Not to mention their Lieutenant Governor. It's some bizarre holdover law that many southern states and Pennsylvania used to have forbidding consecutive terms for Governors. Every state save Virginia ditched that law at some point - Georgia did in the mid seventies after Jimmy Carter after the Governorship. There was an effort to ditch this law in the early 2000s here, but it failed.
The situation in Texas is quite different from the situation in Virginia. The longest-serving incumbent governor in the United States, Greg Abbott will be running for his fifth term next year.
Meh, why not? If it’s good it’s good. I’d be happy if Obama was still POTUS but good lord, no one should endure the stress of being POTUS for that long. It’s just not healthy.
I do have to say that I kind of like the enforced one and done governor terms though. Two terms is probably better. But it's also exceptionally difficult to unseat an incumbent governor in a primary. If NY had a one term limit we wouldn't still be dealing with the Cuomo-ification of the democratic party of the state a full generation after he was first elected. Between him and Hochul the state will be stuck with the consequences of his election for 20 years. This would still be true even if NY had a two term limit instead of no limits.
Contrast that with Virginia where the governor cannot exert a generational level of pull on the state party. They're not worried about seeking reelection, about future primary electorates. Governors cannot stick around well past their best-by date in Virginia. I like it.
That doesn't mean people won't try to run again. McAuliffe tried in 2021 but failed. The only time in Old Dominion history where a Governor won nonconsecutive terms was in 1965 and 1973 with Mills Godwin. The former as a Democrat (albeit a Harry Byrd style Democrat). The latter as a Republican. Even in that situation he was a reluctant candidate. He didn't want to switch to the Republican Party and he only ran for Governor again to prevent then Lieutenant Governor Henry Howell from becoming Governor. Had Sarge Reynolds, who had been elected LG in 1969 and died in office of cancer in 1971 lived, Reynolds would have run for Governor in 1973 and Godwin would not have run.
Definitely, but McAuliffe also failed in his 2021 attempted-return. No one in Virginia this century has had anywhere near that individual level of pull over the party. Even if McAuliffe had won in 2021 he wouldn't have been able to create that level of party transformation that people like Cuomo have done.
This year Virginia is going to elect it's 7th governor of this century. Next year, Texas is all but certain to reelect it's second governor of this century.
For the overwhelming number of offices I wholeheartedly agree. I generally dislike term limits.
I tend to come to a different conclusion for executive roles with enough power behind them. The potential dangers can be quite corrosive should they come to pass, while the downsides of the term limits, while real, are much smaller.
I think all of us are rather happy right now that there is a constitutional limit on presidential terms for similar reasons.
I have to say that I find the idea of Gov. and Lt. Gov being of opposite parties far more bizarre!! Case in point, last term in NC - Roy Cooper as Gov. and that crackpot Mark Robinson as Lt. Gov.
And let's not forget that NC is still one of a handful of states where the LG becomes "acting governor" if the governor leaves the state. Poor Roy Cooper was basically glued to his desk for four years to prevent Robinson and the gerrymandered legislature from passing all manner of bizarre sh!t in his absence.
Luckily, it's less of an issue for Josh Stein, since current LG Rachel Hunt is also a Democrat (and also, well, not crazy).
Yeah, I should have mentioned that! I have heard scuttlebutt that Robinson might try and primary Thom Tillis next year. The 2024 Governor's race was way to close for comfort considering the GOP candidate in question. Too many GOP voters in NC vote a straightline ticket without any consideration for candidate quality!
The only thing going for him is incumbency advantage. Even that probably won't be enough if Abigail Spanberger has coattails. The race I am the most worried about is Lieutenant Governor. WAY too many Democratic candidates filed this year.
Virginia is a light blue state. Whomever wins the Democratic primary in VA for attorney general will slam Miyares on supporting the Muskrat's unpopular agenda and tie him to the federal cuts in the state.
I’m not sure I understand what you’re saying about the LG race. It’s true that we have several candidates running on our side, but that doesn’t hurt us in the general election, unless you think a bad candidate will sneak through the primary with a plurality.
If I had to guess as to who’s most likely to win the LG nomination, I’d say it’s Aaron Rouse. He’s from one of the three largest population centers in Virginia (Hampton Roads) and is the only candidate from that region. There are two candidates from RVA (Stoney, Hashmi), three candidates from NOVA (Lateef, Bastani, Salgado), and one candidate from Southside (Eggleston). If RVA and NOVA split their votes between the candidates from those areas while Hampton Roads coalesces around Rouse, then Rouse will win the primary, and I don’t see Rouse as a weak candidate for the general election. His only liability is that he hasn’t served a full term yet in the state Senate.
Virginia's primary is in June. Plenty of time for our primary winner to get the party behind them and get their campaign into gear. If the primary was in August, or even worse in September, I'd agree with the large field being potentially problematic. Since the primary is early enough I'm not worried.
Because a lot of red states have found out if you let people vote on the issue themselves, they pick the position favored by Democrats. Minimum wage, abortion, Medicaid expansion bc of Obamacare, etc. Republicans are good at politics but horrible at policy and they’re sick of constantly losing on this front.
Sometimes that's all it takes. Hillary Rodham Clinton was considering running for Governor of Arkansas in 2002. It took ONE poll for her and Bill to change their mind and run in New York.
James Talarico should seriously run against Hot Wheels in Texas and Allred against Paxton. Trump is in negative approval territory in Texas. Nationally, he is back to Hillary and 2018 levels among Latinos. Paxton also has a underwater favoribility in Texas while Allred is still viewed favorably. Hot wheels is still popular but his position on school vouchers isn't.
He's not focused on national politics and he'd make a great Governor. Allred's proved himself to be a good Senate candidate, defeated Cruz in the debate and polled 5 points better than Harris.
Hot Wheels is the kindest nickname for Abbott. I’m not going to be nice about elected Republicans when they call us worse names. I have a nastier one for Abbott, but I’m not going to say it.
We can give them their fully earned lack of respect without attacking them in ways that are wholly inappropriate.
Attack them for their character, not physical things that they little or no control over. Similar to how we shouldn't use sexist language while attacking someone like Boebert.
Mock him with something like "Fled Cruz" from when Cruz went to Cancun: it's making fun of him through his actions.
Jasmine Crockett means well with her political agenda but she ought to dial down on her rhetoric if it means stooping to personal attacks like this.
I am not a fan of Greg Abbott but from what I read about how he got paralyzed, it’s awful. He got hit by a tree and was limited in his life as a result. Would we like it if Senator Tammy Duckworth got the same treatment by the GOP?
I believe that’s the spin Crockett gave. “Hot wheels” had its day in the press and she backpedaled and had to spin it. I hope she learned a lesson and won’t do that again. Giving “spin” is for hot wheels and Republicans.
Why not? Polling for a race three years out isn’t strange at all if you got money and a desire. There are a lot more variables that could change in that amount of time so the polling might not seem as valuable. But, a big fat fucking no would settle things for a lot of people.
Can you imagine Reynolds defending DOGE after her defunding public education in Iowa? Whomever she was going to run against was almost certain to tie her to Elon and taking away jobs from veterans.
That will be one to watch. It require stars to align right but Strong D candidate, a race to the bottom on the R side with Republicans having to push each other to the far right to win the primary and strong dem year, I could see it happening.
This is a race worth investing. There's still enough downballot D DNA in Iowa that we'd have a shot at it in a wave year (which 2026 could well be) with the right candidate...
Fred Hubbell NEARLY knocked off Reynolds in 2018, could he run again? Was expected to win, but fell short with Reynolds winning 50% - 48%. He still won 3/4 congressional districts despite losing!! 💙🇺🇲
I’ve been getting ads and texts from the only current IA Dem statewide elected official, Rob Sand. I don’t know if he’s announced for Gov yet but I’m leaning towards she saw a poll and could be scared. Typing up this comment made me go finally Google the guy and he’s a good looking 42 year old who can pull off flannel. Maybe a little young looking but if he can win statewide in IA, game fucking on.
Missouri Republicans are attempting to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to overturn Amendment 3, which ended the state’s abortion ban last year. The proposed amendment would ban all abortions with some limited exceptions. The amendment would also ban “gender affirming care for residents under the age of 18” which is already banned in state law.
Hard to see this one managing 45%, let alone passing. The pro-choice amendment passed last year despite Trump winning the state by almost 20. Hard to see how they're going to sneak this through with non-pres turnout, if anything this is going to do more for our side's turnout than theirs.
Interim US Attorney Alina Habba (I can't believe I wrote that) announced today on Fox News that her office was opening an investigation against NJ Gov Murphy and the AG for not cooperating with ICE or whatever.
Seems like the first step to running for governor to me.
I think it’s too late to get in for governor but she might be setting up a bid against Cory Booker in 2026, or possibly a 2028 congressional run if Kean loses next year and doesn’t seek a comeback.
Just bizarre that Virginia permits its Attorney General to run for re-election but not its governor.
Not to mention their Lieutenant Governor. It's some bizarre holdover law that many southern states and Pennsylvania used to have forbidding consecutive terms for Governors. Every state save Virginia ditched that law at some point - Georgia did in the mid seventies after Jimmy Carter after the Governorship. There was an effort to ditch this law in the early 2000s here, but it failed.
The situation in Texas is quite different from the situation in Virginia. The longest-serving incumbent governor in the United States, Greg Abbott will be running for his fifth term next year.
No high-ranking executive politician (governor, big-city mayor, attorney general, etc.) should be able to stay in power that long.
Meh, why not? If it’s good it’s good. I’d be happy if Obama was still POTUS but good lord, no one should endure the stress of being POTUS for that long. It’s just not healthy.
It is a bit odd.
I do have to say that I kind of like the enforced one and done governor terms though. Two terms is probably better. But it's also exceptionally difficult to unseat an incumbent governor in a primary. If NY had a one term limit we wouldn't still be dealing with the Cuomo-ification of the democratic party of the state a full generation after he was first elected. Between him and Hochul the state will be stuck with the consequences of his election for 20 years. This would still be true even if NY had a two term limit instead of no limits.
Contrast that with Virginia where the governor cannot exert a generational level of pull on the state party. They're not worried about seeking reelection, about future primary electorates. Governors cannot stick around well past their best-by date in Virginia. I like it.
If only New York had contented itself with Mario-Cuomoification!
That doesn't mean people won't try to run again. McAuliffe tried in 2021 but failed. The only time in Old Dominion history where a Governor won nonconsecutive terms was in 1965 and 1973 with Mills Godwin. The former as a Democrat (albeit a Harry Byrd style Democrat). The latter as a Republican. Even in that situation he was a reluctant candidate. He didn't want to switch to the Republican Party and he only ran for Governor again to prevent then Lieutenant Governor Henry Howell from becoming Governor. Had Sarge Reynolds, who had been elected LG in 1969 and died in office of cancer in 1971 lived, Reynolds would have run for Governor in 1973 and Godwin would not have run.
Definitely, but McAuliffe also failed in his 2021 attempted-return. No one in Virginia this century has had anywhere near that individual level of pull over the party. Even if McAuliffe had won in 2021 he wouldn't have been able to create that level of party transformation that people like Cuomo have done.
This year Virginia is going to elect it's 7th governor of this century. Next year, Texas is all but certain to reelect it's second governor of this century.
I maintain that forbidding people from voting for an incumbent isn't the solution to the problem, but I understand the problem.
For the overwhelming number of offices I wholeheartedly agree. I generally dislike term limits.
I tend to come to a different conclusion for executive roles with enough power behind them. The potential dangers can be quite corrosive should they come to pass, while the downsides of the term limits, while real, are much smaller.
I think all of us are rather happy right now that there is a constitutional limit on presidential terms for similar reasons.
Yes, but only because Congress has not done what the Founding Fathers expected and jealously guarded its powers.
Yep, high-ranking executive roles definitely warrant limitations.
Meanwhile, the best way to check lawmakers is to draw districts competitively.
I have to say that I find the idea of Gov. and Lt. Gov being of opposite parties far more bizarre!! Case in point, last term in NC - Roy Cooper as Gov. and that crackpot Mark Robinson as Lt. Gov.
And let's not forget that NC is still one of a handful of states where the LG becomes "acting governor" if the governor leaves the state. Poor Roy Cooper was basically glued to his desk for four years to prevent Robinson and the gerrymandered legislature from passing all manner of bizarre sh!t in his absence.
Luckily, it's less of an issue for Josh Stein, since current LG Rachel Hunt is also a Democrat (and also, well, not crazy).
Yeah, I should have mentioned that! I have heard scuttlebutt that Robinson might try and primary Thom Tillis next year. The 2024 Governor's race was way to close for comfort considering the GOP candidate in question. Too many GOP voters in NC vote a straightline ticket without any consideration for candidate quality!
I think Miyares is going to be defeated this year. Him siding with Youngkin, FDJT and DOGE isn't endearing himself for re-election.
The only thing going for him is incumbency advantage. Even that probably won't be enough if Abigail Spanberger has coattails. The race I am the most worried about is Lieutenant Governor. WAY too many Democratic candidates filed this year.
Virginia is a light blue state. Whomever wins the Democratic primary in VA for attorney general will slam Miyares on supporting the Muskrat's unpopular agenda and tie him to the federal cuts in the state.
Miyares will almost certainly be a goner.
Mmmmhhhhmmmm. Being able to campaign on, “I’ll sue Donald Trump to get our jobs back” is a powerful message.
I’m not sure I understand what you’re saying about the LG race. It’s true that we have several candidates running on our side, but that doesn’t hurt us in the general election, unless you think a bad candidate will sneak through the primary with a plurality.
If I had to guess as to who’s most likely to win the LG nomination, I’d say it’s Aaron Rouse. He’s from one of the three largest population centers in Virginia (Hampton Roads) and is the only candidate from that region. There are two candidates from RVA (Stoney, Hashmi), three candidates from NOVA (Lateef, Bastani, Salgado), and one candidate from Southside (Eggleston). If RVA and NOVA split their votes between the candidates from those areas while Hampton Roads coalesces around Rouse, then Rouse will win the primary, and I don’t see Rouse as a weak candidate for the general election. His only liability is that he hasn’t served a full term yet in the state Senate.
Isn't the LG race pretty under-the-radar usually? That certainly helped Earle-Sears win in 2021 despite being a crackpot.
There hasn't been a split decision in Virginia since 2005, when Tim Kaine and Bill Bolling were elected respectively.
Virginia's primary is in June. Plenty of time for our primary winner to get the party behind them and get their campaign into gear. If the primary was in August, or even worse in September, I'd agree with the large field being potentially problematic. Since the primary is early enough I'm not worried.
Why are Republicans doubling down on trying to raise passage thresholds in ND and SD AGAIN? Voters shot them down several times.
I would love to see Ds flip some seats in those states next year.
What do they have to lose?
Democracy?
Oh, snap!
Because a lot of red states have found out if you let people vote on the issue themselves, they pick the position favored by Democrats. Minimum wage, abortion, Medicaid expansion bc of Obamacare, etc. Republicans are good at politics but horrible at policy and they’re sick of constantly losing on this front.
IA-Gov: Kim Reynolds out https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2025/04/11/kim-reynolds-will-not-run-for-reelection-iowa-governor/83042852007/
That's a surprise.
Maybe she saw some internal polling for 2026 that didn’t look good for her if she ran for re-election?
Sometimes that's all it takes. Hillary Rodham Clinton was considering running for Governor of Arkansas in 2002. It took ONE poll for her and Bill to change their mind and run in New York.
Whatever the reason, I’m thrilled. She, Sarah, RDS and Hot Wheels are the worst governors in our country. So happy she and RDS are OUT next year.
James Talarico should seriously run against Hot Wheels in Texas and Allred against Paxton. Trump is in negative approval territory in Texas. Nationally, he is back to Hillary and 2018 levels among Latinos. Paxton also has a underwater favoribility in Texas while Allred is still viewed favorably. Hot wheels is still popular but his position on school vouchers isn't.
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/04/07/texas-democrats-search-for-2026-candidates-as-they-resist-donald-trump/
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trumps-approval-rating-keeps-getting-worse.html
I’d rather Talarico run against Paxton for Senate, honestly. The man is a generational talent eclipsing even peak Beto
Talarico is a guy I can see squishy TX Republicans voting for (as well as party line Democrats) for governor.
I think Abbott is pretty entrenched, unfortunately.
I’m really skeptical too.
He's not focused on national politics and he'd make a great Governor. Allred's proved himself to be a good Senate candidate, defeated Cruz in the debate and polled 5 points better than Harris.
Talarico is better than Peak Beto though.
I guess now that Noem is no longer governor. Although Bill Lee is pretty dreadful.
Where does the nickname "Hot Wheels" come from (and I don't mean the toy cars, which I used to play with as a child)?
I believe it's a disparaging comment aimed at Abbott being in a wheelchair.
Personally I rather dislike attacks of that style. He's a shitty person for reasons that don't deal with his physical disability.
If so, it's despicable. We need to be better than that!
Agree..no need to bring his disability into it...
Hot Wheels is the kindest nickname for Abbott. I’m not going to be nice about elected Republicans when they call us worse names. I have a nastier one for Abbott, but I’m not going to say it.
We can give them their fully earned lack of respect without attacking them in ways that are wholly inappropriate.
Attack them for their character, not physical things that they little or no control over. Similar to how we shouldn't use sexist language while attacking someone like Boebert.
Mock him with something like "Fled Cruz" from when Cruz went to Cancun: it's making fun of him through his actions.
Jasmine Crockett means well with her political agenda but she ought to dial down on her rhetoric if it means stooping to personal attacks like this.
I am not a fan of Greg Abbott but from what I read about how he got paralyzed, it’s awful. He got hit by a tree and was limited in his life as a result. Would we like it if Senator Tammy Duckworth got the same treatment by the GOP?
We need to win in TX first. Period.
I thought it was about his bussing of migrants tp New York and Chicago.
I believe that’s the spin Crockett gave. “Hot wheels” had its day in the press and she backpedaled and had to spin it. I hope she learned a lesson and won’t do that again. Giving “spin” is for hot wheels and Republicans.
I never heard about that. So they took a poll in 1999 or 2000 about the 2002 Governor's race?
I'm curious too did she consider running for senate in Arkansas in 2002? 2004 was really the first election I followed somewhat closely.
She was elected to the Senate in New York in 2000, so I highly doubt she considered any Arkansas races in 2002.
Maybe she thought about running for governor of Arkansas in 1998? Still would have been odd timing.
Why not? Polling for a race three years out isn’t strange at all if you got money and a desire. There are a lot more variables that could change in that amount of time so the polling might not seem as valuable. But, a big fat fucking no would settle things for a lot of people.
Yeah, she was the only Governor underwater ( comfortably) in a Morning Consult Governor Approval poll.
Can you imagine Reynolds defending DOGE after her defunding public education in Iowa? Whomever she was going to run against was almost certain to tie her to Elon and taking away jobs from veterans.
More likely internal primary polling than GE polling.
Wow, that’s unexpected. Though she’s been in for 2.5 terms so I guess maybe it shouldn’t be
That will be one to watch. It require stars to align right but Strong D candidate, a race to the bottom on the R side with Republicans having to push each other to the far right to win the primary and strong dem year, I could see it happening.
Possible Terry Branstad comeback? /s
This is a race worth investing. There's still enough downballot D DNA in Iowa that we'd have a shot at it in a wave year (which 2026 could well be) with the right candidate...
Fred Hubbell NEARLY knocked off Reynolds in 2018, could he run again? Was expected to win, but fell short with Reynolds winning 50% - 48%. He still won 3/4 congressional districts despite losing!! 💙🇺🇲
It's amazing how close we came to going 4/4 in Iowa's House races that year (Steve King's seat would have been a one-term rental, but still...).
I’ve been getting ads and texts from the only current IA Dem statewide elected official, Rob Sand. I don’t know if he’s announced for Gov yet but I’m leaning towards she saw a poll and could be scared. Typing up this comment made me go finally Google the guy and he’s a good looking 42 year old who can pull off flannel. Maybe a little young looking but if he can win statewide in IA, game fucking on.
Didn't she endorse Ron DeSanctimonious? That kind of dissent is NOT tolerated.
Missouri Republicans are attempting to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to overturn Amendment 3, which ended the state’s abortion ban last year. The proposed amendment would ban all abortions with some limited exceptions. The amendment would also ban “gender affirming care for residents under the age of 18” which is already banned in state law.
https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article303684536.html
I wonder whether Missouri has a “more than one subject” ban on its amendments.
Ha! Damn right.
Hard to see this one managing 45%, let alone passing. The pro-choice amendment passed last year despite Trump winning the state by almost 20. Hard to see how they're going to sneak this through with non-pres turnout, if anything this is going to do more for our side's turnout than theirs.
Interim US Attorney Alina Habba (I can't believe I wrote that) announced today on Fox News that her office was opening an investigation against NJ Gov Murphy and the AG for not cooperating with ICE or whatever.
Seems like the first step to running for governor to me.
Maybe in 2029.
I hope she loses by 666 points and leaves the country.
I think it’s too late to get in for governor but she might be setting up a bid against Cory Booker in 2026, or possibly a 2028 congressional run if Kean loses next year and doesn’t seek a comeback.
Senator Adam Schiff is wasting no time in Investigating Trump over the pause in tariffs.
https://time.com/7276234/trump-tariff-insider-trading-schiff/
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=147ol1yY40U&pp=ygUZYWRhbSBzY2hpZmYgaW52ZXN0aWdhdGlvbg%3D%3D