More than one-third of states are in the midst of a record-long gubernatorial winning streak (when multiple consecutive gubernatorial elections in a state are won by candidates from the same party). The longest-running winning streaks—for Oregon Democrats and Utah Republicans—each go back 10 elections.
There are 12 record-long Republican winning streaks and six record-long Democratic winning streaks ongoing. Of those, five streaks are an all-time record for either party in the state: Democrats have record-long streaks in Oregon (10 elections), Washington (9), and West Virginia (6), while Republicans have record-long streaks in Utah (10 elections) and Idaho (7).
The longest gubernatorial winning streak in U.S. history took place in Georgia, where Democrats won all 52 gubernatorial elections between 1871 and 1998. The longest winning streak for Republicans took place in Vermont, where the party won all 49 gubernatorial elections between 1867 and 1960. The state with the shortest record-long streak is Alaska, where no party has won more than three consecutive gubernatorial elections.
Of the 11 gubernatorial elections taking place this year, six have the potential to match or extend record-long state party winning streaks. Of those, three are all-time state record streaks for either party (for Utah Republicans, Washington Democrats, and West Virginia Democrats).
For more details and to see the longest winning streaks for both major parties in your state, click here.
Additional reading: Gubernatorial elections, 2020 Governor (state executive office)
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