Democrats gain governor seats
Posted: Wednesday, November 08, 2006 12:37 AM by Huma Zaidi
Special to First Read from Jennifer Duffy of the Cook Political Report
And then there are the governors races. Things have gone as expected here as well. Remarkably, not one vulnerable Democratic-held seats was lost. Govs. Jennifer Granholm in Michigan, Ted Kulongoski in Oregon, and Jim Doyle in Wisconsin, all rated as Toss Ups by the Cook Political Report, won re-election. Democrats also held their open seat In Iowa. Two marginally vulnerable Democratic governors, Rod Blagojevich in Illinois and John Baldacci in Maine have also won.
As expected, Republicans lost their open seats in Arkansas, Colorado, Massachusetts, New York, and Ohio. Maryland Gov. Bob Ehrlich was defeated and while Rhode Island Gov. Don Carcieri has been declared the winner, the margin is so close that we might not have heard the last word on this race. That leaves four Republican-held seats that haven't been called yet. The race in Minnesota (Gov. Tim Pawlenty) is too close to call and it's too early to call races in the open seats in Alaska, Idaho, and Nevada.
The bottom line is that Democrats have scored a net gain of five seats and the potential exists for them to pick up as many as nine seats. My guess is that they will end up with seven or eight, assuming Rhode Island is not contested.
