Four gubernatorial elections were held in the U.S. in 2003. Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

 and Mississippi

Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

 held their general elections on November 4. Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

 held the first round of its jungle primary

Jungle primary

A nonpartisan blanket primary is a primary election in which all candidates for elected office run in the same primary regardless of political party. Under this system, the top two candidates who receive the most votes advance to the next round, as in a runoff election...

 on October 4 and the runoff on November 15. In addition, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 held a recall election

Recall election

A recall election is a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office through a direct vote before his or her term has ended...

 on October 7.

• California recall election, 2003
  California recall election, 2003
  The 2003 California gubernatorial recall election was a special election permitted under California state law. It resulted in voters replacing incumbent Democratic Governor Gray Davis with Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger. The recall effort spanned the latter half of 2003...
  
  
• Kentucky gubernatorial election, 2003
  Kentucky gubernatorial election, 2003
  The 2003 Kentucky gubernatorial election took place on 4 November 2003 for the post of Governor of Kentucky. Republican candidate Ernie Fletcher defeated Democrat Ben Chandler and became the first Republican governor of Kentucky in 32 years.-Campaign:...
  
  
• Louisiana gubernatorial election, 2003
  Louisiana gubernatorial election, 2003
  The Louisiana gubernatorial election of 2003 resulted in the election of Kathleen Babineaux Blanco as governor of Louisiana.- Background :Elections in Louisiana—with the exception of U.S. presidential elections—follow a variation of the open primary system called the jungle primary...
  
  
• Mississippi gubernatorial election, 2003
  Mississippi gubernatorial election, 2003
  The 2003 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on 4 November 2003 for the post of governor of Mississippi. The incumbent governor, Democrat Ronnie Musgrove, was defeated by Republican Haley Barbour....
  
  

The Republican Party

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 had a net gain of 2 seats in 2003, picking up an open seat in Kentucky, removing a Democratic governor in California, and defeating a Democratic governor in Mississippi, while losing an open seat to the Democrats

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 in Louisiana. The election was unusual because every seat up for election changed hands.

Election results

A bolded state name indicates an article specific to that state's election.

State	Incumbent	Party	Status	Opposing Candidates
California California recall election, 2003 The 2003 California gubernatorial recall election was a special election permitted under California state law. It resulted in voters replacing incumbent Democratic Governor Gray Davis with Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger. The recall effort spanned the latter half of 2003...	Gray Davis Gray Davis Joseph Graham "Gray" Davis, Jr. is an American Democratic politician who served as California's 37th Governor from 1999 until being recalled in 2003...	Democratic California Democratic Party The California Democratic Party is the state branch of the Democratic Party in the state of California, headquartered in Sacramento. It is chaired by veteran Democratic politician and former United States Representative John L. Burton, who succeeded Art Torres in April 2009. It is the majority...	Recalled, 55.4%-44.6%	Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011.... (R California Republican Party The California Republican Party is the California affiliate of the United States Republican Party. The party chairman is Tom Del Beccaro and is based in Burbank, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. The RPC also has a headquarters in Sacramento.... ) 48.58% Cruz Bustamante Cruz Bustamante Cruz Miguel Bustamante is an American politician. He was the 45th Lieutenant Governor of California, a former Speaker of the State Assembly and a member of the Democratic Party...  (D California Democratic Party The California Democratic Party is the state branch of the Democratic Party in the state of California, headquartered in Sacramento. It is chaired by veteran Democratic politician and former United States Representative John L. Burton, who succeeded Art Torres in April 2009. It is the majority... ) 31.47% Tom McClintock Tom McClintock Thomas Miller McClintock II is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2009. He is a member of the Republican Party. He is a former Assemblyman and state Senator...  (R California Republican Party The California Republican Party is the California affiliate of the United States Republican Party. The party chairman is Tom Del Beccaro and is based in Burbank, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. The RPC also has a headquarters in Sacramento.... ) 13.41% Peter Camejo Peter Camejo Peter Miguel Camejo was an American author, activist and politician. In the 2004 United States presidential election, he was selected by independent candidate Ralph Nader as his vice-presidential running mate on a ticket which had the endorsement of the Reform Party.Camejo was a three-time Green...  (G Green Party of California The Green Party of California is the California affiliate of the Green Party. The party is a ballot-qualified in California, first established as such in 1991, using the petition method of gaining state recognition.... ) 2.8% Full List
Kentucky Kentucky gubernatorial election, 2003 The 2003 Kentucky gubernatorial election took place on 4 November 2003 for the post of Governor of Kentucky. Republican candidate Ernie Fletcher defeated Democrat Ben Chandler and became the first Republican governor of Kentucky in 32 years.-Campaign:...	Paul E. Patton Paul E. Patton Paul Edward Patton was the 59th governor of Kentucky, serving from 1995 to 2003. Because of a 1992 amendment to the Kentucky Constitution, he was the first governor eligible to succeed himself in office since James Garrard in 1800...	Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...	Term-limited, Republican victory	Ernie Fletcher Ernie Fletcher Ernest Lee "Ernie" Fletcher is a Republican politician from the U.S. state of Kentucky. In 1999, he was elected to the first of three consecutive terms in the United States House of Representatives; he resigned in 2003 after being elected the 60th governor of Kentucky and served in that office... (R Republican Party (United States) The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S... ) 55% Ben Chandler Ben Chandler Albert Benjamin "Ben" Chandler III is the U.S. Representative for , serving since a special election in 2004. He is a member of the Democratic Party.-Early life, education and career:...  (D Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous... ) 45%
Louisiana Louisiana gubernatorial election, 2003 The Louisiana gubernatorial election of 2003 resulted in the election of Kathleen Babineaux Blanco as governor of Louisiana.- Background :Elections in Louisiana—with the exception of U.S. presidential elections—follow a variation of the open primary system called the jungle primary...	Mike Foster Murphy J. Foster, Jr. Murphy James "Mike" Foster, Jr. served as 53rd Governor of Louisiana from January 1996 until January 2004. Foster's father was Murphy J. Foster, Jr., but Mike Foster uses "Jr." even though he is technically Murphy J. Foster, III. Foster is a businessman, landowner, and sportsman in St...	Republican Republican Party (United States) The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...	Term-limited, Democratic victory	Bobby Jindal Bobby Jindal Piyush "Bobby" Jindal is the 55th and current Governor of Louisiana and formerly a member of the United States House of Representatives. He is a member of the Republican Party....  (R) 33% (48% in runoff) Kathleen Blanco Kathleen Blanco Kathleen Babineaux Blanco was the 54th Governor of Louisiana, having served from January 2004 until January 2008. She was the first woman to be elected to the office of governor of Louisiana.... (D Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous... ) 18% (52% in runoff) Richard P. Ieyoub (D) 16% Claude "Buddy" Leach (D) 14% Randy Ewing (D) 9% Hunt Downer (R) 6%
Mississippi Mississippi gubernatorial election, 2003 The 2003 Mississippi gubernatorial election took place on 4 November 2003 for the post of governor of Mississippi. The incumbent governor, Democrat Ronnie Musgrove, was defeated by Republican Haley Barbour....	Ronnie Musgrove Ronnie Musgrove David Ronald "Ronnie" Musgrove is an American politician who was the 29th Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi from January 16, 1996 to January 11, 2000 and the 62nd Governor of Mississippi from January 11, 2000 to January 13, 2004 of the U.S. state of Mississippi. He was recently defeated by...	Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...	Defeated, 45.81%	Haley Barbour Haley Barbour Haley Reeves Barbour is an American Republican politician currently serving as the 63rd Governor of Mississippi. He gained a national spotlight in August 2005 after Mississippi was hit by Hurricane Katrina. Barbour won re-election as Governor in 2007... (R Republican Party (United States) The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S... ) 52.59% John Thomas Cripps (Const. Constitution Party (United States) The Constitution Party is a paleoconservative political party in the United States. It was founded as the U.S. Taxpayers' Party by Howard Philips in 1991. Phillips was the party's candidate in the 1992, 1996 and 2000 presidential elections... ) 0.71% Shawn O'Hara (Ref. Reform Party of the United States of America The Reform Party of the United States of America is a political party in the United States, founded in 1995 by Ross Perot... ) 0.46% Sherman Lee Dillon (G Green Party (United States) The Green Party of the United States is a nationally recognized political party which officially formed in 1991. It is a voluntary association of state green parties. Prior to national formation, many state affiliates had already formed and were recognized by other state parties... ) 0.44%

External links

• Mississippi Certified Election Results
• California Election Results CA Secretary of State Site