Source : Perth Now news
Democrats have scored victories in governor’s races in states long controlled by Republicans, including Texas and Georgia, riding a wave of voter discontent in midterm elections to deliver a rebuke to President Donald Trump and Republican policymaking.
With the wins on Tuesday, Democrats look to be on their way to winning a majority of governorships for the first time in two decades and impose a stronger bulwark against Trump’s second-term agenda.
They also landed a historic victory, as Keisha Lance Bottoms’ victory in Georgia – a presidential battleground state – made her the first Black woman to be elected governor in the US.
Democrats also won in Iowa, Ohio and Texas, states where Republicans have controlled state government for years.
The number of states in play was surprisingly large – a reflection of Trump’s poor approval ratings dragging on his party, with Democrats rolling up victories in presidential battleground states, heavily populated states and states that Trump won easily in 2024.
Before election day, Trump went to heavily Republican areas to headline rallies attended by Republican gubernatorial candidates looking for a boost.
All told, 36 states that are home to about 80 per cent of the nation’s population were electing a governor on Tuesday.
Democrats last gained a majority of governorships in 2006, flipping six governors’ offices in the last midterm under a second-term Republican president.
More states under Democratic leadership could mean more governors fighting – or ignoring – Trump’s agenda.
Trump has tested the power of states, clashing primarily with Democratic-led states over call-ups of National Guard troops, immigration operations, conditions on federal aid and efforts to assert federal control over election requirements, including restricting mail voting.
Bottoms, a former Atlanta mayor and one-time White House adviser to former president Joe Biden, overcame attacks on her management of the city during the COVID-19 pandemic to defeat Rick Jackson, a billionaire who plunged more than $US200 million ($A287 million) of his own money into the race.
Her victory breaks Republican control of state government in Georgia, as does Democrat Amy Acton’s victory in Ohio, in a campaign that made national headlines when Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, a biotech billionaire, aired a widely criticised attack ad featuring Acton’s estranged mother.
Iowa Democrat Rob Sand defeated Republican Zach Lahn, while Democratic state representative Gina Hinojosa beat third-term Republican Governor Greg Abbott in Texas, where no Democrat had been elected to statewide office since 1994.
Democrats also saw opportunities to pick up a governor’s office in Alaska, where the incumbent was term-limited, and in Nevada, where state Attorney-General Aaron Ford was challenging Republican Governor Joe Lombardo.
Like Georgia, Alaska has not elected a Democratic governor since 1998.
Republicans’ best chance to capture an executive suite was in Kansas, a usually deep-red state where Democratic Governor Laura Kelly was term-limited.
Republicans hung on to control in Florida, where US representative Byron Donalds defeated David Jolly, while Republican senator and former college football coach Tommy Tuberville won election as governor of Alabama, defeating Democrat Doug Jones.
Republicans also had an eye on Michigan’s open governor’s office and on Oregon, where Democratic Governor Tina Kotek was trying to fend off a second challenge from Republican state senator Christine Drazan.
Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul of New York won re-election, and Democrat Xavier Becerra cruised to victory in California.
In Pennsylvania, Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro won re-election, Democrat David Crowley won the governor’s job in Wisconsin, and Michigan’s secretary of state, Jocelyn Benson, won her state’s open governor’s office.
Three Democratic governors who are considered possible presidential candidates in 2028 won re-election: Wes Moore of Maryland, JB Pritzker of Illinois and Shapiro, of Pennsylvania.
