illinois: Over the Blagejovich mess, Prairie State voters toss former

Lt. Gov (now Gov.) Pat Quinn (D) for State Sen. Bill Brady (R).

Green Party's Rich Whitney gets 3rd--49%-47%-4%

Iowa: Hawkeye voters long for the past, returning popular 1983-99

Gov. Terry Branstad (R), ditching Gov. Chet Culver (D)--56%-44%

Kansas: Current Sen. Sam Brownback (R) leaves D.C. for the Gov's

Mansion, soundly defeating State Sen. Tom Holland (D)--61%-39%

Maine: A crowded race has State Sen. Libby Mitchell (D) falling into

3rd behind runner-up Eliot Cutler (I) and Waterville Mayor Paul

LePage (R)--39%-33%-28%

Maryland: Incumbent Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) gives predecessor Bob Ehrlich (R) a second defeat--54%-46%

Massachusetts: MA Treasurer Tim Cahill (I) takes 3rd, while Charlie
Baker (R) is runner-up to incumbent Gov. Deval Patrick--47%-44%-9%

Michigan: Hardest recession-hit state elects businessman Rick Snyder (R) over Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero--55%-45%

Minnesota: Ex-U.S. Senator Mark Dayton (DFL) elected narrowly over
State Rep. Tom Emmer (R) and 3rd place Tom Horner (I)--45%-43%-12%

Nebraska: Popular Gov. Dave Heineman (R) wins in landslide victory

over attorney Mike Meister (D)--75%-25%

Nevada: Rory Reid (D) wishes his last name wasn't so toxic, as Rory (son of Harry) is handily defeated by U.S. Judge Brian Sandoval (R)--58%-42%

New Hampshire: Incumbent Gov. John Lynch (D), never losing in polls
to attorney John Stephen (R), wins a second term--54%-46%

New Mexico: Lt. Governor Diane Denish (D) suffers defeat at the hands of

District Attorney Susana Martinez (R)--54%-46%

New York: Attorney General Andrew Cuomo (D) wins handily over businessman Carl Paladino (R)--61%-39%

Ohio: Campaigning by Obama wont help incumbent Gov. Ted Strickland (D)

as he suffers narrow loss to ex-U.S. Rep. John Kasich (R)--50.5%-49.5%

Oklahoma: U.S. Rep. Mary Fallin (R) leaves D.C. for Oklahoma City as she whoops Lt. Gov. Jari Askins (D)--61%-39%

Oregon: Ex-NBA'er Chris Dudley becomes state's first Republican gov in 20+ years when he defeats former Gov. John Kitzhaber (D)--51.7%-50.3%

Pennsylvania: Alleghany Co. Exec. Dan Onorato (D) is defeated by Penn. Attorney General Tom Corbett (R)--53%-47%

Rhode Island: Ex. U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chaffee (I) defeats John Robitaille (R)
and Frank "shove it" Caprio (D) gets 3rd place--38%-35%-29%

South Carolina: Nasty race ends as State Rep. Nikki Haley (R) becomes SC's first woman gov, defeating State Sen. Vincent Sheheen (D)--53%-46%

South Dakota: Boring night in Pierre; Lt. Gov. Dennis Daugaard (R) over- whelmingly elected over State. Sen. Scott Heidepriem--57%-43%

Tennessee: Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam (R) soundly elected over Mike McWherter (D)--58%-42%

Texas: Former Houston Mayor Bill White (D) is defeated in his attempt to
unseat longest-serving Gov. Rick Perry (R)--55%-45%

Utah: Why do we even poll here? Current Gov. (and Mormon, imagine that)
Gary Herbert easily trumps Salt Lake Mayor Peter Corroon--62%-38%

Vermont: Quiet race ends as State Sen. Peter Shumlin (D) narrowly
edges out Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie (R)--52%-48%

Wisconsin: Not a good state for Democrats these days, as Milwaukee Mayor
Tom Barrett loses to County Exec. Scott Walker (R)--54%-46%

Wyoming: In another "why bother?" race, Democratic State Party Chair
Leslie Petersen loses big to ex-U.S. Attorney Matt Mead (R)--68%-32%

PREDICTION:
37 Gubernatorial races=
25 Republican Victories
12 Democratic Victories

CURRENT GOVERNORS BALANCE: 26 Democrats 23 Republicans 1 Independent
NEW GOVERNORS BALANCE: 18 Democrats 31 Republicans 1 Independent


Next: Very Few House Races/Concluding Thoughts