Eye on White House race as 36 states elect governors

CHICAGO, Nov 7 (Reuters) Voters in 36 states are electing governors today, with Democrats likely to gain ground in battlegrounds destined to play a key role in the 2008 presidential race.

Republicans, who have held a majority of the 50 governorships since their party's 1994 congressional landslide, went into the election having to defend more ground than the Democrats, and facing what polls said was a pro-Democratic sentiment among voters generally.

The stakes are high because control of the highest elected office in each state sets the agenda for policymaking at the state level and provides political leverage, money and influence to the candidate or their party in presidential election years.

Some analysts have suggested a popular governor can be worth 2 percentage points or more in his state in a presidential election.

Of the 36 races, Republicans are defending 22 seats, including nine where the Republican incumbent is not running. Democrats hold the other 14 seats but all except one are races with incumbents seeking re-election.

Going into the election nationally, the Republicans held governorships in 28 states compared to 22 for the Democrats. The early speculation was that Democrats could make a net gain of four states, putting them in a majority.

The races include nine of the 10 most populous states.

California, the biggest, was likely to remain in Republican control with polls showing Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger ahead before the balloting.

But the third-most populous state, New York, looked likely to switch from Republican control to Democratic along with Ohio, which played a key role in the 2004 presidential race.

Democrats were also favored to take open Republican-held governorships in Massachusetts, Colorado and Arkansas.

Other crucial battlegrounds include Republican-held Minnesota, Maryland, Idaho, Nevada, Alaska and Rhode Island, and Democratic-held Oregon, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan and Maine.

Ohio, Iowa, Colorado, Minnesota and Wisconsin along with Florida are considered presidential swing states and among the biggest prizes in today's voting.

Florida, decisive in the bitterly contested 2000 race for the White House, appeared likely to remain in Republican hands. Gov Jeb Bush could not seek re-election because he was limited to two consecutive terms.

REUTERS PB VV1752