RGA Statement On 2018 Governors’ Races

WASHINGTON D.C. – The Republican Governors Association released the following statement regarding the results of the 2018 gubernatorial elections:

“Despite their boasts and guarantees of picking up 10-12 governorships, Democrats failed to capitalize on their extremely favorable map,” said RGA Communications Director Jon Thompson. “Republicans won the night’s biggest prizes in Florida and Ohio, flipped Alaska to GOP control, and in 2019, will still control a strong majority of governorships.”

“The RGA wins in good and bad environments, and even though we were defending 26 of the 36 governorships up for grabs – the highest number of governorships our party has ever had to defend in a single election year – Republicans held the line and fought back against the ‘blue wave’ that the Democrats assured was coming.” Thompson added. “Republicans re-elected 11 of our 13 incumbents, won the majority of the open seat races we were defending, and won a majority of the states up for election where the governor has an impact on redistricting. Tuesday night was a very disappointing night for Democrats in the states, and they will have to contend with the fact that the RGA will likely increase its total to 30 or more governors over the next two years. Our work immediately begins today in Louisiana, North Carolina and Montana – all of which are strong pick-up opportunities.”