Who is running for governor in 2026? The candidates in 10 states, name by name

By Dr. AtlasPublished Sep 17, 2026

Ten of the Ledger’s eleven board states elect a governor on Tuesday, November 3, 2026: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Texas. ^[1] This page names the candidates on each of those ballots as of September 17, 2026. Where a state’s own certified list could be opened, the names come from that list; where it could not, they come from dated news reports, and the page says so.

2026 gubernatorial elections at a glance

The National Governors Association (NGA), used here only as a secondary source, counts 39 gubernatorial elections in 2026, with “18 incumbent Governors running for reelection and 21 incumbent Governors who are either term-limited or not seeking reelection.” ^[1] Its list covers 36 states plus Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the Virgin Islands. ^[1] North Carolina, the eleventh board state, is not on it: NGA shows that state’s last election for governor in 2024 and a four-year term. ^[1] The other 26 states with a race are outside this page; NGA’s list covers them. ^[1]

Who is running for governor of Florida 2026

As of September 17, 2026, the Florida Division of Elections lists ten candidates as “Qualified” for governor in the 2026 General Election. ^[4] The major-party tickets are Republican Byron Donalds, with Bryan Avila for lieutenant governor, and Democrat David Jolly, with Gwen Graham; the listing’s primary column shows each as “Won.” ^[4]

Scott Eckhard Jewett, with Nicole Skelly, is the candidate of the Libertarian Party of Florida (LPF). ^[4][5] Five tickets are listed NPA, the division’s abbreviation for no party affiliation: Dean Abrams, Charles Burkett, Jeffrey Peter “Dr. Jeff” Datto, Moliere “Moe” Dimanche and Frank J. Russo. ^[4][5] Kathy Anderson and Erik Morris are coded WRI, for write-in; under Florida law a write-in candidate’s name is not printed on the ballot, but a space to write it in is provided. ^[4][6] The same listing marks ten other Republicans and five other Democrats as “Defeated.” ^[4] Florida’s primary was August 18, 2026. ^[1]

Who is running for governor of Georgia in 2026

Republican Rick Jackson and Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms are the major-party nominees. ^[1][8] Jackson won the June 16 Republican runoff over Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, and Bottoms, a former Atlanta mayor, “won the Democratic nomination in May with over 50% of the vote,” the Georgia Recorder reported; unofficial Secretary of State returns that night showed Jackson with about 53%. ^[8]

The Georgia Secretary of State’s online lookup of qualified candidates did not load for this review, so the Ledger has not confirmed whether a third-party, independent or write-in candidate is also on the ballot. NGA’s entry names Jackson and Bottoms, but its entries for these ten states show at most a Republican and a Democrat each, so they do not settle the question. ^[1]

Who is running for Texas governor 2026

Three candidates are certified as of September 17, 2026: Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, Democrat Gina Hinojosa and Libertarian Pat Dixon. ^[22] They appear on the Secretary of State’s final ballot certification for the November 3, 2026 general election, dated August 28, 2026. ^[22] Lieutenant governor is a separate contest on the same certification: Republican Dan Patrick, Democrat Vikki Goodwin, Libertarian Anthony Cristo and Green Party candidate Kevin McCormick. ^[22] NGA’s entry for Texas lists a four-year term and, unlike its entries for Florida or Ohio, no maximum number of terms. ^[1]

Who is running for Michigan governor 2026

Michigan’s official candidate listing for the November 3, 2026 general election, stamped “as of” September 4, shows five tickets for governor and lieutenant governor: Democrats Jocelyn Benson and Winnie Brinks; Republicans John James and Jay DeBoyer; Libertarians Anthony Hudson and Beau Parmenter; Donna Brandenburg and Robert Donald Cowper II of the U.S. Taxpayers Party; and Douglas Campbell and Bobbie Clay of the Green Party. ^[12]

No candidate without a party appears in that section. ^[12] Former Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan ended his independent campaign on May 21, 2026, the Michigan Advance reported. ^[14]

Who is running for Ohio governor 2026

Ohio Capital Journal reported on September 11, 2026 that Democrat Amy Acton, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy and Libertarian Don Kissick “are running for governor in the November election.” ^[17] NGA lists the same two major-party candidates. ^[1] The Ohio Secretary of State’s website refused automated requests during this review, so the state’s certified list was not read directly.

Who is running for Iowa governor 2026

Iowa’s candidate list for the November 3 general election, last updated August 19, 2026 and still posted on September 17, has two candidates for governor: Republican Zach Lahn and Democrat Rob Sand. Derek Wulf (R) and Dave Muhlbauer (D) are listed for lieutenant governor. ^[10] Gov. Kim Reynolds, the incumbent, is not on the list. ^[10][1]

Lahn won a five-way Republican primary on June 2 by 1,644 votes: 80,407 to Randy Feenstra’s 78,763, with Adam Steen at 30,675, Brad Sherman at 14,669 and Eddie Andrews at 7,264, according to the state canvass dated June 22, 2026. ^[11]

Pennsylvania and Nebraska

For searchers asking who is running for PA governor in 2026: Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro faces Republican state Treasurer Stacy Garrity, according to a September 15, 2026 report published by the Pennsylvania Capital-Star, and NGA lists the same pair. ^[21][1] Pennsylvania’s candidate database did not open for this review, so minor-party candidates are not confirmed here.

Nebraska’s final general-election list, dated September 11, 2026, has four tickets for governor and lieutenant governor: Republicans Jim Pillen (marked “Incumbent”) and Joe Kelly; Democrats Lynne Walz and Ben Steffen; Rick Beard and Keenya Barnes of Legal Marijuana NOW; and Brett Lindstrom and Michael Picard of America First. ^[15] In the May 12 primary Pillen received 142,301 votes to 18,066 for the next Republican, John Walz, and Lynne Walz received 116,458 to Larry Marvin’s 10,847. ^[16]

Arizona and Oklahoma: the two governor races with a Ledger race page

As of September 17, 2026, Arizona’s Citizens Clean Elections Commission guide to the general election lists four candidates for governor: Republican Andy Biggs, Democrat Katie Hobbs, Teri Ann Hourihan (No Labels) and Risa Lombardo (Green). ^[2] Hobbs is the incumbent. ^[1] The Secretary of State dates the official canvass of the July 21 primary August 6, 2026. ^[3] See the Arizona governor race and where Arizona’s votes are.

As of September 17, 2026, Oklahoma’s State Election Board lists five candidates for November 3: Republican Mike Mazzei, Democrat Cyndi Munson and independents Orlando Lynn Bush, Robert E Brooks Sr and Jerry Griffin. ^[19] Mazzei won the August 25 Republican runoff over Attorney General Gentner Drummond “by about 2,000 votes in a race that drew about 371,000 voters,” Oklahoma Voice reported that night. ^[20] More in who is running for Oklahoma governor and on the Oklahoma race page.

Which seats are open because of term limits

NGA marks five of these ten incumbents as term-limited: Ron DeSantis, Brian Kemp, Gretchen Whitmer, Mike DeWine and Kevin Stitt. ^[1] The limits are not the same rule. What a governor does explains the office itself.

• Florida, Art. IV, §5(b): no one who has served “more than six years in two consecutive terms shall be elected governor for the succeeding term.” ^[7]
• Georgia, Art. V, §I, ¶I: governors “may succeed themselves for one four-year term,” then are not eligible again “until after the expiration of four years.” ^[9]
• Michigan, Art. V, §30: “No person shall be elected more than two times” to the office of governor; NGA lists it as a lifetime maximum. ^[13][1]
• Ohio, Art. III, §2: “No person shall hold the office of governor for a period longer than two successive terms of four years.” ^[18]
• Oklahoma: NGA lists a maximum of two lifetime terms, and Oklahoma Voice reported that Stitt “is serving the final year of his second term due to term limits.” ^[1][20]

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