2003 Governor's Chairs by State

The Green Papers: Off Year Election 2003

2003 Governor's Chairs
by State

3 Governor's Chairs up for election in 2003

4 Elected

47 Governor's Chairs not up for election in 2003

2 Open Governor's Chairs (voluntary retirement, seeking other political office, term limits)

1 Incumbent renominated by same party

1 Democrat

150 Candidates seeking a Governor's Chair

This is a list of the current Governors' seats, the incumbents occupying them, and the candidacy status of said incumbents. Chairs up for election in the year 2003 are marked as such.

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

Governor Links



Alabama 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican

Alaska 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican

Arizona 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat

Arkansas 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: No one can serve more than 2 4-year terms in a lifetime
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican

California 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: 2 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican

Colorado 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican

Connecticut 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican

Delaware 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2000, 2004. Term Limit: No one can serve more than 2 4-year terms in a lifetime
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat

Florida 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican

Georgia 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican

Hawaii 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican

Idaho 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican

Illinois 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat

Indiana 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2000, 2004. Term Limit: No more than 2 4-year terms in any 3-term period
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat

Iowa 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat

Kansas 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat

Kentucky 4 year term, Election Cycle: 1999, 2003. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat

Louisiana 4 year term, Election Cycle: 1999, 2003. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican

Maine 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms. GOVERNOR is the only Statewide elected officer
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat

Maryland 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican

Massachusetts 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican

Michigan 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat

Minnesota 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican

Mississippi 4 year term, Election Cycle: 1999, 2003. Term Limit: No one can serve more than 2 4-year terms in a lifetime
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat

Missouri 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2000, 2004. Term Limit: No one can serve more than 2 4-year terms in a lifetime
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat

Montana 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2000, 2004. Term Limit: No more than 2 4-year terms in any 4-term period
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican

Nebraska 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican

Nevada 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican

New Hampshire 2 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2004. Term Limit: None. GOVERNOR is the only Statewide elected officer
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican

New Jersey 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2001, 2005. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat

New Mexico 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat

New York 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican

North Carolina 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2000, 2004. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat

North Dakota 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2000, 2004. Term Limit: North Dakota passed an initiative in November 2022 to amend the state's Constitution to add Gubernatorial term limits of 2 4 year terms. Applies to individuals elected after 1 January 2023
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican

Ohio 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican

Oklahoma 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: 2 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat

Oregon 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: No more than 2 4-year terms in any 3-term period
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat

Pennsylvania 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat

Rhode Island 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican

South Carolina 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican

South Dakota 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican

Tennessee 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms. GOVERNOR is the only Statewide elected officer
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat

Texas 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican

Utah 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2000, 2004. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican

Vermont 2 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2004. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Republican

Virginia 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2001, 2005. Term Limit: ineligble to immediately succeed after a given 4-year term
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat

Washington 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2000, 2004. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat

West Virginia 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2000, 2004. Term Limit: 2 consecutive 4-year terms
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat

Wisconsin 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: None
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat

Wyoming 4 year term, Election Cycle: 2002, 2006. Term Limit: No more than 2 4-year terms in any 4-term period. The Wyoming Supreme Court determined on 4 May 2004 that term limits require an amendment to the state constitution rather than, as they were, imposed by a 1992 ballot initiative. At the time, the ruling was not applied to statewide offices. Reference: CATHCART v. MEYER, 2004 WY 49, 88 P.3d 1050, Case Number: 04-32, 04-33, 04-34, Decided: 05/04/2004
Partisan Composition: 1 Democrat