Gubernatorial and Attorney General 2022 Midterm Election Review

2022 Gubernatorial Election Results

On Nov. 8, 2022, 36 gubernatorial races were held across the country. An updated roster of all gubernatorial races can be found below. Highlights include:

Democratic governors in several key presidential battleground states were able to defend their seats in yesterday’s elections including Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan and Tony Evers in Wisconsin. Add to that, the critical state of Pennsylvania which stayed in Democratic hands with the election of current state attorney general Josh Shapiro. These three states comprised the “blue wall” that helped Joe Biden defeat then President Donald Trump in 2020.

In Oregon’s three-way race, Democrat Tina Kotek is currently leading Republican Christine Drazan and Independent candidate Betsy Johnson. Republicans have not won the state in nearly four decades.

Two notable pickups for the Democrats were in the traditionally blue Massachusetts and Maryland. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey and Wes Moore, both barrier breaking candidates, put these two Democratic strongholds back in the hands of the Democratic party.

Ron DeSantis in Florida, Greg Abbott in Texas, Kim Reynolds in Iowa and Brian Kemp in Georgia solidified their political hold over their respective states and cemented their positions as future standard bearers of the Republican party. In addition, incoming Republican candidates like Sarah Huckabee Sanders in Arkansas and Jim Pillen in Nebraska ran strong campaigns in open seats. In a close Kansas race, Republicans failed to unseat Democratic governor Laura Kelly as she defeated Republican attorney general Derek Schmidt. Kelly was the only Democratic running for re-election in a state that Trump won in 2020.

Democratic Nevada incumbent Steve Sisolak is awaiting final results. Sisolak is in a close race with Republican Joe Lombardo, Sheriff in vote-rich Clark County, home to Las Vegas. Arizona’s open seat is also pending results as Trump-backed Kari Lake faces off against Secretary of State Katie Hobbs.

Note: Maryland and Massachusetts were the only two contests to have its Gubernatorial partisan office change party control. Results as of 11/09/2022 4:00 P.M. Italics Indicate Competitive Race (i) Indicates Incumbent

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2022 Attorney General Election Results

Thirty states held elections for attorney general including 14 Republican-held offices and 16 Democrat-held offices. An updated roster of all attorneys general races can be found below. Highlights include:

Democratic incumbents won including Peter Neronha in Rhode Island, Kathy Jennings in Delaware, William Tong in Connecticut, Letitia James in New York, Kwame Raoul in Illinois and Phil Weiser in Colorado. In Wisconsin, Democrat Josh Kaul leads Republican Eric Toney. Democrats held seats with outgoing Democratic Attorneys General with Brian Schwalb in the District of Columbia, Andrea Campbell in Massachusetts, Raul Torrez in New Mexico and Anthony Brown in Maryland.

Longtime Attorney General Tom Miller in Iowa was defeated by Republican challenger Brenna Bird. General Miller was the nation’s longest serving attorney general first elected in 1995. In Kansas, Republicans were able to notch a win at the attorney general level electing Kris Kobach while unable to flip the targeted governor’s race. Attorney General-elect Kobach will serve with incumbent Democratic Governor Laura Kelly.

Former Lieutenant Governor Tim Griffin won his race for the attorney general seat in Arkansas. Former Attorney General Leslie Rutledge will serve as Lieutenant Governor with incoming Governor-elect Sarah Huckabee Sanders. In Georgia, Chris Carr navigated a well-funded challenge from former state senator Jen Jordan.

Several races are still outstanding. In Nevada, Democrat incumbent Aaron Ford currently leads Republican candidate Sigal Chattah. In Arizona, Democrat Kris Mays holds a slight lead over Abraham Hamadeh.