Most thrilling gubernatorial election in your lifetime

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Wisconsin recall 2012

Welcome to the forum!

[sting in the rafters]

2016 North Carolina

[JoeyJoeJoe]

Louisiana 1991, as a trainwreck.

[Arizona Iced Tea]

Either 2018 Florida or Georgia. Both DeSantis and Kemp managed to pull off the upset in a relatively bad year for the GOP.

[Agafin]

Either 2018 Florida or Georgia. Both DeSantis and Kemp managed to pull off the upset in a relatively bad year for the GOP.

Um, was Abrams favored to win in 2018? Gillium certainly was (in Florida) but I believe polling had the Georgia gubernatorial election as a pure tossup.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Either 2018 Florida or Georgia. Both DeSantis and Kemp managed to pull off the upset in a relatively bad year for the GOP.

Um, was Abrams favored to win in 2018? Gillium certainly was (in Florida) but I believe polling had the Georgia gubernatorial election as a pure tossup.

As I recall it, the feeling on the ground here at the time was a tossup with a tilt toward Kemp.

Looking at RCP's list of polls of the race, their final average was Kemp+3 (slightly distorted by one outlier Kemp+12 poll).  The actual result was Kemp+1.4.  There are 13 polls listed; Kemp led seven, Abrams led three, and the other three were ties.

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2018/governor/ga/georgia_governor_kemp_vs_abrams-6628.html#polls

[Skill and Chance]

Louisiana 2019?  Initially, everyone assumes JBE will differentiate from the national Dem brand and coast.  Then he gets like 45% in the 1st round and everyone assumes the national Dem brand will sink him in the runoff.  Then he narrowly wins the runoff, but with an urban-rural alignment that resembled 2016 presidential swing states!  Also helped that there was nothing else going on at the same time.

[Samof94]

Arizona 2022. Kari Lake was an awful candidate and Arizona rapidly moving left since 2016 seems obvious.

[LastMcGovernite]

Wisconsin recall 2012

I agree. It didn't turn out the way I would have liked, but it was a fascinating race that could have unseated a rising conservative star.

[progressive85]

For some reason, the Virginia governor elections are very exciting.  I don't know if that's because they receive a lot of attention because they are in off-years (along with NJ), but also because VA is a swing state?  VA politics in general seem to be very important.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Washington 2004.

It was hilarious seeing the lead change dozens of times.

[MargieCat]

Arizona in 2022.

They rejected MAGA in 2020, but everyone assumed a red wave environment would sweep Lake into office.

The moment Kari Lake got the nomination, I knew Hobbs would flip the governors mansion.

[Gass3268]

Nothing beats Wisconsin 2018 and the Milwaukee mail dump that put Evers over for good. Start of a string of solid victories in the state that has led to the new maps in the state.

[Skill and Chance]

For some reason, the Virginia governor elections are very exciting.  I don't know if that's because they receive a lot of attention because they are in off-years (along with NJ), but also because VA is a swing state?  VA politics in general seem to be very important.

Ehhh they are predictably near blowouts for the party out of the WH almost every time.  2013 and 2021 had a moderate level of excitement but even then the outcomes weren't a shock.

[Dave Hedgehog]

For me I would have to say Kentucky last year, really did think federal-level partisanship was going to kick in big in the end and either sink Beshear or see him scrape through by the skin of his teeth despite his consistent strong approvals. In the end it was a fairly comfortable win, probably the very best D's could hope for out of KY these days. That said, I really don't think anything can be read out of that vis-a-vis this year's presidential election - if anything it proved that polling averages and approval ratings can be quite predictive indeed, which does not bode too well for Biden.

[Hope For A New Era]

Arizona 2022 was nice to see. I really didn't expect Hobbs to win. I definitely thought it was possible, but I had pretty much resigned myself to a Lake victory by that point.

[Flyersfan232]

For me Minnesota 2010, even if it was kind of a phyrric victory.

wat?

[Spectator]

For some reason, the Virginia governor elections are very exciting.  I don't know if that's because they receive a lot of attention because they are in off-years (along with NJ), but also because VA is a swing state?  VA politics in general seem to be very important.

Ehhh they are predictably near blowouts for the party out of the WH almost every time.  2013 and 2021 had a moderate level of excitement but even then the outcomes weren't a shock.

I think people left the Virginia GOP for dead after their continuous string of losses from 2012-2020, even in the Obama years. Youngkin winning was definitely a shock in that vein. I don't think Virginia is a swing state by any means, but his victory showed that the Democrats can't take that Governorship for granted in years they hold the White House. In years where Republicans are in the White House, the governorship is probably Likely D at the very least. If Trump wins in November, then hello Gov.-elect Spanberger.

[Pericles]

Virginia 2017 was hilarious to watch because Democrats got a big polling error in their favour and idiot pundits actually thought Gillespie could win.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

For me Minnesota 2010, even if it was kind of a phyrric victory.

wat?

What party do you not get?

[Flyersfan232]

For me Minnesota 2010, even if it was kind of a phyrric victory.

wat?

What party do you not get?

how was it a phyrric for the democrats?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

For me Minnesota 2010, even if it was kind of a phyrric victory.

wat?

What party do you not get?

how was it a phyrric for the democrats?

The DFL lost both houses of the legislature despite flipping the governorship. It went from R Gov/DFL House and Senate to DFL Gov/R House and Senate.