Thirty-six states will hold elections for governor in 2022. Of those, Ballotpedia has identified 13 as general election battlegrounds: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin.
These battleground races were selected using the following criteria:
- the results of the 2020 presidential election in each state,
- whether the incumbent is seeking re-election,
- whether the governor’s office changed partisan control the last time it was up for election, and
- how the Cook Political Report, Sabato’s Crystal Ball, and Inside Elections with Nathan Gonzales rated the race.
Of the 13, seven are in states with Republican incumbents and six are in states with Democratic incumbents. Six states had a governor of a party different from the candidate who won the state in the 2020 presidential election. The list of battlegrounds may change over the course of 2022.
The following map displays all states holding gubernatorial elections in 2022 shaded by the incumbent’s or most recent incumbent’s political affiliation. Battleground races are highlighted in brighter colors.
