The United States gubernatorial elections of 2007, were held in October and November 2007. Two of the seats up for election were Republican and one was Democratic. The final results were a net change of zero among the parties with one Republican pickup and one Democratic pickup balancing each other out. With the exception of 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...

, these elections were part of the 2007 U.S. general election

United States general elections, 2007

The 2007 United States general elections were held on Tuesday, November 6. During this off-year election, the only seats up for election in the United States Congress were special elections held throughout the year. None of these congressional seats changed party hands...

.

Parties

Going into the 2007 gubernatorial elections, the Democratic Party

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...

 held 28 Governor's seats, while 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...

 held 22 Governor's seats. Democratic and Republican candidates filed in all 3 states, and the Libertarian Party

Libertarian Party (United States)

The Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest growing political party in the United States. The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects its brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration...

 had ballot representation in Louisiana.

Summary

State	Incumbent	Party	Result	Opposing Candidates
Kentucky Kentucky gubernatorial election, 2007 The Kentucky gubernatorial election, 2007 was held on November 6, 2007. In this election, incumbent Republican Governor Ernie Fletcher lost to Democratic challenger Steve Beshear, who therefore began serving as Governor of Kentucky in December 2007 for a term through December 2011...	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...	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...	Defeated, 41.3%	Steve Beshear Steve Beshear Steven Lynn "Steve" Beshear is an American politician who is the 61st Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. A Democrat, Beshear previously served in the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1974 to 1979, was the state's Attorney General from 1980 to 1983, and was Lieutenant Governor from... (Democratic) 58.7%
Louisiana Louisiana gubernatorial election, 2007 The Louisiana gubernatorial election of 2007 was held on October 20. The filing deadline for candidates was September 6. On the day of the election, all 12 candidates competed in an open jungle primary. With all precincts reporting, Bobby Jindal won the election with 54%.-Background:Elections in...	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....	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...	Retired, Republican 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.... (Republican) 53.9% Walter Boasso Walter Boasso Walter Joseph Boasso is a wealthy businessman and former Democratic state senator from Chalmette, the seat of St. Bernard Parish in south Louisiana. He was defeated in a bid for governor in the October 20, 2007, jungle primary. Boasso won 47 percent in his own St. Bernard Parish, his sole...  (Democratic) 17.4% John Georges John Georges John Georges is a New Orleans, Louisiana, businessman who formerly served on the Louisiana Board of Regents, the body which supervises higher education in his native state....  (Independent Independent (politician) In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do... ) 14.4% Foster Campbell Foster Campbell Foster L. Campbell, Jr. , is a Democratic member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission, a former 26-year member of the Louisiana State Senate, and an unsuccessful candidate for governor in the October 20, 2007, jungle primary. Campbell polled 161,425 votes and won two parishes: Red River and...  (Democratic) 12.4% Others 1.9%
Mississippi Mississippi gubernatorial election, 2007 The Mississippi gubernatorial election, 2007 was held on Tuesday, November 6. Incumbent Haley Barbour was re-elected and will serve a four-year term as Governor of Mississippi from January 15, 2008 through January 10, 2012...	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...	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...	Re-elected, 58.1%	John Arthur Eaves John Arthur Eaves John Arthur Eaves, Jr. is a personal injury lawyer who was the unsuccessful Democratic Party nominee in the 2007 general election for Governor of Mississippi.-Career:...  (Democratic) 41.9%

Kathleen Blanco (Louisiana)

Governor 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....

 announced on March 20, 2007 that she would not seek a second term. Blanco had taken flak for the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...

 and the government's ill-preparedness to deal with casualties.

Republican U.S. Representative

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 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....

 won about 54% of the vote in the October 20 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...

, enough to avoid a run-off in November. His nearest opponent, Democratic State Senator Walter Boasso

Walter Boasso

Walter Joseph Boasso is a wealthy businessman and former Democratic state senator from Chalmette, the seat of St. Bernard Parish in south Louisiana. He was defeated in a bid for governor in the October 20, 2007, jungle primary. Boasso won 47 percent in his own St. Bernard Parish, his sole...

, won about 17% of the vote; Independent New Orleans

New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...

 area businessman John Georges finished third with 14% of the vote, while Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell

Foster Campbell

Foster L. Campbell, Jr. , is a Democratic member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission, a former 26-year member of the Louisiana State Senate, and an unsuccessful candidate for governor in the October 20, 2007, jungle primary. Campbell polled 161,425 votes and won two parishes: Red River and...

 (D) finished fourth with 12%.

Former U.S. Senator John Breaux

John Breaux

John Berlinger Breaux is a former United States senator from Louisiana who served from 1987 until 2005. He was also a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1972 to 1987. He was considered one of the more conservative national legislators from the Democratic Party...

, arguably the most popular Democratic politician in Louisiana, had publicly flirted with entering the race in March and April 2007, but eventually declined to run due to the unresolved controversy over whether his recent Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

 residency made him ineligible to run. After Breaux's announcement, Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu

Mitch Landrieu

Mitchell Joseph "Mitch" Landrieu is the Mayor of New Orleans, former Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, and a member of the Landrieu family. Landrieu is a member of the Democratic Party and a Roman Catholic. He is the son of former New Orleans mayor and Secretary of the United States Department of...

 also declined running.

Jindal led in fundraising with $11 million raised up to the end of September, with $4.3 million of that left for the remainder of the campaign. Georges has put $7 million of his own money into his campaign. Boasso had spent $4.7 million of his own money and had $144,000 in the bank.

Ernie Fletcher (Kentucky)

Governor 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...

 ran for reelection for a second term. Various polls indicated he had been very unpopular with an approval rating of 38%. Also, Fletcher's governorship had been embroiled in scandal due to the criminal indictment of several people in his administration for illegally hiring workers into the state merit system based on political considerations. Fletcher was challenged in the primary by Anne Northup

Anne Northup

Anne Meagher Northup is an American Republican politician from the state of Kentucky. From 1997 to 2007, she represented the Louisville-centered 3rd congressional district of Kentucky in the United States House of Representatives, where she served on the powerful House Appropriations Committee...

, a former U.S. Representative who served Kentucky's 3rd congressional district

Kentucky's 3rd congressional district

Kentucky's 3rd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Kentucky encompassing nearly the whole city of Louisville, which, since the merger of 2003, is contiguous with Jefferson County...

 from 1997-2007, as well as Paducah

Paducah, Kentucky

Paducah is the largest city in Kentucky's Jackson Purchase Region and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. It is located at the confluence of the Tennessee River and the Ohio River, halfway between the metropolitan areas of St. Louis, Missouri, to the west and Nashville,...

 businessman Billy Harper. Underscoring the controversy over the hiring scandal, Lieutenant Governor

Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky

The office of lieutenant governor of Kentucky has existed under the last three of Kentucky's four constitutions, beginning in 1797. The lieutenant governor serves as governor of Kentucky under circumstances similar to the Vice President of the United States assuming the powers of the presidency...

 Steve Pence

Steve Pence

Stephen B. Pence was the Lieutenant Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He took office with fellow Republican Ernie Fletcher in December 2003.-Education:...

 chose not to run for reelection on the Fletcher ticket and publicly endorsed Northup. In addition, Northup was endorsed by U.S. Senator Jim Bunning

Jim Bunning

James Paul David "Jim" Bunning is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher and politician.During a 17-year baseball career, he pitched from 1955 to 1971, most notably with the Detroit Tigers and the Philadelphia Phillies. When he retired, he had the second-highest total of career...

. However, Fletcher won the primary, winning 101,233 votes (50%) and carrying 106 of Kentucky's 120 counties in a three way race. http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070523/NEWS0106/70523009 Northup won the state's largest county, which contains Louisville

Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...

, and her former congressional district, but lacked support at large; turnout in Jefferson County was not strong enough to make up for that.

A large number of Democrats ran in the primary, including State Treasurer

State Treasurer

In the state governments of the United States, 49 of the 50 states have the executive position of treasurer. Texas abolished the position of Texas State Treasurer in 1996....

 Jonathan Miller

Jonathan Miller (politician)

Jonathan Miller is a politician from the Commonwealth of Kentucky currently serving as Secretary for the Kentucky Finance and Administration Cabinet, assuming that post in December, 2007...

, former Lieutenant Governors Steve Beshear

Steve Beshear

Steven Lynn "Steve" Beshear is an American politician who is the 61st Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. A Democrat, Beshear previously served in the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1974 to 1979, was the state's Attorney General from 1980 to 1983, and was Lieutenant Governor from...

 and Steve Henry, businessman Bruce Lunsford

Bruce Lunsford

William Bruce Lunsford is an American Democratic politician from Kentucky. He has served various roles in the Kentucky Democratic Party including, Party treasurer, Deputy Development Secretary, and Head of Commerce...

 and Kentucky House of Representatives

Kentucky House of Representatives

The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form a House district, except when necessary to preserve...

 Speaker Jody Richards

Jody Richards

Jody Richards is a Democratic member of the Kentucky House of Representatives, representing the 20th District since 1976 and former speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives.-Biography:...

. Lunsford spent over $4 million, much of it his own money; Miller dropped out of the race and endorsed Beshear. Beshear won the primary with 142,516 votes (41%) in the crowded field; his next closest competitor was Lunsford with 21%. Henry took 18% of the vote and Richards, 12%. In their election night concession speeches Lunsford, Henry and Richards each pledged their support to Beshear.

As a result of the General Election on November 7, 2007, Beshear defeated Fletcher in his bid for reelection. Beshear was inaugurated on December 11, 2007.

Haley Barbour (Mississippi)

Governor 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...

 ran for a second term. Barbour was popular, with a 59% approval rating, and faced only a token primary challenge. Four Democratic candidates filed to face him in the general election including eventual nominee attorney John Eaves.

On election day, Barbour defeated Eaves garnering 58% of the vote.

Total Results

At the 2007 Gubernatorial Elections, all 55 United States Governors' seats were occupied. Of the 55 seats, 31 were held by Democrats, 23 were held by Republicans, and 1 was held by a third party

Third party (United States)

The term third party is used in the United States for any and all political parties in the United States other than one of the two major parties . The term can also refer to independent politicians not affiliated with any party at all and to write-in candidates.The United States has had a...

. In this election, however, only three of the 55 seats were being contested. Two were held by Republicans, and one was held by a Democrat.

Summary of the October 20 and November 6, 2007 United States Governors election results
|-
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" colspan="2" rowspan="2" | Party
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=center colspan="2" | Popular Vote
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" colspan="2" rowspan="2" | Seats Won
|-
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right| Vote
!style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right| %
|-

| style="text-align: left" | 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...

| align=right | 1,550,957 
| 50.54%
| 2
|-

| style="text-align: left" | Democratic Party

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...

| align=right | 1,316,999 
| 42.91%
| 1
|-

| style="text-align: left" | Independents

Independent (politician)

In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

| align=right | 198,263 
| 6.46%
| 0
|-

| style="text-align: left" | Libertarian Party

Libertarian Party (United States)

The Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest growing political party in the United States. The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects its brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration...

| align=right | 2,639 
| 0.09%
| 0
|-
! colspan=2 align=left | Total
| align=right | 3,068,858 
| 100%
| 3
|}