Electing America's Governors: The Politics of Executive Elections

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Are elections for governor different than elections for other offices, and what are the systematic factors that determine the outcomes of gubernatorial elections? This book explores these questions by studying the election of American state governors, an increasingly important group of political leaders, from 1980 to 1996. It also makes comparisons with Senate and presidential elections, as gubernatorial elections might resemble Senate elections (because they share the same constituencies) or presidential elections (because both are executive offices). The chapters find many differences between gubernatorial and Senate elections but notable parallels between gubernatorial and presidential elections. The book therefore concludes that gubernatorial elections are best understood as executive elections. The chapters also help to better understand several fundamental electoral topics that have been studied largely in the congressional context, such as the role of campaign expenditures, economic and social conditions, candidate political experience, third party and independent candidates, and voter turnout.