2015 United States gubernatorial elections

Election predictions

Several sites and individuals publish predictions of competitive seats. These predictions look at factors such as the strength of the incumbent (if the incumbent is running for re-election), the strength of the candidates, and the partisan leanings of the state (reflected in part by the state's Cook Partisan Voting Index rating). The predictions assign ratings to each state, with the rating indicating the predicted advantage that a party has in winning that seat.

Most election predictors use:

• "tossup": no advantage
• "tilt" (used by some predictors): advantage that is not quite as strong as "lean"
• "lean": slight advantage
• "likely": significant, but surmountable, advantage
• "safe" or "solid": near-certain chance of victory

In many cases, the incumbent has yet to say their intention of running for another term. If an incumbent intends to retire then place " (retiring)" after the incumbent's name.

See Template: USRaceRating for how to apply a rating.

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Race summary

Closest races

States where the margin of victory was under 10%:

1. Kentucky, 8.70%

Red denotes states won by Republicans.

Kentucky

Bevin:
Conway:

Main article: 2015 Kentucky gubernatorial election

Two-term incumbent Democratic Governor Steve Beshear, was unable to run for a third term in 2015 due to term limits established under the Kentucky Constitution. To succeed Beshear, Democrats nominated Attorney General of Kentucky Jack Conway. Conway's running mate was State Representative Sannie Overly. For the Republicans, businessman and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2014 Matt Bevin ran on a ticket with Tea Party activist and 2014 State House candidate Jenean Hampton. Bevin narrowly defeated Agriculture Commissioner James Comer to win the Republican nomination. Drew Curtis, the founder of Fark, ran as an independent, polling well enough to appear in the Bluegrass Poll gubernatorial debate. Bevin ultimately defeated Conway, winning 53% of the vote to Conway's 44%.

Louisiana

Edwards:
Vitter:

Main article: 2015 Louisiana gubernatorial election

Two-term incumbent Republican Governor Bobby Jindal was term-limited in 2015 and thus unable to seek reelection. Under Louisiana's jungle primary system, all candidates, regardless of party, appear on the same ballot. The primary was held on October 24, 2015, with Democrat John Bel Edwards at 40% of the vote and Republican David Vitter at 23%. As no candidate won a majority of the vote, a runoff election between Edwards and Vitter was held on November 21, 2015. Edwards won the runoff election with 56.1% of the vote, becoming the first Democrat to win a statewide election in Louisiana since 2008.

Three Republicans ran for the office: Public Service Commissioner and former Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana Scott Angelle, incumbent Lieutenant Governor Jay Dardenne and U.S. Senator David Vitter. Potential Republican candidates included former Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs and former U.S. Representative Rodney Alexander, Louisiana State Treasurer John Neely Kennedy, State Senator Gerald Long and former governor, former U.S. Representative and candidate for president in 2012 Buddy Roemer.

Three Democrats ran: 2011 candidate Cary Deaton, Minority Leader of the Louisiana House of Representatives John Bel Edwards and minister Jeremy Odom.

Mississippi

Bryant:
Gray:
Main article: 2015 Mississippi gubernatorial election

One-term incumbent Republican Governor Phil Bryant nominated for a second and final term. He had won a resounding victory over his Democratic opponent four years earlier, carrying 61% of the vote. Truck driver Robert Gray was nominated by the Democrats to oppose Bryant in the general election. Bryant won the election in a landslide, winning 67% of the vote to Gray's 32%.

Notes

References

References

1. Parentheses around an incumbent's name indicates that the incumbent is retiring, possibly due to term limits.
2. "2015/2016 GOVERNORS RACE RATINGS".
3. "2016 Race Ratings". Roll Call.
4. "2016 Governor". UVA Center for Politics.
5. "Election Outlook: 2016 Race Ratings".
6. (January 20, 2015). "Gov. Bryant outlines priorities in State of the State". The Clarion-Ledger.
7. Ryan Alessi. (May 5, 2014). "Jack Conway set to announce 2015 ticket for governor with Rep. Sannie Overly". Mycn2.com.
8. Bruggeman, Karyn. (January 27, 2015). "Matt Bevin to Make Shock Run for Kentucky Governor". [[National Journal]].
9. "Drew Curtis will join debate on Kentucky Sports Radio, but other fall debates look iffy". Kentucky.com.
10. (2015). "Results".
11. Alan Blinder. (4 November 2015). "Matt Bevin, Republican, Wins Governor's Race in Kentucky - The New York Times". [[The New York Times]].
12. (25 October 2015). "Republican David Vitter reaches Louisiana governor's runoff against Democrat John Bel Edwards". U.S. News & World Report.
13. Avery, Cole. (October 2, 2014). "Scott Angelle to run for governor in 2015". [[The Times-Picayune]].
14. Adelson, Jeff. (March 20, 2013). "Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne 'intends' to run for governor in 2015". [[The Times-Picayune]].
15. (January 21, 2014). "David Vitter Announces Run for Governor". Roll Call.
16. (August 13, 2013). "Alexander says he may run for Louisiana governor in 2015". The Town Talk.
17. (June 20, 2012). "Louisiana poll: Vitter edges Georges, Jindal's popularity, jobs and economy tops". Bayoubuzz.com.
18. (August 11, 2012). "Long weighs bid for governor in 2015". The Advocate.
19. Greater New Orleans. (December 12, 2013). "Buddy Roemer to spearhead long-term policy initiative ahead of 2015 election". NOLA.com.
20. WWLTV.com. (July 26, 2013). "Edwards running to correct what he calls Jindal's mistakes | wwltv.com New Orleans". Wwltv.com.
21. Alford, Jeremy. (May 6, 2013). "Saved by the Bel?". [[Gambit (newspaper).
22. Adelson, Jeff. (February 10, 2013). "John Bel Edwards announces he is running for governor in 2015". The New Orleans Times-Picayune.
23. (March 4, 2014). "Natchitoches minister makes run for governor". KNOE.com.
24. "Louisiana Secretary of State - Election Results".
25. "Louisiana Secretary of State - Election Results".
26. Pettus, Emily Wagster. (August 5, 2015). "Truck Driver Wins Dem Nomination for Mississippi Governor". ABC News.
27. "2015 REPUBLICAN PRIMARY". [[Mississippi Secretary of State]].
28. "2015 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY". [[Mississippi Secretary of State]].
29. "2015 General Election".