Democrats near majority of US governorships

Chicago, Nov 8: Democrats took governors' seats from Republicans in five states, nearing a majority of the offices for the first time since 1994 and giving them a potential advantage in 2008 presidential battlegrounds.

Governorships in New York, Ohio, Maryland, Massachusetts and Arkansas all fell into Democratic hands, according to media projections yesterday. Republicans retained power in Florida and Texas and appeared sure of holding onto California, three of the four most populous states and all crucial players in presidential elections.

''We are 99 per cent sure we will have a majority of 26 (of the 50) states, possibly more,'' said Brian Namey, a spokesman for the Democratic Governors Association.

The gains echoed Democratic advances in congressional elections, where the party, riding a wave of discontent over the Iraq war, was projected to win control of the US House of Representatives and pick up seats in the Senate.

Republicans, who have held a majority of the 50 governorships since their party's 1994 congressional landslide, went into the election holding 28 states, compared to 22 for the Democrats.

The stakes are high because a governor sets the agenda for state policymaking and can provide political leverage, money and influence for a presidential candidate of the same party.

Some analysts have suggested a popular governor can be worth 2 percentage points or more to a presidential candidate seeking to capture a state's electoral votes which decide the election.

New York elected Democratic Attorney General Eliot Spitzer to replace departing Republican Gov George Pataki, according to media projections. Spitzer's victory restores the governor's seat to Democratic hands for the first time in a decade.

In Ohio, decisive in the 2004 White House race, Ted Strickland, six-term congressman and Methodist minister, became the first Democrat in 16 years to be elected governor. Maryland voters ousted Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich in favor of Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley, projections said. In Arkansas Democrat Mike Beebe, the state's attorney general, defeated former Homeland Security chief Asa Hutchinson for an open seat that had been in Republican hands, according to projections.

Massachusetts returned the governor's job to Democrats for the first time in 16 years by electing Deval Patrick as its first black governor and only the second black governor ever from any state.

He was elected to succeed incumbent Republican Gov Mitt Romney, who who did not seek a second term and is expected to make a presidential run in 2008.

In other projected returns from the 36 states electing governors, Democratic incumbents were reelected in Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Wyoming, New Mexico, Kansas, Wisconsin, Maine, Arizona and Tennessee.

Republicans incumbents were also returned to office in Georgia, Nebraska, Connecticut, Vermont, South Dakota, South Carolina and Alabama.

The Republicans went in with a disadvantage, at least on paper, having to defend more ground than the Democrats, and facing what polls said was a pro-Democratic sentiment among voters generally.

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

The races include nine of the 10 most populous states.

California, with the largest population, was likely to remain in Republican hands with polls showing Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger ahead before the balloting.

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

REUTERS

Related Stories