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Thursday, November 04, 2004
GOP maintains control in 28 governors mansions
By Pamela M. Prah, Staff Writer
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The Republican Party held on not just to the White House in Tuesday's election, but also to 28 governors' mansions.
The GOP preserved its six-seat lead over Democrats in control of states' top executive spots despite an upset in New Hampshire and a loss in Montana. Democrats, with 22 governors going into Tuesday's election, are clinging to 21. Either side, however, could gain another victory depending on the outcome of Washington's governor's race, which is still too close to call.
The GOP not only won two widely watched gubernatorial contests in Indiana and Missouri, but also seized control of both houses of the legislatures in those states, giving the new governors a golden opportunity to work with politically friendly statehouses.
Altogether, the GOP will control both the executive and legislative branches in 12 states when the 2005 sessions begin, the same as now. Democrats in 2005 will have a lock on power in state capitols in seven states, down from eight. The 12 GOP-controlled states in 2005: Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas and Utah. The seven states where Democrats will be in charge: Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina and West Virginia. The parties will have to share power in the remaining states. If Attorney General Christine Gregoire(D) wins in Washington, then the Democrats will have another state where they reign supreme.
"Republicans continue to make significant inroads in Southern and Prairie states, and it may be, that not too long from now, the Republicans will dominate those regions," said Paul S. Herrnson, director of the Center for American Politics and Citizenship at the University of Maryland.
But Democrats had a few impressive wins of their own. While the Democratic Party didn't add to its tally of governorships, it ousted GOP incumbent Gov. Craig Benson in New Hampshire and won in Montana, which elected political newcomer Brian Schweitzer (D) to fill an open seat now held by a Republican.
In other governors' races, Democrats kept control of the state's top office in Delaware, North Carolina and West Virginia. Republicans held on to North Dakota, Vermont and Utah.
Final tallies were still pending in the Washington governor's race was a dead heat. Absentee ballots possibly could decide the victor between Attorney General Christine Gregoire (D) and Dino Rossi (R) to replace outgoing Democratic Gov. Gary Locke, who decided not to seek re-election.
If Rossi wins, it will be the first time since 1925 that Indiana, Missouri and Washington have elected Republican governors in the same year, according to the Republican Governors Association. The RGA spent more than $12 million on this year's 11 governors' races, including $7 million in Indiana, Missouri and Washington, RGA said. The association is one of the country's largest "527" committees, created specifically to raise unlimited money for voter education and mobilization activities.
Presidential coattails might have helped Republicans in Indiana. Republican Mitch Daniels, a former top Bush administration official, toppled Democratic Gov. Joe Kernan, giving the Hoosier state its first GOP governor since 1989. Indiana went quickly for Bush in the presidential contest, and Bush stumped for Daniels during the campaign. The race was Kernan's first election since taking over when former Gov. Frank O'Bannon died mid-term last year. Republicans also took the Indiana House and held on to a razor-thin lead in the Senate.
Missouri's race was one of the most-watched governor's contests in the nation. Republican Matt Blunt, the secretary of state and son of four-term GOP Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri, eked out a victory over Democrat Claire McCaskill, the state auditor. McCaskill had defeated Gov. Bob Holden in the state Democratic primary. The GOP made gains in both statehouse chambers, where it already has majorities.
Democrats had plenty to crow about in New Hampshire, though. Democrat John Lynch, a businessman, defeated first-term Republican Gov. Benson in a race that was not decided until the wee hours of Wednesday morning. Benson's loss marks the first time New Hampshire denied an incumbent a second two-year term since 1926.
During the campaign, Lynch, a former chairman of the state university system board of trustees, focused on restoring integrity to the governor's office. In his two years in office, Benson had several appointees step down for alleged ethical lapses. This is the first time Lynch has been elected to public office.
In Montana, Democrat Brian Schweitzer, a farmer-rancher, bested Republican Secretary of State Bob Brown, ending 16 years of GOP-control of the governors' office. Political experience was a key issue in the campaign. Brown had spent more than 25 years as a state legislator while Schweitzer never held public office. But Schweitzer picked as his running mate an experienced state lawmaker from the opposing political party, John Bohlinger, a Republican.
Even before a ballot was cast, the nation knew at least five freshmen governors would be elected in the 11 gubernatorial races. That's because the governors' seats in Montana, Washington and West Virginia were wide open because incumbents opted not to run again while the posts in Missouri and Utah were up for grabs because the sitting governors failed to win their parties' nomination to seek a new term. Jobs, health care and education were key issues in all the races.
Here's how the governors' races shaped up:
- DELAWARE
Gov. Ruth Ann Minner (D) defeated William Lee (R) in a surprisingly tight race, winning 50.9 percent to 47.8 percent.
Delaware's first female governor came under fire for her response to a state prison hostage ordeal in which a counselor was raped. The victim criticized Minner in TV ads paid for by the RGA. Lee, 69, a retired Delaware Superior Court judge, also lambasted Minner's handling of the situation.
During her first term, Minner, 69, pushed through a controversial smoking ban. Her political career includes eight years in the Delaware House of Representatives and 10 years in the state Senate. Twice-widowed, Minner is the mother of three sons.
- INDIANA
Mitch Daniels (R) topped Gov. Joe Kernan (D) 53 percent to 46 percent.
Daniels, a tireless campaigner who canvassed Indiana several times in an RV, ousted incumbent Kernan, 58, who inherited the office when Gov. Frank O'Bannon died in September 2003. Prescription drug costs and Indiana's struggling economy were heavily debated over the course of the campaign.
Daniels was dubbed "my man Mitch" by President George W. Bush during his 2001-2003 tenure as director of the Office of Management and Budget. The nickname stuck and was seen on bright green T-shirts all over Indiana during the campaign. Daniels, 55, is the father of four daughters.
- MISSOURI
Matt Blunt (R) defeated Claire McCaskill (D) 51 percent to 48 percent to take over from Democratic Gov. Bob Holden, who lost in the primary election.
Blunt, 33, ran a tight race with McCaskill, 51, registering a lead of only a few percentage points in the waning days of the campaign and overcoming criticism of failures in the Missouri election system.
Blunt, a Navy reservist, has served as Missouri's Secretary of State since 2000 and is the son of U.S. House Majority Whip Roy Blunt. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, spent five years on active duty with the Navy, and was the first elected official from Missouri to be called up after September 11. (He served in Afghanistan for six months.) His wife, Melanie, is expecting the couple's first child.
- MONTANA
Brian Schweitzer (D) defeated Bob Brown (R) to take the place of Republican Gov. Judy Martz, who suffered from flagging popularity and didn't seek re-election.
The first Democratic Montana governor in 16 years, Schweitzer, 49, beat Secretary of State Brown, 57, with a Republican running mate (John Bohlinger) for lieutenant governor. Tribal economic development, worker retraining and higher education, and coal-bed methane extraction were major issues in his grassroots campaign.
Schweitzer, a farmer and rancher, came up short in a 2000 Montana Senate race and has never before held public office. He worked as an irrigation developer with his wife, Nancy, in Africa, Asia and Europe. He graduated from Montana State University and has three children.
- NEW HAMPSHIRE
John Lynch (D) defeated first-term Gov. Craig Benson (R).
Bucking their habit of giving governors a second two-year term, New Hampshire voters ousted Benson, who, like Lynch, was a former corporate chief executive. Lynch advocates repealing New Hampshire's education property tax but said he would veto attempts to reduce state aid below $450 million and would gradually increase it.
- NORTH CAROLINA
Gov. Michael Easley (D) easily defeated Patrick Ballantine (R).
Easley, 54, in office since 2000, convinced voters that the state's recent job losses and economic downturn could be reversed in another term.
Shortly before the election, Easley called the General Assembly back to work to consider a package of tax incentives to lure a computer manufacturing plant to the state. From 1992-2000, Easley served as state attorney general. Raised on a tobacco farm, he has one son with Mary, his wife of 24 years.
- NORTH DAKOTA
Gov. John Hoeven (R) cruised to re-election, defeating Joe Satrom (D) by 71.3 percent to 27.4 percent.
Hoeven easily won re-election in this solid Republican state, defeating Satrom, a 59-year-old former state legislator. Hoeven, 47, boasts an economy that grew by $1 billion during the past three years and a low unemployment rate.
The governor's seat is Hoeven's only experience in state politics. Before winning election in 2000, he was president and CEO of the Bank of North Dakota for seven years. Between 1986 and 1993, he was executive vice president of First Western Bank. He is married and has two children.
- UTAH
Jon Huntsman Jr. (R) won easily over Scott Matheson Jr. (D) by a 56.4 percent-42.7 percent margin.
Huntsman, 44, beat Matheson, the 51-year-old son of a former governor, to fill the shoes of Gov. Olene Walker (R), who failed to win her party's nomination for re-election. Huntsman enters his first elected position in opposition to the controversial No Child Left Behind Act. He has said he wants to dump the requirements it imposes on education, even if it means losing federal money.
Huntsman is chairman and CEO for Huntsman Family Holdings Co., LLC, the holding company for the multi-billion-dollar Huntsman Corp. He was a deputy U.S. trade representative for President George W. Bush, and earlier served the elder President Bush as ambassador to Singapore and an assistant commerce secretary. He is married with six children.
- VERMONT
Gov. Jim Douglas (R) defeated Burlington Mayor Peter Clavelle (D) by a 59 percent to 38 percent margin.
Pledging to cut property taxes -- a key issue for Vermont voters -- Douglas won re-election against Clavelle, the seven-term mayor of the state's largest city. Douglas, Vermont's first Republican governor to win re-election since 1982, opposed adopting a statewide smoking ban.
Douglas has been involved in Vermont politics since he graduated from Middlebury College in 1973, serving in the Legislature until 1979. In 1980, he was elected secretary of state and won re-election five times. Douglas ran for the U.S. Senate in 1992 but lost in the general election. After he was elected state treasurer in 1994, he won re-election three times before being elected governor in 2002. Douglas is married and has two children.
- WASHINGTON
Results were incomplete in the race between Attorney General Christine Gregoire (D) and Dino Rossi (R) to fill the office of Democratic Gov. Gary Locke, who decided against seeking re-election.
- WEST VIRGINIA
Secretary of State Joe Manchin III (D) easily defeated Monty Warner (R).
Manchin's victory over Warner, a former Army colonel and real-estate developer, keeps the governor's seat in Democratic control in the wake of Gov. Bob Wise's (D) decision not to seek re-election after admitting to an extramarital affair with a female state employee. Manchin, 57, promised that increasing jobs in West Virginia would be his top priority by focusing on economic development and education. Fixing the state's workers' compensation system also was a major issue in Manchin's platform.
The one-term secretary of state served in the Legislature for 12 years. Manchin attempted a run for governor in 1996 but lost in the Democratic primary. He has been married for 37 years, is the father of three and grandfather of six.
Send your comments on this story to letters@stateline.org. Selected reader feedback will be posted in the Letters to the editor section.
Alison L. McConnell and Alex Sundby contributed to this report.
Contact Pamela M. Prah at pprah@stateline.org
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