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Monday, November 11, 2002
GOP Dominates Govs Battle
By John Nagy and Erin Madigan, Staff Writers
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Arizona Republican Matt Salmon conceded defeat Sunday to his Democratic opponent, state Attorney General Janet Napolitano, making Alabamians the last to know who will lead their state in 2003.
Alabama's governor race is still undecided. Both incumbent Gov. Don Siegelman (D) and his Republican challenger, U.S. Rep. Bob Riley, claim victory, with the official state count favoring Riley by 3,117 votes.
Republican Attorney General Bill Pryor rejected Siegelman's call for a recount, but the governor still has several options to pursue, including calling a special session of the Democratically-controlled state legislature to force a recount, the Mobile Register reported.
Republicans claimed victory in 21 of last Tuesday's 35 other gubernatorial contests and put many new faces in top state offices.
The outcome means that Republican governors will hold power in at least 27 states - the same number they held before the election - pending the outcome in Alabama. That surprised most political analysts, who gave the GOP long odds of defending its eight-year hold on the majority of the nation's governorships.
Incumbents in many states faced tight races because of a year-long economic slump that has sapped state revenues across the country, but most survived. Of the three officeholders shown the door, two Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes and South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges were Democrats. The third was Wisconsin Gov. Scott McCallum, a Republican.
In Arizona, Salmon telephoned Napolitano over the weekend to concede when her 11,000-vote lead appeared insurmountable in the ongoing count of early and absentee ballots. In Vermont, Republican James Douglas became governor-elect when Democratic Lt. Gov. Douglas Racine conceded defeat Thursday, a move that kept the contest from being decided by the state legislature.
Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (D) lost perhaps the most symbolically significant governor's race for the Democrats, one pitting Robert F. Kennedy's oldest child against a close friend of the Bush family. Townsend's opponent, four-term U.S. Rep. Robert Ehrlich, managed to pin blame on her for the state's severe fiscal problems and painted her as an ineffective leader.
Governorships in nine of the ten largest states had been up for grabs. Republicans successfully defended Texas, New York, Florida and Ohio and picked up Georgia. Democrats held on to California and picked up major victories in Illinois, Pennsylvania and Michigan. (Voters in New Jersey, the ninth most-populous state, elected Democrat Jim McGreevey governor in 2001.)
Beyond their ability to control the policy and spending agenda in their own states, governors wield funds and political clout that national party leaders view as extremely valuable, particularly during presidential primaries.
The voting produced mixed results for women candidates who ran for governor in nine states. Three Democrats - Kansas Insurance Commissioner Kathleen Sebelius, Michigan Attorney General Jennifer Granholm and Arizona's Napolitano - won their races as predicted, though Napolitano's margin was much slimmer than many pre-election polls suggested. In Hawaii, Republican Linda Lingle scratched out a victory over Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono.
The four new women governors will join Governors Ruth Ann Minner (D) of Delaware and Judy Martz (R) of Montana, both of whom took office in 2001.
A state-by-state snapshot of Tuesday's winners, which Stateline.org will update as results come in:
ALABAMA: No winner has yet been declared. Just over three thousand votes separate incumbent Gov. Don Siegelman (D) and U.S. Rep. Bob Riley (R).
ALASKA: Frank Murkowski (R)
A longtime Alaska political titan responsible for bringing home billions of dollars in federal aid since he first took office in 1980, U.S. Sen. Frank Murkowski beat out what appeared to be a stiff challenge from Democratic Lt. Gov. Fran Ulmer. Murkowski, who turns 70 next month, used his position as chairman and then ranking Republican on the Senate's Energy and Natural Resources Committee to promote oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a policy he intends to pursue from Juneau. As the campaign focused increasingly on the state's struggling, resource based economy, Murkowski made further overtures to the oil industry, backing new projects and promising companies not to raise taxes.
ARIZONA: Janet Napolitano (D)
After four years as state attorney general, Janet Napolitano made Arizona the first state in the country to elect back-to-back female governors. In a campaign focused heavily on education and the state's fiscal problems, Napolitano indicated she'd consider raising corporate and personal income tax raises. Voters barely flinched. Napolitano built the case for her vision for the state's economic future in part by targeting the sullied Arthur Andersen accounting firm and by painting her opponent, former state lawmaker and U.S. Rep. Matt Salmon as beholden to corporate interests.
ARKANSAS: Mike Huckabee (R, Incumbent)
Gov. Mike Huckabee's re-election bid appeared to be in jeopardy when state Treasurer Jimmie Lou Fisher (D) questioned several of his parole decisions and First Lady Janet Huckabee's candidacy for Secretary of State. But the ordained Baptist minister and one-time televangelist won endorsements from police officers and the gun lobby and rebounded in the days before the election, promising to restore funding for state-sponsored college scholarships and other victims of the state's persistent budget troubles. Huckabee, 47, first took office in 1996 after then-Gov. Jim Guy Tucker (D) resigned from office and went to prison for loan fraud. He won re-election in 1998 with 60 percent of the vote.
COLORADO:Bill Owens (R, Incumbent)
Gov. Bill Owens coasted to re-election over political newcomer Rollie Heath, a businessman whom Owens virtually ignored throughout the campaign. Despite the lagging economy, the loss of the state Senate to Democratic control in 2000 and the state's failure to resolve its sprawl debate, Owens carried strong popularity ratings into the 2002 race. He faces a nearly $400 million budget shortfall, but defends tax cuts he made early in his first term and has promised to press forward with school voucher and tax credit proposals that have angered some Colorado public school teachers.
CONNECTICUT: John Rowland (R, Incumbent)
Gov. John Rowland spent much of his first eight years as Connecticut's governor building his reputation as a skillful pitchman for the state's economy, having attracted more than 250 new businesses to the state. Rowland's pro-business fiscal conservatism largely shielded him from the challenge mounted by Democratic former state Comptroller Bill Curry, a former Clinton aide whom Rowland defeated to win his first term in Hartford in 1994. Under Rowland's stewardship, Connecticut has adopted a tough welfare reform law that limits benefits to 21 months, a new death penalty law and a law requiring communities to be notified when sex offenders are released from prison. Rowland began his political career in 1981 as a 23-year old member of the state House of Representatives from Waterbury
FLORIDA: Jeb Bush (R, Incumbent)
Winning re-election handily over upstart Democrat Bill McBride, Gov. Jeb Bush rejuvenated a political career badly damaged by the state's election debacle in 2000 that landed his older brother in the White House. President Bush visited the state 13 times during the campaign and his Republican rival, Arizona Sen. John McCain, also rallied support to maintain GOP control in what national party leaders considered a must-win state. The first Republican ever to win re-election to the state's top office, the 49-year old Bush fended off a challenge to his record on education when McBride failed to offer alternatives to a tax hike to pay for new education initiatives. He has promised to focus his second term on improving public education, particularly early reading skills.
GEORGIA: Sonny Perdue (R)
When incumbent Roy Barnes was getting ready to move into the governor's office in 1998, Sonny Perdue was moving his political house into the Republican Party and winning re-election to the state Senate from his rural district in central Georgia with 70 percent of the vote. He didn't know it at the time, but the move put him in position to become the first Republican governor of Georgia since Reconstruction. Playing the role of underdog throughout the campaign, Perdue promised to fully fund the state's college scholarship program and abolish income taxes for Georgians over age 62. Where Barnes surprised many state leaders with his centralized response to intense traffic congestion problems around Atlanta, Perdue advocates telecommuting an approach that has yet to demonstrate a significant impact on transportation problems elsewhere in the country. Perdue, a former Georgia Bulldogs football player and retired Air Force Captain who turns 56 next month, holds a doctorate in veterinary medicine and runs a pair of agribusinesses.
HAWAII: Linda Lingle (R)
Former Maui County Mayor Linda Lingle edged out Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono in a race some cast as a classic battle of business versus labor interests, with Lingle, also the GOP's candidate in 1998, winning support from developers, the tourism industry, police groups, university professors and the state's major newspapers. The 48-year old Lingle, who supports local control of education and a plan to hire discount prescription drug companies to purchase medication on the state's behalf, is only the second Republican to lead Hawaii since it achieved statehood in 1959.
IDAHO: Dirk Kempthorne (R, Incumbent)
Being a Republican governor in one of the most Republican states in the country may sound like an easy job, but Dirk Kempthorne's first term didn't always bear that theory out. His decision to leave the state Capitol behind concrete barricades for months after the Sept. 11 attacks raised eyebrows and budget deficits darkened half of his tenure. But the 51-year old former U.S. Senator and mayor of Boise is still a towering political figure in the state. Kempthorne's priorities haven't conformed to expectations. He signed a measure in 2001 to make Idaho the first state to cover breast and cervical cancer treatment for poor women. He has also become an outspoken advocate for drug law reform, with a specific call for treating substance abuse rather than doling out harsher punishment.
ILLINOIS: Rod Blagojevich (D)
Touting his record on crime and education as the voice of Chicago's northwestern suburbs in Congress and the state legislature, Rod Blagojevich received a pair of nice early campaign gifts from state Republicans. The first was Gov. George Ryan's departure after only one term, which was tarnished by his alleged involvement in a trucker licensing fraud as Secretary of State. The second was the GOP's nomination of Attorney General Jim Ryan, whose surname shared in common with the governor, who is no relation caused considerable voter confusion in campaign polls. With the state facing an enormous budget hole, the 44-year old Blagojevich will have a tough time fulfilling promises not to raise income or sales taxes.
IOWA: Tom Vilsack (D, Incumbent)
Republicans had a lock on Iowa's top job until Tom Vilsack came along in 1998. A former small-town mayor and state senator, Vilsack breezed to re-election over Doug Gross, an attorney who served in senior roles to former governors Robert Ray and Terry Branstad. During his first term, Vilsack focused on stanching the outward flow of Iowa's youth with incentives for college graduates who stayed in state and small businesses locating in Iowa. In 2001, he began efforts to encourage small towns to open their doors to refugees from other countries, including Afghanistan. Vilsack also established strong education credentials, signing into law more than $200 million worth of new school bills aimed at reducing class sizes.
KANSAS: Kathleen Sebelius (D) As the state's two-term elected insurance commissioner, Kathleen Sebelius earned a reputation as a fiscal conservative and recognition from major national publications as a leader in healthcare policy and public administration. But her centerpiece issue was the state's crumbling aid formula for public schools, a problem she said her opponent, Tim Shallenburger, had done nothing to correct as speaker of the state House. Governing runs in her family: the 54-year old Sebelius is the daughter of former Democratic Ohio Gov. John Gilligan. Her husband, Topeka attorney Gary Sebelius, is the son of former U.S. Rep. Keith Sebelius, a Republican.
MAINE: John Baldacci (D)
A career politician and restaurateur from Bangor, U.S. Rep. John Baldacci enjoyed a comfortable lead over retiring state Rep. Peter Cianchette and a pair of third-party candidates throughout the campaign to succeed popular but term-limited Gov. Angus King, an Independent. Baldacci, 47, pledged to build a robust health care plan for state employees, open it to private employers and pay for it without a tax increase. He also hopes to attract foundation support to maintain King's laptop computer program for students, who are likely to see other education programs cut to plug the state's estimated $787 million revenue shortfall.
MARYLAND: Robert Ehrlich (R)
Bob Ehrlich took a gamble in March when he entered the Maryland governor's race, leaving a promising career in Congress as a close ally of the Bush administration to contend for a job no GOP candidate had won since Spiro Agnew in 1966. But the state's floundering Republican party convinced Ehrlich to run, spotting in the Baltimore County moderate something they hadn't seen in years centrist appeal. Ehrlich eventually picked GOP chief Michael Steele, an African-American to run with him. The pair overcame a double-digit deficit in the polls to defeat Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, eldest child of Robert F. Kennedy and mantle-bearer of the increasingly unpopular Glendening administration. Ehrlich successfully painted Townsend and her boss as fiscally irresponsible and blamed them for the state's $1.7 billion budget shortfall as well as ongoing problems with crime and transportation. Ehrlich's challenge faltered in October, when a pair of snipers killed ten people in the Washington, D.C., area and seriously wounded several more. He has promised to introduce new measures to curb gun violence in the state.
MASSACHUSETTS: Mitt Romney (R)
Business executive Mitt Romney, the son of former Michigan Gov. George Romney, distinguished himself on the national stage as the man who brought you the wildly successful 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. Romney maintained his party's twelve-year governance over this staunchly Democratic state by defeating state Treasurer Shannon O'Brien after a tight and bitterly fought campaign that drew near-record numbers of Massachusetts voters to the polls. Romney promises to carry on the fiscally conservative, socially liberal precedent set by former GOP governors William Weld and Paul Cellucci, having vocally defended his credentials as a supporter of abortion choice and gay rights. But he also surprised many in the state by advocating reinstatement of the death penalty: Massachusetts hasn't executed a criminal since 1947 and officially dropped capital punishment 18 years ago.
MICHIGAN: Jennifer Granholm (D)
Canadian-born Jennifer Granholm had little difficulty converting her popularity as the state's attorney general into a convincing victory in her bid to become Michigan's first female governor and the first Democrat to win the office since term-limited Gov. John Engler took office in 1991. Granholm's experience will come in handy as she takes over a state seeing its largest number of new faces in government in more than sixty years. The teen beauty queen who grew up in California and graduated from Harvard Law School openly courted foreign-born voters at the end of a year in which federal and state anti-terror investigations of Middle Eastern immigrants more than once turned the nation's eye toward Michigan. She also benefited from strong labor union support and apathy toward her Republican opponent, Lt. Gov. Dick Posthumus, among GOP voters.
MINNESOTA:Tim Pawlenty (R) Gov. Jesse Ventura's four-year Independence Party revolution ends in this: a brief U.S. Senate stint for political ally Dean Barkley and return of his office to a Republican, State House Majority Leader Tim Pawlenty. Pawlenty, 42, a St. Paul native and University of Minnesota Law School grad, easily defeated his counterpart in the Senate Democratic leadership, Roger Moe, and Independent Tim Penny, Ventura's choice for the job. Pawlenty counts his sponsorship of Minnesota's Internet Privacy bill earlier this year among his chief legislative accomplishments and campaigned on a platform of new state education standards and attracting high-tech jobs to Minnesota.
NEBRASKA: Mike Johanns (R, Incumbent)
Gov. Mike Johanns won re-election by the second largest margin of any gubernatorial race in the country, defeating InfoUSA chief financial officer Stormy Dean by 42 points. He was the first Republican governor to win a second-term in Nebraska in 46 years. Johanns won endorsements from the state's leading newspapers, police groups and labor unions while the state AFL-CIO and the Nebraska State Education Association withheld endorsements that may have helped Dean, a Democrat. Johanns, a tough opponent of new taxes, vetoed a teacher pay raise in 2001 that included simultaneous increases in the state's property and sales taxes and lost a fight with lawmakers over sales and income tax hikes they approved to fill the state's revenue gap earlier this year.
NEVADA: Kenny Guinn (R, Incumbent)
Election Day 2002 was easier for no incumbent governor in the country than Kenny Guinn, who trounced state Sen. Joe Neal by 46 points in a campaign that saw Neal lash out at his party for failing to support his candidacy. Neal's central issue was his proposal to raise taxes on the state's gambling industry. Guinn is an educator who once served as interim president of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. He has cut state expenditures by implementing zero-based budgeting, a system in which state agencies must offer yearly justifications for every dollar they spend rather than simply build on a previous year's allotment. In 2001, the legislature passed his plan to offer every teacher in the state a three percent bonus.
NEW HAMPSHIRE: Craig Benson (R)
After defeating Democratic state Sen. Mark Fernald in a race overshadowed by New Hampshire's high-profile U.S. Senate contest, Republican Craig Benson's biggest challenge will be balancing the state's $40 million budget deficit a task he promised to accomplish without imposing new taxes on state residents and by controlling government spending. Prior to winning the governorship, the half-billionaire businessman, who out spent Fernald by $10 million, had never held elected office.
NEW MEXICO: Bill Richardson (D)
One of the few Democrats closely identified with the Clinton administration to enjoy political success in 2002, former Congressman and U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson coasted to victory over Republican John Sanchez. Richardson succeeds maverick Republican Gov. Gary Johnson, who battled a solidly Democratic legislature throughout his two-terms and garnered occasional attention for his exploits in hot-air balloons. Establishing a comprehensive fire plan and securing the state's water resources are among Richardson's top priorities.
NEW YORK: George Pataki (R, Incumbent)
Buoyed by his leadership during and after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and a liberal social platform crafted to the tastes of an overwhelmingly Democratic state, Gov. George Pataki easily won a third term over state Comptroller H. Carl McCall, the state's first black candidate for governor, and well-financed independent Thomas Golisano. Pataki has long been identified as a tough-on-crime, tax-cutting moderate. This time around, Pataki cashed in his small government rhetoric for proposals to increase spending on education and healthcare and is actively supporting gay rights legislation.
OHIO: Bob Taft (R, Incumbent)
Gov. Bob Taft shook off lingering questions about his leadership qualities by soundly defeating an underfinanced but spirited challenge by former Cuyahoga County Executive Tim Hagan. Annoyed by Hagan's online "TaftQuack" ad campaign that featured Taft's head on a duck's body, the governor seemed almost more concerned about the chances of a drug reform ballot question than on any threat from the Democrat. Taft broadened his conservative, southwestern Ohio base during his first term and overcame paralyzing differences within his party's legislative leadership over Ohio's school funding formula to maintain his hold on the governor's office.
OKLAHOMA: Brad Henry (D)
After serving in the state senate for over a decade, Democrat Brad Henry defeated U.S. Rep. Steve Largent by a slim margin to win the governor's seat in the Sooner State. Henry's campaign platforms included eliminating tax on retirement income for senior citizens, keeping jobs in the state, improving Oklahoma schools and increasing teacher's salaries.
OREGON: Ted Kulongoski (D) Democrat Ted Kulongoski managed a tight victory over Republican former state Rep. Kevin Mannix, with the vote count continuing until late into the day after the election. Kulongoski, a former state Supreme Court justice, attorney general and state legislator led in early public opinion polls, but Mannix, considered the underdog in the primary, waged a strong campaign in the general election. A temporary income tax increase -- which Kulongoski supported and Mannix opposed -- became a main focus of a race plagued with negative advertisements on both sides.
PENNSYLVANIA: Ed Rendell (D) The first former Philadelphia mayor to become Pennsylvania governor in ninety years, Ed Rendell is a nationally prominent Democrat and one of three to claim a big-state victory during an otherwise disappointing election for the party. Rendell ran on the strength of his executive experience and easily defeated state Attorney General Mike Fisher, a relatively weak candidate who struggled to fill the shoes of former Gov. Tom Ridge. The pair shattered gubernatorial campaign spending records with receipts totaling $50 million, but Fisher never drew close. Both candidates favored the introduction of slot machines at the state's racetracks, but Rendell plans to send the money to local school districts.
RHODE ISLAND: Donald Carcieri (R) Retired corporate executive Don Carcieri frustrated Democrat Myrth York's third bid for the governor's office, which remains in Republican hands after the departure of term-limited Gov. Lincoln Almond. Carcieri pitched himself as a political outsider and now faces a challenge shared by most new governors: a budget shortfall that in his case may eclipse $200 million. York, a businesswoman and former state lawmaker, questioned Carcieri's record as CEO of Cookson America but failed to convince Rhode Island voters that the political newcomer would fare poorly in efforts to attract jobs and reinvigorate the economy.
SOUTH CAROLINA: Mark Sanford (R) Mark Sanford went to Washington, D.C., in 1994 as a freshman Congressman in the Gingrich Revolution. In 2000, he kept his promise to leave office after three terms, taking home a reputation as a tax-cutter par excellence. He ousted incumbent Gov. Jim Hodges with a convincing six-point margin after political leaders and newspapers called for new leadership in the state. As governor, he promises to be a close ally of new U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R) and stoutly defend gun rights. He has also proposed eliminating the state's corporate income tax as an engine for new business investment and job growth in the state.
SOUTH DAKOTA: Mike Rounds (R) South Dakota's 24-year Republican winning streak will continue for at least another four years, as state Sen. Mike Rounds won the governorship by defeating Democrat Jim Abbott, president of the University of South Dakota and a former state representative. Rounds, who overcame the two early front-runners in the primary Attorney General Mark Barnett and former Lt. Gov. Steve Kirby held a steady lead over Abbott in public opinion polls throughout the campaign. The Pierre insurance executive shunned negative campaigning and earned a "good guy" reputation, benefiting from a strong Republican base and support among conservative Democrats for his pro-life position.
TENNESSEE: Phil Bredesen (D) After serving two terms as Nashville Mayor, Democrat Phil Bredesen won his second bid for governor, defeating Republican challenger U.S. Rep. Van Hilleary. Bredesen ran unsuccessfully for the office in 1994 against Republican Gov. Don Sundquist, who served two terms and is not eligible to run again. Sundquist's unpopularity and the severity of Tennessee's budget crisis buoyed Bredesen despite Hilleary's efforts to distance himself from the governor. In Nashville, Bredesen's mayoral reign was marked by significant economic growth, something he hopes can be accomplished statewide. Bredesen earned degree in physics from Harvard and started a business HealthAmerica before turning to a career in politics.
TEXAS: Rick Perry (R, Incumbent)
Gov. Rick Perry took office in 2000 after former Gov. George W. Bush left for the White House. Perry saved his old boss political embarrassment by defeating Democrat Tony Sanchez, who spent more than $60 million of his own money only to lose by 18 percent points to a governor whose popularity ratings suffered terribly over the year. A former Democratic state representative who became an early defector in the Republican revolution, Perry spent much of his first two years as Texas' first-ever GOP lieutenant governor deflecting speculation about his interest in his boss's job. During his first year as governor, he set a state record for vetoed legislation.
VERMONT: James Douglas (R) James Douglas owes his smooth transition into the governorship to his opponent, Lt. Gov. Douglas Racine, who conceded defeat despite a state law that throws statewide election results to the legislature when the leading vote-getter fails to win a majority of the popular vote. Douglas has led a long political career in the Green Mountain State, beginning as a state representative straight out of college and eventually becoming Treasurer in 1994. The state's economy dominated much of the campaign with Douglas stressing fiscal responsibility, better paying jobs, and affordable health care for state residents.
WISCONSIN: Jim Doyle (D) For the first time in 16 years, a Democrat holds Wisconsin's top state seat. Attorney General Jim Doyle narrowly defeated Republican incumbent Gov. Scott McCallum, who assumed office in 2001 when former Gov. Tommy Thompson was appointed Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Bush Administration. One of the key issues in this year's battle for governor was the state's looming budget deficit, estimated at $2.8 billion next year. Candidates sparred over raising taxes, state spending and the funding of healthcare and public education. Doyle, who faces a legislature controlled by Republicans, touts himself as an advocate of abortion rights, gun control, environmental protection and his strong support of public education won the endorsement of the state teacher's union.
WYOMING: Dave Freudenthal (D) Knee-jerk national reactions to Dave Freudenthal's victory in Wyoming cast it as a Democratic upset in a solid Republican state. But Democrats held the office for twenty years before term-limited GOP Gov. Jim Geringer won office in 1994. Freudenthal, a 52-year old former U.S. Attorney for Wyoming, beat out former state House Speaker Eli Bebout, whose campaign enjoyed the support of former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson (R). Freudenthal's career began as a state economist and planner in the 1970s before he opened his own law practice. He touted his record on guns rights and promised to find common ground among interest groups competing for access to the state's public lands. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
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