WASHINGTON — Democrats knocked a Republican governor from office in Pennsylvania and the GOP gained a governorship in Arkansas, but a dozen gubernatorial races remained too close to call late Tuesday.
Even as Democrats faced the prospect of losing control of the U.S. Senate, their hopes of ousting a number of beleaguered Republican governors faded.
Democratic governors from Connecticut to Colorado were at risk of losing their jobs, too, adding to the party’s Election Day woes.
Pennsylvania Republican Gov. Tom Corbett lost to Democratic businessman Tom Wolf on Tuesday, becoming the first incumbent governor in the state’s history to fail to earn a second term. Corbett’s chances for re-election were damaged by his handling of the Penn State sex-abuse scandal, as well as his support for big cuts to public education funds.
Republicans countered that loss with a win in Arkansas, where Rep. Asa Hutchinson beat out Blue Dog Democrat Rep. Mike Ross to replace Arkansas’ Democratic governor, Mike Beebe.
In a radio interview Tuesday, President Barack Obama said the outcomes of gubernatorial races are driven by voters’ concerns about jobs and schools and other issues particular to each state, and not a referendum on his administration.
But he said the razor-thin margins between candidates for governor in about a dozen or so states “probably speaks to the fact that voters generally are frustrated with government.”
Brownback, the subject of early buzz as a possible presidential candidate in 2016, now is battling to keep his job as governor of Kansas after deep tax cuts he championed were followed by projections of a big budget shortfall. The Republican governor was trailing Democratic state House minority leader Paul Davis in the polls as Kansans headed to the ballot box on Tuesday.
In Wisconsin, Scott Walker survived a recall election in 2012 after clashing with Wisconsin’s labor unions over collective bargaining rights. On Tuesday Walker hung on to win a tougher-than-expected race with Democratic candidate Mary Burke.
Michigan Republican Gov. Rick Snyder also made himself a target of the unions when he signed right-to-work legislation in 2012. Snyder’s supporters hope the state’s tentative economic recovery will help him fend off his Democratic rival, Mark Schauer, a former congressman.
Florida voters, deluged by negative ads in a bitter race that smashed records for campaign spending, elected Republican Gov. Rick Scott for a second term, edging out Charlie Crist, a former Republican governor who was trying to return to office as a Democrat. Crist’s campaign lost a bid to keep polls open late in heavily Democratic Broward County on Tuesday night.
In Alaska, Republican Sean Parnell took over as governor when Sarah Palin quit in 2009. Now he’s running against a fusion ticket made up of independent candidate Bill Walker for governor and Democrat Byron Mallot as lieutenant governor. Palin has endorsed Walker and Mallot.
Nathan Deal, Republican governor of Georgia, is seeking re-election against Democrat Jason Carter, a state senator and grandson of the former president, Jimmy Carter. If no candidate in that race gets 50 percent of the vote — a possibility, given the presence of a Libertarian Party candidate on the ballot — it will head to a runoff.
Colorado’s first-term governor, John Hickenlooper, a centrist Democrat, could eke out victory if voters credit him for the state’s economic recovery. But Hickenlooper is vulnerable. He suffered a backlash from both Republicans and Democrats after he signed gun control laws last year, only to apologize in remarks to law enforcement officials this summer. He also took criticism for granting a temporary reprieve to a convicted killer on death row. Polls show him tied with his Republican opponent, former Rep. Bob Beauprez.
Gov. Pat Quinn of Illinois is considered one of the most vulnerable Democratic governors in 2014 thanks to budget problems in his state. He’s up against Republican Bruce Rauner, an investment banker.
Although most Democrats have kept their distance from Obama this election cycle, the president traveled to Connecticut on Sunday to rally voters in a last-minute attempt to boost the prospects of Democratic Gov. Dannel Malloy. Malloy is locked in a close race with Republican opponent Thomas Foley, a former private-equity executive. Obama also campaigned over the weekend for the Democratic gubernatorial candidates in Michigan and Pennsylvania.
In several states with no incumbents in the picture, however, Democrats are struggling.
In deep-blue Massachusetts, state Attorney General Martha Coakley, a Democrat, could lose to Republican businessman Charlie Baker in an open race to replace outgoing Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick.
Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown is trying to succeed fellow Democrat Martin O’Malley as governor, but he’s facing a tough challenge from Republican businessman Larry Hogan.
Rhode Island Democrat Gina M. Raimondo, the state’s treasurer, also is in a tight race for the governorship of that state with Republican opponent Allan W. Fung, the mayor of Cranston.
In South Carolina, incumbent Republican Gov. Nikki Haley handily defeated Democrat Vincent Sheheen on Tuesday, and in Ohio, Republican John Kasich won re-election as governor. Alabama’s Republican Gov. Robert Bentley also was re-elected, as were Republican Govs. Bill Haslam in Tennessee, Dennis Daugaard in South Dakota, Terry Branstad in Iowa, Matt Mead in Wyoming and Susana Martinez of New Mexico.
The GOP also won easily in Texas, where Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott beat state Sen. Wendy Davis; in Oklahoma, which re-elected Gov. Mary Fallin; in Arizona, where Doug Ducey won; and in Nebraska, where Republican Pete Ricketts was elected governor.
Republicans hold the advantage as well in Idaho and Nevada.
Among Democrats, New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan triumphed in her bid for another term, beating Republican businessman Walt Havenstein.
The odds look good for Democrats in Hawaii, where Democratic state Sen. David Ige is expected to defeat Democrat-turned-independent Mufi Hannemann, and in Vermont, where Gov. Peter Shumlin is polling ahead of Republican Scott Milne.
Democrats also are favored in Minnesota and Oregon, and Democratic incumbents likely will coast to victory in California, where Gov. Jerry Brown is seeking a fourth term. In New York, Andrew Cuomo swept to re-election by a large margin.