Meanwhile, Republicans held open seats in Florida, Idaho, and Nevada, as well as Alaska, where incumbent governor Frank Murkowski was defeated in the primary.

This is also the very last gubernatorial election cycle in which the Republican Party won governorships in California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Minnesota, and Rhode Island to date.

Former Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin and former state Railroad Commissioner John Binkley challenged Murkowski in the Republican primary.

Napolitano's widespread popularity contributed to her easy re-election; her general approval rating in October 2006, one month before the election, was at 58%.

The Republican Party nominated Asa Hutchinson, a former congressman, U.S. Attorney, DEA head, and Undersecretary of Homeland Security.

Schwarzenegger's aggressive push for environment-friendly legislation, his support for stem cell research, gay rights and opposition to sending the National Guard to the border has made him very popular among the voters.

Republican congressman Bob Beauprez, widely regarded as a conservative, was attacked by his primary opponent, former University of Denver President Marc Holtzman for compromising with Democrats in Congress.

The Democratic nominee was former Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter, an anti-abortion Catholic and a political centrist who could not easily be portrayed as a liberal.

Rell had an approval rating of 70% as of October 19, 2006,[19] and polls showed her leading the Democratic nominee, New Haven mayor John DeStefano by a near 30-point margin.

DeStefano defeated Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy in the Connecticut Democratic gubernatorial primary on August 8.

In addition to Crist and Davis, Reform Party nominee Max Linn also appeared on the ballot in the general election.

Crist came out of the September 12 primary with momentum, but as the election drew closer, polls began to show a more competitive race.

In the general election, though Taylor ran a spirited campaign, Perdue was aided by the increasing tendency of the state to vote for Republicans and by his popularity with the public; polling showed his approval ratings above sixty percent.

He was expected to fare similarly against Otter; however, the race became fairly competitive, possibly due to a national trend towards the Democratic party.

[28] Blagojevich initially had the advantage in the general election, leading his Republican challenger, state Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka by eight percentage points in polls, although not reaching the fifty percent "safe zone" for incumbents.

Governor Sebelius was unopposed for the Democratic nomination and she faced the Republican nominee, State Senator Jim Barnett, who emerged from a crowded primary.

Sebelius soundly defeated Barnett and cruised to re-election, which was quite a considerable feat for a Democrat in staunchly conservative Kansas.

Martin O'Malley, Mayor of Baltimore City, who was expected to run for governor almost as soon as the 2002 election was over, was initially expected to be a shoo-in for the Democratic nomination, but he was challenged by Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan, who then unexpectedly dropped out of the race, citing a recent diagnosis of clinical depression, saving Democrats from a costly and potentially divisive primary.

Deval Patrick, a former U.S. Assistant Attorney General who headed the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, won the Democratic primary with 50% of the vote[46] against Thomas Reilly and Chris Gabrieli.

Third-party candidates included Grace Ross of the Green-Rainbow Party and independent Christy Mihos, a former Republican and board member on the state Turnpike Authority.

A string of plant and factory closings by big name companies such as General Motors in Granholm's state led to growing disapproval of her among voters.

The Democratic nominee was State Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, who won the primary with 54% of the vote over Henderson mayor Jim Gibson.

The Republican nominee was Congressman Jim Gibbons, who won the primary with 48% of the vote, defeating state senator Bob Beers and Lieutenant Governor Lorraine Hunt.

New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer won the Democratic primary with 81% of the vote, defeating Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi.

Democratic nominee Eliot Spitzer was elected in a landslide, winning 58 out of the state's 62 counties and taking 65.3% of the vote.

Congressman Ted Strickland won the Democratic primary with 79% of the vote, defeating state representative Bryan Flannery.

Petro came under fire for switching positions on same-sex marriage and abortion, as well as allegedly taking business from lawyers who refused to give him campaign contributions.

Populist state Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn decided to defect from the GOP and run against Perry, her bitter political foe, as an independent.

In addition to Perry and Strayhorn, former congressman Chris Bell ran as the Democratic candidate, with country singer and Texas icon Kinky Friedman as another independent.

The race was a rematch of the 2002 gubernatorial election in which Camacho handily defeated Underwood and won his first term in office by 10 points (see Politics of Guam).