18 States in the Midst of Record GOP or Democratic Gubernatorial Winning Streaks

Seven more states could be added to this list in 2026

[This is the sixth in a series of Smart Politics reports examining electoral trends documenting the decline of competitive, battleground states. Previous reports focused on Democratic and Republican parties currently owning record presidential winning streaks in 38 states and U.S. Senate winning streaks in 27 states, the rise of single party U.S. House delegations, the 119th Congress setting a record for the lowest number of split U.S. Senate delegations, and the number of single-party state congressional delegations reaching a 70+ year high].

With 15 term-limited governors and two others already announcing their retirement, there will be plenty of opportunities to flip control of governorships across the county in November 2026 particularly the Midwest (Kansas, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa etc).

That said, Republicans and Democrats in 18 states – including more than a dozen holding elections this cycle – are enjoying record winning streaks in gubernatorial elections for their party.

The GOP in particular has racked the vast majority of these records – currently in the midst of a party-best run in 13 states.

Utah Republicans lead the way with a dozen consecutive wins for governor since 1984. That is tied for the 11th longest state party record alongside Nebraska (1866-1888) and North Dakota (1912-1932).

The all-time GOP record – far, far out of reach – is held by once reliably Republican Vermont. The party rattled off 62 consecutive wins (many for one year-terms in the 19th Century as was the custom in several northeastern states) from 1854 to 1960.

Rhode Island (24, 1863-1886), Maine (22, 1856-1877), and New Hampshire (21, 1875-1920) are next followed by a trio of Midwestern states tied for fifth with 19 – Iowa (1893-1930), Minnesota (1859-1896), and Wisconsin (1894-1930).

Rounding out the Top 10 are Massachusetts (18, 1856-1873), Michigan (14, 1854-1880), and South Dakota (13, 1900-1924).

In addition to Utah, Republicans are also currently holding record winning streaks for the office of eight in a row in Idaho and Texas, six in a row in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina, four straight in Oklahoma and Tennessee, and three in a row in Arkansas.

The third straight win notched by the GOP in Missouri last November ties the party mark set in 1920 to 1928 and 1980 to 1988.

Democrats, meanwhile, have active record winning streaks in five states led by Washington (1984-present) and Oregon (1986-present) with 11 each.

A victory again in 2026 will put Oregon one behind Florida (13, 1920-1964) for the thirteenth largest winning streak for the party.

To little surprise, all but one state ahead of Oregon and Washington is located in the southern region of the country.

Georgia Democrats claim the best mark for the party with 52 straight wins from 1871 through 1998 – just one ahead of Texas (51, 1873-1974).

Rounding out the top of the leader board is Arkansas (47, 1874-1964), South Carolina (37, 1876-1970), Alabama (35, 1874-1982), Mississippi (28, 1877-1987), Louisiana (21, 1896-1975), Virginia (21, 1885-1965), Tennessee (20, 1922-1966), New Hampshire (14, 1832-1845), and Oklahoma (14, 1907-1958).

The only other active record streaks for Democrats are in Delaware (eight in a row, 1996-present), California (four, 2010-present), and Minnesota (four, 2010-present).

It should be noted that South Dakota, where Republicans have won a dozen straight races since 1978, is one of several states in which party records can be matched in 2026.

The GOP can also tie all-time gubernatorial winning streaks in Wyoming (five, 1894-1906) and Alaska (three, 2002-2010) while Democrats can tie party records in Colorado (six, 1926-1936; 1974-1994), Connecticut (five, 1873-1876), Pennsylvania (four, 1838-1847), and Wisconsin (three, 1958-1962).

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