Monday February 27th, 2023
2023 Gubernatorial Elections
On November 7th, five states will go to the polls to elect governors. Two of the term limited governors Oregon's Walter Collins and South Carolina's Ethan Butler are among those already seen as the probable front-runners for the GOP Presidential nomination in 2026.
Here we preview each election:
Kentucky
Incumbent: Governor Mark Hampton (R) (Running for re-election)
Primary election: May 16th
Governor Hampton who is running for re-election in his own right after taking over from disgraced former Governor Ed Barrie in March last year, has attempted to distance himself from his former boss. With former Democratic Governor Chris Mannix declining to run for his old job and instead running and winning the election for the Senate last November, the Democrats are likely to turn to a candidate with vast pulling power in the state, businessman Kyle Bowles, the son of popular now retired Senator Calvin Bowles. Bowles will have high name recognition, and the likely support of his Father's donors and has no serious opponents for the nomination. Independent Leo George has already announced that he will be running for the governorship for a third time as an independent progressive .
Mississippi
Incumbent: Governor Alan Fisk (D) (Term-Limited)
Primary election: August 8th
Former Bartlet administration Attorney General Alan Fisk was the probably the only Democrat able to win in these traditionally Republican state , but once he's gone, there's no one who can keep his coalition together, much less in an off-year election. Fisk's lieutenant governor is Jonas Watts. Mississippi is a state where the lieutenant governor is elected separately from the governor, so his deputy is a Conservative Republican. The likely Democratic nominee is the little known State Rep Terrance Potter.
Oregon
Incumbent: Governor Walter Collins (R) (Term-Limited)
Primary election: May 16th
Governor Collins is one of those almost certainly going to run for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2026. He has won twice in a state that leans Democrat, and can clearly keep Conservatives, "Vinick Republicans" and independents happy. As whom is to replace him in Mahonia Hall we are very likely to have an interesting primary fight in both parties. The Republican lieutenant governor Cliff Connell, is a former Democrat who only split with his former party over criminal justice issues. He has already declared that he is running, along with someone with no previous political experience, former TV News anchor Amber Noble. Noble who worked for Kaew-TV in the state, before leaving last year, citing "editorial differences" and her open support for Patty King in Georgia. She has grown very vocal in support of the views given by the likes of Rep King declaring that "George Soros was the head of a vast plot to turn the United States into a Communist State" and that the United States should have "nuked Vietnam" during the Vietnam war. On the Democratic side, the front runner is State Senate Majority Leader, Kristin Pullman, who is openly gay, although she has been joined by Kate Lindsay, the Speaker of the Oregon House of Reps, who narrowly failed to unseat Republican Senator Curtis Ryan in 2020. Debbie Kelly has already declared for the Socialist Party and received the support of the state Green party who have agreed not to run a candidate.
South Carolina
Incumbent: Ethan Butler (R) (Term-Limited)
Primary election: June 13th
Governor Butler is the other Governor that is appearing on top or near the top of the probable front runners for the Republican presidential nomination in 2026. Butler has built a name for himself as Conservative Republican, but has focused on many issues traditionally seen as Democratic ones, such as homelessness and domestic violence against women. Congressman Todd Winters is the likely Republican candidate with State Rep Lewis Brunden for the Democrats who is regarded as the best of a poor bunch candidates for the Democrats.
Vermont
Incumbent: Janet Lorton (D) (No term limits)
Primary election: August 8th
Governor Lorton basically has a job for life if she wants it, with the state having no term limits for Governor. She is running for a fifth term, and would need just to serve a further year to beat George Clinton to become the longest-serving state governor in the nations history. One only Republican so far has shown any interest of running against her, state Senator Brandon Teller.
(With thanks to @lord caedus & @MountainDew17 )