In an off-year election night, Democrats retained control of the Governor’s office in Kentucky and won control of the legislature in Virginia. Various other states held elections as well, with Mississippi retaining its Republican governor and Democrats keeping control of New Jersey’s statehouse majority.
In Kentucky, incumbent Democrat Andy Beshear (D-KY) won a second term as governor, beating Republican opponent Daniel Cameron (R-KY). Republicans have a voter-registration advantage statewide, but Beshear has been popular and had a spending advantage for the campaign.
In Virginia, Democrats won the 21 seats needed to retain a Senate majority and won the 51 seats needed to take the majority from Republicans in the House of Delegates. Many of the campaigns focused on the issue of abortion, with Governor Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) recently announcing plans for a stricter state law on the subject.
In more widely expected outcomes, Democrats retained their majority in the New Jersey state legislature and incumbent Governor Tate Reeves (R-MS) fended off a challenge in Mississippi from Democrat Brandon Presley (D-MS), a distant cousin of Elvis Presley. Governor Reeves received 51.5 percent of the votes, while Presley received 47 percent.
