2011 United States gubernatorial elections

United States gubernatorial elections were held in four states in October and November 2011, with regularly scheduled elections in Kentucky, Mississippi, and Louisiana; and a special election in West Virginia. None of these four governorships changed party hands, with Democratic incumbents Steve Beshear and Earl Ray Tomblin winning in Kentucky and West Virginia, respectively; and Republicans re-electing Bobby Jindal in Louisiana and holding the open seat in Mississippi.

2011 United States gubernatorial elections

← 2010 October 4 and 22 and November 8, 2011 2012 →
4 governorships^[a]
Majority party Minority party   Party Republican Democratic Seats before 29 20 Seats after 29 20 Seat change Popular vote 1,653,223 1,144,030 Percentage 54.22%^[1] 37.52% Seats up 2 2 Seats won 2 2
Map of the results      Democratic hold      Republican hold      No election

This is the last group of governor election in which no party lost or gained any seats they held.

Election predictions

Several sites and individuals publish predictions of competitive seats. These predictions look at factors such as the strength of the incumbent (if the incumbent is running for re-election), the strength of the candidates, and the partisan leanings of the state (reflected in part by the state's Cook Partisan Voting Index rating). The predictions assign ratings to each state, with the rating indicating the predicted advantage that a party has in winning that seat.

Most election predictors use:

• "tossup": no advantage
• "tilt" (used by some predictors): advantage that is not quite as strong as "lean"
• "lean": slight advantage
• "likely": significant, but surmountable, advantage
• "safe" or "solid": near-certain chance of victory

State	Incumbent^[2]	Last race	Cook Sep 15, 2011^[3]	IE Aug 12, 2011^[4]	Sabato Aug 24, 2011^[5]	Gov Jul 25, 2011^[6]	Result
Kentucky	Steve Beshear	58.7% D	Lean D	Lean D	Likely D	Lean D	Beshear 55.7% D
Louisiana	Bobby Jindal	53.9% R	Solid R	Solid R	Safe R	Safe R	Jindal 65.8% R
Mississippi	Haley Barbour (term-limited)	57.9% R	Safe R	Solid R	Safe R	Safe R	Bryant 61.0% R
West Virginia	Earl Ray Tomblin	69.8% D	Lean D	Lean D	Likely D	Lean D	Tomblin 49.6% D

Race summary

State	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
Kentucky	Steve Beshear	Democratic	2007	Incumbent re-elected.	▌ Y Steve Beshear (Democratic) 55.7% ▌David L. Williams (Republican) 35.3% ▌Gatewood Galbraith (Independent) 9.0%
Louisiana	Bobby Jindal	Republican	2007	Incumbent re-elected.	▌ Y Bobby Jindal (Republican) 65.8% ▌Tara Hollis (Democratic) 17.9% ▌Cary Deaton (Democratic) 4.9% ▌Trey Roberts (Democratic) 3.3% ▌David Blanchard (Independent) 2.6% ▌Niki Papazoglakis (Democratic) 2.1% ▌Scott Lewis (Libertarian) 1.2%
Mississippi	Haley Barbour	Republican	2003	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Republican hold.	▌ Y Phil Bryant (Republican) 61.0% ▌Johnny DuPree (Democratic) 39.0%
West Virginia (special)	Earl Ray Tomblin	Democratic	2010^[b]	Incumbent elected to full term.	▌ Y Earl Ray Tomblin (Democratic) 49.6% ▌Bill Maloney (Republican) 47.0% ▌Bob Henry Baber (Mountain) 2.0% ▌Marla Ingels (Independent) 1.0%

Closest races

States where the margin of victory was under 5%:

1. West Virginia, 2.5%

Blue denotes states won by Democrats.

Kentucky

2011 Kentucky gubernatorial election

← 2007 November 8, 2011 2015 →

Nominee Steve Beshear David L. Williams Gatewood Galbraith Party Democratic Republican Independent Running mate Jerry Abramson Richie Farmer Dea Riley Popular vote 464,245 294,034 74,860 Percentage 55.7% 35.3% 9.0%

County results

Governor before election Steve Beshear Democratic Elected Governor Steve Beshear Democratic

Main article: 2011 Kentucky gubernatorial election

On July 19, 2009, Steve Beshear announced his intention to run for re-election in 2011 and that then-Louisville mayor Jerry Abramson would be his running mate.^[7] On January 6, 2011, Beshear and Abramson officially filed their candidacy.^[8]

Businessman Phil Moffett, Jefferson County Clerk Bobbie Holsclaw, and State Senate president David L. Williams were the declared Republican candidates.^[9] Agriculture commissioner Richie Farmer^[10] Secretary of State Trey Grayson,^[11] and Businessman Bill Johnson,^[12] were also speculated candidates, but all declined. However, Farmer would run as Williams' running mate.^[9] The Williams-Farmer ticket won the primary on May 17.^[13]

In the general election, Beshear won, defeating Williams and independent candidate Gatewood Galbraith.

2011 Kentucky gubernatorial election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Steve Beshear (incumbent)	464,245	55.72
	Republican	David L. Williams	294,034	35.29
	Independent	Gatewood Galbraith	74,860	8.99
Total votes			833,139	100.00
	Democratic hold

Louisiana

2011 Louisiana gubernatorial election

← 2007 October 22, 2011 2015 →

Candidate Bobby Jindal Tara Hollis Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 673,239 182,925 Percentage 65.8% 17.9%

County results

Governor before election Bobby Jindal Republican Elected Governor Bobby Jindal Republican

Main article: 2011 Louisiana gubernatorial election

In 2008 Bobby Jindal stated that it was unlikely he would run for president in 2012 and that his primary electoral goal in the future would be on re-election in 2011.^[14] On August 15, 2010, he confirmed his intention to run for re-election.^[15]

Candidates who opposed Jindal included Attorney Cary Deaton (D), Teachers Tara Hollis (D) and Trey Roberts (D), victim advocacy activist Androniki "Niki Bird" Papazoglakis (D), Former Vice Chairman of the Libertarian Party of Louisiana Scott Lewis, ex-Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals David Blanchard (I), Computer Engineer Lenny Bollingham (I), Accountant Ron Ceasar (I), and Retired Volunteer Fire Chief Bob Lang (I).^[16]

The election was then held on October 22 with all the candidates competing in a nonpartisan blanket primary.^[17] Jindal was elected to a second term, receiving an outright majority of the vote (thus a runoff election that would have occurred on November 19 became unnecessary).

2011 Louisiana gubernatorial election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bobby Jindal (incumbent)	673,239	65.80
	Democratic	Tara Hollis	182,925	17.88
	Democratic	Cary Deaton	50,071	4.89
	Democratic	Trey Roberts	33,280	3.25
	Independent	David Blanchard	26,705	2.61
	Democratic	Niki Bird Papazoglakis	21,885	2.14
	Libertarian	Scott Lewis	12,528	1.22
	Independent	Bob Lang	9,109	0.89
	Independent	Ron Ceasar	8,179	0.80
	Independent	Lenny Bollingham	5,242	0.51
Total votes			1,023,163	100.00
	Republican hold

Mississippi

2011 Mississippi gubernatorial election

← 2007 November 8, 2011 2015 →

Nominee Phil Bryant Johnny DuPree Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 544,851 348,617 Percentage 61.0% 39.0%

County results

Governor before election Haley Barbour Republican Elected Governor Phil Bryant Republican

Main article: 2011 Mississippi gubernatorial election

Incumbent Governor Haley Barbour was term-limited in 2011.

The Republican candidates included author, small business owner, and Baptist minister James Broadwater; Lt. Governor Phil Bryant; former New Orleans Federal Reserve Board Chairman Dave Dennis; and Pearl River County District Supervisor Hudson Holliday.^[18] Bryant won the Republican nomination by a wide margin.^[19]

Prominent state businessman Bill Luckett^[20] and Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny DuPree were two declared Democratic candidates.^[21] Dupree defeated Luckett in the Primary runoff to win the Democratic nomination.^[22]

Bryant ended up defeating Dupree in the general election.

The Lieutenant Governor was elected separately.

2011 Mississippi gubernatorial election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Phil Bryant	544,851	60.98
	Democratic	Johnny DuPree	348,617	39.02
Total votes			893,468	100.00
	Republican hold

West Virginia (special)

2011 West Virginia gubernatorial special election

← 2008 October 4, 2011 2012 →

Nominee Earl Ray Tomblin Bill Maloney Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 149,202 141,656 Percentage 49.6% 47.0%

County results

Governor before election Earl Ray Tomblin Democratic Elected Governor Earl Ray Tomblin Democratic

Main article: 2011 West Virginia gubernatorial special election

The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia ruled on January 18, 2011 that the state must hold a special gubernatorial election in 2011^[23] to fill the vacancy resulting from Joe Manchin's election to the United States Senate. State Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin ascended to the office of Acting Governor in 2010; he is eligible to seek election for the remainder of Manchin's term and has stated that he will do so.^[24]

Other Democratic candidates included state House Speaker Rick Thompson, Acting President of the West Virginia Senate Jeffrey V. Kessler, state Secretary of State Natalie Tennant, and state Treasurer John Perdue.^[23] Tomlin overcame intra-party opposition in the May 14 primary and thus advanced to the general election.^[25]

The Declared Republican candidates include former Secretary of State Betty Ireland, state Senate Minority Whip Clark Barnes,^[23][26] and Putnam County Prosecutor Mark Sorsaia.^[27] U.S. Representative Shelley Moore Capito and businessman John Raese have both stated that they will not run.^[28] Businessman Bill Maloney won the Republican primary in an upset and faced Tomblin in the general election.^[25]

In the general election, Tomblin defeated Maloney.

2011 West Virginia gubernatorial special election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Earl Ray Tomblin (incumbent)	149,202	49.55
	Republican	Bill Maloney	141,656	47.05
	Mountain	Bob Henry Baber	6,083	2.02
	Independent	Marla Ingels	2,875	0.95
	American Third Position	Harry Bertram	1,111	0.37
	Write-in		157	0.05
Total votes			301,084	100.00
	Democratic hold

Notes

1. including a special election in West Virginia
2. Tomblin took office after his predecessor (Joe Manchin) resigned.

References

1. "2011 Gubernatorial General Election Results". uselectionatlas.org.
2. Parentheses around an incumbent's name indicates that the incumbent is retiring, possibly due to term limits.
3. . The Cook Political Report. September 15, 2011. Archived from the original on October 7, 2011.
4. "Gubernatorial Ratings". Inside Elections. August 12, 2011.
5. "2012 Governor". Sabato's Crystal Ball.
6. . Governing. July 25, 2011. Archived from the original on August 1, 2011.
7. Gerth, Joseph (2009-07-19). "Abramson to be Beshear's running mate in 2011". The Courier-Journal. Archived from the original on 2013-01-02. Retrieved 2009-07-20.
8. McVeigh, Tony (January 6, 2011). . WFPL. Archived from the original on January 11, 2011. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
9. Brammer, Jack (2010-09-02). "David Williams and Richie Farmer form slate to seek state's top offices". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
10. Alford, Roger (2009-10-28). "Farmer mulls run for governor". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved 2009-10-28.
11. . Archived from the original on 2011-02-13. Retrieved 2010-06-20.
12. "D.C.'s Political Report: The complete source for campaign summaries".
13. "KY - Election Results".
14. Ben Smith. "Jindal says no". Politico.com. Retrieved 2008-12-10.
15. . Archived from the original on 2010-08-30. Retrieved 2010-08-16.
16. "Politics1 - Online Guide to Louisiana Candidates, Elections & Politics".
17. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on November 27, 2008. Retrieved February 6, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
18. "Mississippi 2011 Off-Year Election".
19. http://www.clarionledger.com/misc/election/electionresults.html ^{[dead link]}
20. . Archived from the original on 2021-02-28. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
21. "Politics1 - Online Guide to Mississippi Elections, Candidates & Politics".
22. . Archived from the original on 2012-10-22. Retrieved 2011-09-10.
23. . Archived from the original on January 31, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
24. Dickerson, Chris (January 7, 2011). . The Charleston Gazette. Archived from the original on January 13, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
25. . Archived from the original on May 17, 2011. Retrieved May 30, 2011.
26. "West Virginia 2011 Off-Year Election".
27. "D.C.'s Political Report: West Virginia Congressional and Statewide Races".
28. McVey, John (January 20, 2011). . The Journal. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2011.