As discussed previously, 36 of the 50 states will hold gubernatorial elections this year. There are currently 23 Democratic governors and 27 Republican governors. Democrats are defending 16 governorships this November, while Republicans will defend 20. Further, 34 out of 100 U.S. Senate seats are up for election this year (along with two special elections – one in Oklahoma and one in California). Some states will soon have their 2022 primary elections to determine each party’s nominees for the November general election, where plenty is at stake in state capitals around the country and the U.S. Congress, where control of the U.S. Senate is currently split at 50–50.
Georgia 2022 State Primary Election
Georgia’s primary election is on May 24 with a June 21 primary runoff. Georgia has races this year for both the governor and U.S. Senate.
On the Senate side, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) is running for re-election. In a special election, he won his first election in 2020 by about two percentage points over former Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R).
Democratic Senate Primary
- Sen. Raphael Warnock
- Tamara Johnson-Shealey
Republican Senate Primary
- Gary Black
- Josh Clark
- Kelvin King
- Jonathan McColumn
- Latham Saddler
- Herschel Walker
The Cook Political Report and the Sabato Crystal Ball rate the Georgia Senate race as a toss-up. The Real Clear Politics (RCP) average for the Republican primary race has Walker, a former football player with President Trump’s endorsement, up 55.3%. The RCP average for a hypothetical matchup between Warnock and Walker shows Walker up 1.6%.
Incumbent Governor Brian Kemp (R) is running for re-election in the governor’s race. Kemp last won election in 2018 over Stacey Abrams (D), who is running unopposed this year for the Democratic nomination.
Democratic Gubernatorial Primary
- Stacey Abrams
Republican Gubernatorial Primary
- Gov. Brian Kemp
- Catherine Davis
- Former U.S. Sen. David Perdue
- Kandiss Taylor
- Tom Williams
The Cook Political Report and the Sabato Crystal Ball rate the Georgia governor’s race as a toss-up. The RCP average for the Republican primary race has Kemp up 11.7% with 47% to Perdue’s 35.3%. Perdue has the backing of President Trump.
Ohio 2022 State Primary Election
Ohio has races for both U.S. Senate and governor, with a primary on May 3. This year, Ohio’s Senate seat is an open seat with incumbent Sen. Rob Portman (R) not seeking re-election. Portman previously won re-election in 2016 with 58% of the vote.
Democratic Senate Primary
- Morgan Harper
- Traci Johnson
- Tim Ryan
Republican Senate Primary
- Matt Dolan
- Mike Gibbons
- Josh Mandel
- Neil Patel
- Mark Pukita
- Jane Timken
- J.D. Vance
The Cook Political Report rates the Ohio Senate race as ‘Lean Republican,’ and Sabato’s Crystal Ball rates the race as ‘Likely Republican.’ The RCP average has Mandel (21%) up 1.7% over Gibbons (19.3%). However, Vance, whom RCP has at 14%, received President Trump’s endorsement; none of the polls were taken after the endorsement became public. For the democratic primary, Congressman Tim Ryan was up 22 points in a Hill/Emerson poll in late February.
Incumbent Mike DeWine (R) is running for re-election in the governor’s race and faces three primary opponents.
Democratic Gubernatorial Primary
- John Cranley
- Nan Whaley
Republican Gubernatorial Primary
- Gov. Mike DeWine
- Joe Blystone
- Ron Hood
- Jim Renacci
The Cook Political Report and Sabato Crystal Ball rate the governor’s race as ‘Likely Republican.’ The RCP average shows DeWine up 19.6% in the Republican primary.
Oregon 2022 State Primary Election
Oregon, whose primary election is on May 17, has races for both governor and U.S. Senate this year.
Incumbent Ron Wyden (D) is running for re-election in Oregon’s U.S. Senate race. Wyden last won in 2016 with 56.6% of the vote. Republican Mark Callahan came in second with 33.3%.
Democratic Senate Primary
- Sen. Ron Wyden
- William Barlow
- Brent Thompson
Republican Senate Primary
- Jason Beebe
- Christopher Christensen
- Robert Fleming
- Darin Harbick
- Samuel Palmer
- Jo Rae Perkins
- Ibrahim Taher
The Cook Political Report rates the Oregon Senate race as ‘Solid Democratic’ and Sabato’s Crystal Ball rates the race as ‘Safe Democratic.’
In the governor’s race, incumbent Kate Brown (D) cannot run for re-election due to term limits. Brown won her last election in 2018 with 50.1% of the vote. Republican Knute Buehler came in second with 43.7%.
Democratic Gubernatorial Primary
- David Beem
- Julian Bell
- Wilson Bright
- George Carrillo
- Michael Cross
- Ifeanyichukwu Diru
- Peter Hall
- Tina Kotek
- Keisha Merchant
- Tobias Read
- Patrick Starnes
- Dave Stauffer
- John Sweeney
- Michael Trimble
- Genevieve Wilson
Republican Gubernatorial Primary
- Raymond Baldwin
- Bridget Barton
- Court Boice
- David Burch
- Reed Christensen
- Christine Drazan
- Jessica Gomex
- Nick Hess
- Tim McCloud
- Kerry McQuisten
- Brandon Merritt
- Bud Pierce
- John Presco
- Stan Pulliam
- Amber Richardson
- Bill Sizemore
- Stefan Strek
- Marc Thielman
- Bob Tiernan
The Cook Political Report rates the race as ‘Likely Democratic, and Sabato Crystal Ball rates the governor’s race as ‘Lean Democratic.’ Oregon has not had a Republican governor since the late 1980s. One recent poll shows former House Speaker Tina Kotek leading state Treasurer Tobias Read in the democratic primary – 25% to 20%. A recent poll for the Republican primary shows no clear frontrunner, with nearly half of respondents still unsure for whom they will vote.
Pennsylvania 2022 State Primary Election
Pennsylvania’s primary election is on May 17. The Commonwealth will elect a new governor and a new U.S. Senator, with incumbent Sen. Pat Toomey (R) not running for re-election and incumbent Governor Tom Wolf (D) term-limited.
On the Senate side, Sen. Pat Toomey won his last election in 2016 with 48.8% of the vote to Katie McGinty’s (D) 47.3%.
Democratic Senate Primary
- John Fetterman
- Malcolm Kenyatta
- Alexandria Khalil
- Conor Lamb
Republican Senate Primary
- Kathy Barnette
- Jeff Bartos
- George Bochetto
- Sean Gale
- David McCormick
- Dr. Mehmet Oz
- Carla Sands
The Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball rate the Pennsylvania Senate race as a toss-up. The RCP average shows McCormick (21.8%) up 4.2% over Oz (17.6%). However, President Trump recently endorsed Dr. Oz, and Oz was up 3% in a recent poll over McCormick. On the democratic side, the RCP average has Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman up 18 points over Congressman Conor Lamb.
In the governor’s race, incumbent Tom Wolf (D) cannot run for re-election due to term limits. Wolf won his last election in 2018 by 17%.
Democratic Gubernatorial Primary
- Josh Shapiro
Republican Gubernatorial Primary
- Lou Barletta
- Jake Corman
- Joe Gale
- Charlie Gerow
- Melissa Hart
- Doug Mastriano
- Bill McSwain
- Dave White
- Nche Zama
The Cook Political Report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball rate the governor’s race as a toss-up. The RCP average for the Republican primary has former Congressman Barletta (20.3%) up 1.3% over state Sen. Doug Mastriano (19%), with former Delaware County Councilman Dave White (13%) and former U.S. Attorney Bill McSwain (11.8%) also in double digits.
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