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Thirty-seven governorships are up for grabs this election — three-quarters of all governorships in the nation. The outcome of the races will have a huge impact on how states address energy and climate issues, as we’ve been reporting in our Gubernatorial Tutorial series. Below we list the winners (who get a red check mark) and the losers who’ve been announced so far. Check back soon for more results and green analysis. And weigh in yourself in the comments section below.
[Update Tues 11:30 p.m. PDT: Big exciting news — a tie! Sort of! Democrats are getting trounced in the House and in governor races overall (losing all but 14 or so guv races). But you already knew that. In the 11 governor races that are especially competitive and consequential on the climate front — the 11 for which we did deep-dive profiles — things are tighter.
Dems have won three of those races (California, Massachusetts, and Colorado) and look strong in two others (Illinois and Minnesota). Republicans took five (Texas, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Tennessee). And Florida‘s a tossup. That puts things at 5 and 5 plus the Florida wild card.
The biggest news is California, where Jerry Brown brings perhaps the beefiest green agenda in the country to the most populous state. (Joe Romm has more on Cali’s clean-energy trifecta of reelecting Brown and Sen. Barbara Boxer and smacking down the Big-Oil-backed Proposition 23.)
Rick Perry’s reelection in Texas is big too, because Texas is big. The state’s raging wind industry will keep growing; Perry has been supportive of wind, but don’t talk to him about a broader climate plan, high-speed rail investment, or non-sprawling forms of development — he’s not interested.
The biggest gubernatorial disappointment for climate hawks could be Ohio, where former Lehman Brothers executive/Fox News commentator/Gingrich-era House Republican John Kasich sailed into office with intentions to gut the state’s nascent cleantech investment and refuse federal passenger-rail dollars. Outgoing Gov. Ted Strickland tallied some decent green achievements; he might have tried running on them sooner.
High-speed rail hater Scott Walker (R) won Wisconsin, meaning the passenger line from Chicago to Minneapolis may need to find a creative route through, say, Ontario. Or not: Wisconsin and federal officials signed an agreement days before the election committing the state to the project, the Journal Sentinel reports.
More coming up, including a look at what the election means for the nation’s three regional cap-and-trade systems.
[Update Weds 9 a.m. PDT: Florida goes Republican too. If incoming Gov. Rick Scott supports a solar industry in the Sunshine state, he hasn’t indicated it so far. Democrats are hanging on to Illinois and Minnesota.]
Alabama
Ron Sparks (D)
Robert Bentley (R) — Bentley is a cautious climate denier.
Alaska
Ethan Berkowitz (D)
Sean Parnell (R) — Parnell denies that climate change is a real threat to polar bears.
Arizona
Terry Goddard (D)
Gov. Jan Brewer (R)
Arkansas
Gov. Mike Beebe (D)
Jim Keet (R)
California
Jerry Brown (D) — Read about Brown’s clean-energy agenda.
Meg Whitman (R) — Whitman accepts climate science, but wants to stop California’s climate law from coming into force.
Colorado
John Hickenlooper (D) — Read a Grist interview with Hickenlooper.
Dan Maes (R)
Tom Tancredo (American Constitution Party)
Connecticut
Dan Malloy (D) — Malloy has a strong climate plan and has been a leader in climate-friendly urban policy.
Tom Foley (R) — Foley doesn’t see the need for quick climate action.
Florida
Alex Sink (D)
Rick Scott (R) — Scott is a climate denier.
Georgia
Roy Barnes (D)
Nathan Deal (R) — Deal is a climate conspiracy theorist.
Hawaii
Neil Abercrombie (D)
James ”
Duke” Aiona (R) — Alona is one of just two Republican climate hawks running for governor this year.
Idaho
Keith Allred (D)
Gov. Butch Otter (R)
Illinois
Gov. Pat Quinn (D)
Bill Brady (R) — Brady is a climate denier.
Iowa
Gov. Chet Culver (D)
Terry Branstad (R) — Branstad has no climate plan and backs a new coal-fired power plant and oil refinery.
Kansas
Tom Holland (D)
Sam Brownback (R) — Brownback has in the past called for cutting CO2 emissions, but more recently embraced the Climategate controversy.
Maine
Libby Mitchell (D)
Paul LePage (R) — LePage made our list of climate deniers. In fact, he’s so nutty he got a second article devoted exclusively to him.
Eliot Cutler (I)
Maryland
Martin O’Malley (D) — O’Malley is a climate hawk.
Bob Ehrlich (R) — Ehrlich has become increasingly skeptical of climate change.
Massachusetts
Gov. Deval Patrick (D)
Charlie Baker (R) — Baker made our list of climate deniers.
Tim Cahill (I)
Read about the Massachusetts race.
Michigan
Virg Bernero (D)
Rick Snyder (R)
Minnesota
Mark Dayton (Democrat-Farmer-Labor)
Tom Emmer (R) — Emmer is a climate denier.
Tom Horner (Independence)
Read about the Minnesota race.
Nebraska
Mike Meister (D)
Gov. Dave Heineman (R)
Nevada
Rory Reid (D)
Brian Sandoval (R)
New Hampshire
Gov. John Lynch (D)
John Stephen
New Mexico
Diane Denish (D)
Susana Martinez (R) — Martinez is a climate denier.
New York
Andrew Cuomo (D)
Carl Paladino (R) — Paladino is a climate denier.
Ohio
Gov. Ted Strickland (D)
John Kasich (R)
Oklahoma
Jari Askins (D)
Mary Fallin (R) — Fallin has mocked the threat of climate change, and mocked her opponent for being childfree.
Oregon
John Kitzhaber (D)
Chris Dudley (R) — Dudley is a cautious climate denier.
Pennsylvania
Dan Onorato (D)
Tom Corbett (R)
Rhode Island
Frank Caprio (D)
John Robitaille (R)
Lincoln Chafee (I)
South Carolina
Vincent Shaheen (D)
Nikki Haley (R)
South Dakota
Scott Heidepriem (D)
Dennis Daugaard (R) — Daugaard is a climate denier.
Tennessee
Mike McWherter (D)
Bill Haslam (R) — Haslam is an oilman, but he may be greener than he appears.
Texas
Bill White (D) — Read a Grist interview with White.
Gov. Rick Perry (R) — Read about Perry’s record on energy and climate change.
Utah
Peter Corroon (D)
Gov. Gary Herbert (R) — Herbert is a climate denier.
Vermont
Peter Shumlin (D)
Brian Dubie (R) — Dubie is one of just two Republican climate hawks running for governor this year.
Wisconsin
Tom Barrett (D)
Scott Walker (R)
Read about the Wisconsin race.
Wyoming
Leslie Petersen (D)
Matt Mead (R) — Mead is a climate denier.
