Many of the states holding gubernatorial elections have term limits which made some multi-term governors ineligible for re-election.

Democrats gained control of nine state and territorial governorships that had previously been held by Republicans and an independent.

Bill Walker Independent Mike Dunleavy Republican One-term incumbent Bill Walker ran for re-election as an independent but dropped out of the race on October 19 to endorse Mark Begich (several days after Lieutenant Governor Byron Mallott resigned and several weeks before election day).

Jared Henderson, a former state executive director for Teach For America, won the Democratic nomination.

Newsom:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Jerry Brown Democratic Gavin Newsom Democratic Two-term consecutive, four-term non-consecutive Governor Jerry Brown was term-limited, as California governors are limited to lifetime service of two terms in office.

Republicans endorsed Mark Boughton, mayor of Danbury, at the statewide nominating convention held on May 11 and 12, 2018, at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard.

Failing to qualify at the convention to primary were Shelton Mayor Mark Lauretti, former secretary of state candidate Peter Lumaj, state representative Prasad Srinivasan, former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker and Stamford Director of Administration, Mike Handler.

Businessman Bob Stefanowski became the second candidate in the history of Connecticut to petition to be on the primary ballot on June 18, 2018, and the first for a gubernatorial race.

[115] Both Lauretti and Handler pledged to conduct a petition drive to get on the August 14, 2018, primary election ballot, but dropped out.

Ige took office after defeating previous Governor Neil Abercrombie in the Democratic primary and then winning the general election.

[132] State Representative Jeanne Ives also ran for the Republican nomination, but lost narrowly to Rauner.

[133] On the Democratic side, Madison County Regional Superintendent of Schools Bob Daiber,[134] former chairman of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees and member of the Kennedy family Chris Kennedy,[135][136] State Representative Scott Drury,[137] State Senator Daniel Biss,[138] and venture capitalist J.

Libertarian candidate Kash Jackson was nominated at the state party convention on March 3.

Former gubernatorial aide John Norris, state Senator Nate Boulton, former state party chairwoman Andy McGuire, SEIU leader Cathy Glasson, attorney Jon Neiderbach, former Iowa City Mayor Ross Wilburn, and businessman Fred Hubbell sought the Democratic nomination, which Hubbell won.

LePage won re-election in a three-way race over Democrat Mike Michaud and independent Eliot Cutler, in 2014.

Two independent candidates qualified for the ballot; State Treasurer Terry Hayes and businessman and newspaper columnist Alan Caron.

Former State Secretary of Administration and Finance Jay Gonzalez,[59] environmentalist Bob Massie,[157][158] and former Newton Mayor Setti Warren[159] have announced their candidacies for the Democratic nomination.

Attorney General Bill Schuette, Lieutenant Governor Brian Calley, state Senator Patrick Colbeck, and physician Jim Hines were seeking the Republican nomination.

[164] Former state Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer, former executive director of the Detroit Department of Health and Wellness Promotion Abdul El-Sayed, and businessman Shri Thanedar were seeking the Democratic nomination.

Former Independence Party Governor Jesse Ventura expressed interest in running again, but ultimately declined.

[64] Former Portsmouth mayor and 2016 candidate Steve Marchand[179] and former state senator Molly Kelly[180] ran for the Democratic nomination.

[186] Actress and activist Cynthia Nixon challenged Cuomo for the Democratic Party nomination, but did not win.

Former U.S. Representative and two-time presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, Ohio Attorney General and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director Richard Cordray,[68] and state Senator Joe Schiavoni[194] ran for the Democratic nomination, which was won by Cordray.

With only one opponent in the primary, former Attorney General Drew Edmondson won the Democratic nomination outright.

U.S. Representative Kristi Noem and Billie Sutton, the minority leader of the South Dakota Senate, won the Republican and Democratic nominations, respectively.

Former Nashville Mayor Karl Dean defeated House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh for the Democratic nomination.

Incumbent lieutenant governor David Zuckerman declined to run as a Progressive in the election and instead ran for re-election to that position.

Ann Wilcox, a former Board of Education member, won the nomination of the D.C. Statehood Green Party.

Eddie Baza Calvo Republican Lou Leon Guerrero Democratic The incumbent two-term governor Eddie Baza Calvo was term-limited, after his recent re-election win in 2014, as Guam does not allow governors to serve more than two consecutive terms.

The Democratic nominee was former Territorial Senator Lou Leon Guerrero, who defeated three other politicians in the August 24 primary.