WASHINGTON — The race for New Hampshire governor has the hallmarks of the biggest gubernatorial races this fall: heavy involvement from outside groups, a national contest stealing the spotlight, and messages that echo themes from this year’s presidential campaigns.
Money is already pouring into gubernatorial races in New Hampshire, North Carolina, Montana, Washington state and West Virginia, and the campaigns are getting up to full speed.
Eleven states will choose their governors this November, at the same time voters choose between President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Democrats are on the defensive in those contests. Half of the eight seats they are trying to hold on to this fall, like New Hampshire’s, are open because of term limits or retirements. Republicans, on the other hand, are losing only one incumbent.
Although New Hampshire kicked off the presidential contest in January with its first-in-the-nation primary, it did not select major-party candidates for governor until Sept. 11. National groups have been blasting the nominees on TV.
The Republicans picked Ovide Lamontagne, a lawyer who previously lost bids for governor and the U.S. Senate. He will face Democrat Maggie Hassan, a former majority leader in the state Senate who lost her seat in the 2010 Republican wave. The two are competing for a two-year term. John Lynch, the Democratic incumbent, is retiring.
A recent Granite State poll showed voters knew very little about either candidate.
The presidential race is dominating coverage in swing states such as New Hampshire and North Carolina, but national politics are also shaping gubernatorial races in places such as Missouri, Montana and West Virginia.
Even money spent on the gubernatorial races has ties to Washington, D.C. The partisan governors groups are expected to weigh in heavily (or already have) in Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Washington state and West Virginia. Often, they will act independently from their candidates, because low contribution limits prevent them from giving directly to their candidates, says RGA spokesman Mike Schrimpf.
The outside groups, especially the RGA, can play an outsized role in state elections, as Wisconsin saw earlier this year. The Republican governors spent more than $9 million to help Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker beat back a recall effort.
“Everybody understood the stakes, and it was worth every penny of that," Schrimpf says. Changes pushed by Walker and other Republicans have helped shape national debates on entitlements, schools and taxes, he says.
Here is a look at some of the other states with governors’ races this fall:
Washington
The long-anticipated matchup pits Jay Inslee, a Democratic congressman, against Rob McKenna, the Republican attorney general. It is one of the closest governors’ races in the country, and it could also be one of the most expensive. Republican and Democratic groups have already committed to spending $10 million combined on the contest. One of the reasons it is drawing so much interest is that it is the marquee race in the state. The presidential race is not competitive in Washington state because it’s so heavily Democratic, and the U.S. Senate contest there this fall is not competitive, explains Seattle Pacific University professor Reed Davis.
In her last term, Gov. Chris Gregoire, a Democrat, has struggled with state lawmakers to try to balance the state budget. The persistent shortfalls led to cuts in school funding, something McKenna has criticized. The Republican wants to increase money for schools and public universities, and Davis says that will help McKenna with suburban voters. Inslee, on the other hand, is better known for his advocacy in environmental issues and clean energy.
Montana
The biggest budget problem facing Montana is what to do with a surplus, and that could play a major role in the governor’s race, says University of Montana political science professor Jim Lopach. Republican Rick Hill, a former congressman, faces Attorney General Steve Bullock, a Democrat.
Nearly all of Montana’s statewide officeholders are Democrats, including term-limited Gov. Brian Schweitzer, but Republicans outnumber Democrats. That means Democrats like Bullock have to appear more moderate to attract independents, Lopach says, while Republicans can appeal more to their conservative base, as Hill has done.
Already, the RGA has tried to tie Bullock to Obama, because the attorney general did not join a nationwide suit to block Obama’s health care law. But Hill and Bullock are competing not only against each other, but also with a U.S. Senate race that so far has attracted far more attention than the gubernatorial contest, Lopach says.
North Carolina
Former Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory is trying to end a two-decade stretch of Democratic control of the North Carolina governorship. He faces Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton, after incumbent Bev Perdue opted not to seek another term. The match-up has already drawn at least $3 million from the governors groups, and will likely see far more. But McCrory is better-known and Democrats face an uphill climb in the race.
“After years of scandal," Dalton said in his first general election ad, “I get why people have lost faith in their leaders."
But most of those scandals involved Democrats.
Missouri
Incumbent Jay Nixon, a Democrat, faces St. Louis businessman Dave Spence, who has spent more than $3 million of his own money on his campaign so far. Nixon is emphasizing the new jobs that have come to Missouri during his term and budgets he signed with no tax increases. Spence earned fleeting national notoriety when he claimed he earned a college degree in “economics" when it was actually in home economics.
Utah
Republican incumbent Gary Herbert avoided a primary by fending off several conservative challengers during this spring’s Republican caucuses and convention. Now he faces Democrat Peter Cooke, a former Army general, in November. Cooke has distanced himself from the national Democratic Party, announcing that he opposes same-sex marriage and abortion rights because of his Mormon faith.
Herbert, who first took office in 2009 when Jon Huntsman left to become the U.S. ambassador to China, has benefited from fellow Republican governors. The RGA paid for a pre-caucus poll for Herbert and gave $100,000 to the state party to boost turnout in the caucuses.
