Few surprises in races for governor, ballot measures

The voters have spoken and returned former President Donald Trump to the White House. But they also have decided many down-ballot races and produced few surprises.

Some state houses and city hall seats will flip, while ballot initiatives across a range of topics including abortion, marijuana and how elections are administered received mixed success.

And some state and local leaders will become federal legislators. Most notably, Prince George’s County, Maryland Executive Angela Alsobrooks, a Democrat, will serve the state in the U.S. Senate, alongside West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, who flipped that seat for Republicans from the retiring Democrat Joe Manchin.

The day itself was not without incident, as fake bomb threats forced the temporary closure of some polling places in Georgia, which were said to have originated from Russia.

Here’s a look at what else we’ve been following from Election Day 2024.

Governors

New Hampshire saw the most competitive gubernatorial race of the year to replace the retiring Republican Chris Sununu, and the seat stayed in Republican hands as former U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte triumphed over former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig.

Notably, Ayotte’s victory means that there will be a record number of incumbent female governors in 2024. The Center for American Women and Politics noted that she will be the 13th.

In North Carolina, scandal-plagued Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a Republican, fell to Attorney General Josh Stein, who replaces the term-limited Roy Cooper and keeps the governorship in Democratic hands. Robinson had already been under pressure for his often violent rhetoric, but struggled even more after news broke that he allegedly called himself a “Black Nazi,” among other disturbing comments, on a forum dedicated to adult entertainment.

The rest of last night’s governor races proceeded as expected. Republicans held the governorships in Indiana, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Utah, Vermont and West Virginia, while Democrats kept Delaware and Washington. Democrats had hoped to make inroads in Montana amid a lack of affordable housing.

Another notable move is the return of several federal legislators to the state arena, as U.S. Sen. Mike Braun will lead Indiana and Rep. Kelly Armstrong won the North Dakota governorship.

Mayors and Other Notable Races

The race to be the mayor of San Francisco remained on a knife-edge on Wednesday morning, as philanthropist and Levi Strauss heir Daniel Lurie led incumbent London Breed in the early tallies. As San Francisco uses ranked-choice voting, it could be a while before that race is decided.

It is similarly early days in the race to replace the term-limited Carolyn Goodman as Las Vegas mayor in what marks the end of a political dynasty in Sin City. Former Nevada Rep. Shelley Berkley, a Democrat in a nonpartisan election, led the early going there. And in Portland, Oregon, Keith Wilson took the lead in the first round of results, but the city’s use of ranked-choice voting means results will take some time.

Further down the ballot, controversial Republican candidate for North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction Michele Morrow lost narrowly to Democrat Maurice “Mo” Green. Morrow had previously called for President Barack Obama to be publicly executed, something she later said was a joke. Democrats look on course to break Republicans' supermajority in the North Carolina General Assembly, too.

Republicans kept their veto-proof supermajorities in both chambers of the Kansas Legislature, while Democrats in Maine and Minnesota looked to be in danger of losing their trifecta control of both legislative chambers and the governorship, especially in the latter. Democrats made gains in the Connecticut House amid frustration over the slow reporting of results, while in the Arkansas House it looked like uphill sledding for Democrats, who had tried to eat into Republicans’ massive majority.

Republicans look set to keep their majority in the Pennsylvania Senate amid Democratic hopes of flipping the chamber, while in Georgia, State Sen. Shawn Still saw off his Democratic challenger despite being indicted last year in Fulton County for allegedly working to overturn the 2020 election results in the state.

Democrats look to have kept the office of Oregon Attorney General as former House Speaker Dan Rayfield declared victory in a closely-watched race, after the state decriminalized drugs in 2020 then pulled back on that effort.

Ballot Initiatives

Voters had their say on numerous ballot initiatives that could impact all manner of public policy in their states.

Of the 10 states voting on ballot initiatives to protect and provide abortion rights, voters in eight approved those measures, while another state — Florida — fell short of the vote threshold needed to pass.

Needing 60% to provide for a constitutional right to an abortion, only 57% of Florida voters approved the measure, meaning it did not pass. Voters in South Dakota also rejected outright the abortion rights ballot measure, with almost 60% voting no at the time of writing.

All other states — Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada and New York — approved their measures.

Eight states voted on whether to amend their constitutions to prohibit noncitizens from voting in elections, and NBC projected that all those measures had been successful. 

It was a difficult night for proponents of changing how elections are administered, however, as voters in Colorado, Idaho, Nevada and Oregon all rejected a switch to ranked-choice voting, while Missouri voted to ban the method altogether and Alaska was on course to repeal its ranked-choice system. Only Washington, D.C. voted to switch to using ranked-choice voting.

Ohio voters rejected a measure to replace the Ohio Redistricting Commission with a citizen-led commission to redraw legislative boundaries, while Massachusetts voters approved an initiative to remove a requirement that high schoolers pass the standardized Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System to be able to graduate.

Three states—Florida, North Dakota and South Dakota—all rejected measures to legalize marijuana, while Nebraska approved an initiative to legalize and regulate medical marijuana, although that effort still faces legal challenges.

And voters in Rhode Island soundly rejected holding a constitutional convention, a question that must be asked every 10 years under the state constitution.