Late governor's races go to the Democrats

UPDATE: Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy declared victory this afternoon in his reelection bid against Republican challenger Thomas Foley. Malloy won with 51 percent of the vote to Foley’s 48 percent. Petitioning candidate Joe Visconti took the remaining 1 percent.

The two men battled over the same office four years ago, with Malloy winning then as well.

Malloy is considered a staunch ally of President Barack Obama and a champion of liberal causes, especially for the poor. In a speech to supporters, he credited his victory to his advocacy on workplace issues.

“We will have won it because people wanted a minimum wage of $10.10,” he said. “We will have won it because people wanted not to have to go to work sick if they were an hourly employee.”

UPDATE (Nov 5, 11:45 a.m.): Coloradoans voted by a narrow margin to give Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper four more years. The Centennial State is so far the only one to elect a Democratic governor in a race that was too-close-to-call leading into Tuesday. Hickenlooper won by a one-point margin.

UPDATE (Nov. 4, 11:58 p.m.): Control of the U.S. Senate was billed as the main event of the 2014 election, but the gubernatorial races easily provided the most surprises. Republicans have won 31 governors’ seats, flipping most predictions on their heads. Colorado and Connecticut are still too close to call.

In Maryland, Republican businessman Larry Hogan delivered a stunning upset against Democratic Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown. President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama campaigned for Brown in deep blue Maryland, but Logan won by 10 percentage points.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, a Republican who many thought was destined to lose, won by 4 percentage points. Brownback’s conservative policies had led to discontent even in deep red Kansas, but voters decided to give him four more years in office.

In deep blue Maine, Paul LePage was another Republican incumbent who had trailed in the polls, but he also pulled out a victory. In Massachusetts, yet another deep blue state, Republican Charlie Baker pulled off an improbable win against Democrat Martha Coakley.

Larry Sabato at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics had predicted that Hogan, Brownback, LePage and Baker would all lose.

UPDATE (Nov. 4, 11:48 p.m.): Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn lost his reelection bid to Republican Bruce Rauner. In a costly race, Rauner not only blamed Quinn for the state’s economic woes but also implied traces of the corruption that ran rampant under former Gov. Rod Blagojevich remained in Quinn’s administration. Blagojevich is serving time in federal prison for trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama after his 2008 election.

Several key governor’s races remain too-close-to-call as Election Day 2014 draws to a close. GOP candidates have slight edges in Massachusetts, Illinois, and Kansas. Democrats in the first two of those races have worked to distance themselves from the White House in campaigns that have turned into referenda on the president’s policies. In Kansas, the opposite is true. Republican Gov. Sam Brownback suffered from low approval ratings over his strict conservative policies.

UPDATE (Nov. 4, 11:15 p.m.): Despite polls that said the Georgia governor’s race was too close to call, incumbent Republican Nathan Deal handily beat Democratic challenger Jason Carter. With 92 percent of the votes counted, Deal is projected to carry the election 55 percent to 43 percent. Throughout the campaign, analysts insisted Georgia was becoming a purple state, with Democrats making gains in statewide contests. But on Election Day, Georgians showed they remain more conservative than pollsters predicted. Deal led a GOP ticket that enjoyed sweeping wins all down the ballot, with Republicans taking all statewide offices.

UPDATE (Nov. 4, 11:05 p.m.): Wisconsin has chosen Republican Scott Walker to serve another term as governor, putting him in position to run for president in 2016, too. Walker survived a gritty race against Democratic businesswoman Mary Burke, whose only political experience was running for school board. Burke was able to garner strong support in Wisconsin in part because Democrats there are still bitter over Walker’s take-no-prisoners budget reform that ended collective bargaining rights for many state employees. Walker survived a recall attempt over that very issue—with today’s win he becomes the only U.S. governor elected three times in four years. His battle with big labor has made him a darling of the national GOP and generated strong buzz about the possibility of a White House run.

UPDATE (Nov. 4, 10:52 p.m.): Republican Rick Scott managed to hold onto the Florida governorship despite a tough challenge from the popular, big spending former Republican governor Charlie Crist. Crist, who lost the 2012 Senate election to Marco Rubio, switched parties to try to unseat Scott, the founder of the for-profit hospital company HCA. The race between the two was one of the costliest in the nation, with Scott pumping $13 million of his own money into the race in the final days, the Tallahassee Democrat reported. Despite his low popularity among Floridians, Scott continued to push blame for Florida’s economic downturn in the late 2000s onto Crist while giving himself credit for the state’s recent economic success.

UPDATE (Nov. 4, 10:38 p.m.): Iowa has reelected Republican Gov. Terry Branstad, who also wins the distinction of becoming the longest-serving governor in U.S. history. Iowans first elected Branstad in 1982. He was then the youngest governor the state had ever had. He served until 1999, then took a 12-year hiatus that included stints in the private sector and as president of Des Moines University. In 2010, he was elected Iowa’s 42nd governor. He is known for his commitment to balanced budgets and led Iowa from a deficit to surplus in his first gubernatorial go-around. Iowa has no term limits for governors.

OUR EARLIER REPORT (Nov. 4, 9:38 p.m.): Incumbent governors from both parties found themselves fighting tooth-and-nail to hold onto seats in an election characterized by voters’ dissatisfaction with the status quo.

Of the 36 states electing executives today, 28 featured sitting governors running for reelection. But they couldn’t all count on the incumbent advantage: 10 of those races were either too close to call or likely to go against incumbents leading into today’s election.

The early election returns showed Democrats losing governorships to Republicans in Pennsylvania and Arkansas. In Pennsylvania, outgoing Gov. Tom Corbett had suffered a huge hit to his approval ratings over education funding and his ties to the sex scandal that embroiled Penn State University. In Arkansas, Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe did not seek reelection, leaving it to former congressman Mike Ross to challenge another former congressman, Republican Asa Hutchinson. Hutchinson’s election underscores a shift in Arkansas from Clinton-era moderate liberalism to southern Republicanism, helped along by President Barack Obama’s low popularity.

Andrew Cuomo predictably won reelection as governor of New York, checking off another to-do on his way to a possible White House run.

In another slam-dunk, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott secured the governorship as successor to Rick Perry. Abbott’s win, though expected, marked the end of a hard-fought race against Democratic state Sen. Wendy Davis, who won notoriety for attempting to filibuster abortion reforms in the summer of 2013. Davis’ campaign ads struck a nasty tone as she tried to use Abbott’s disability (he uses a wheelchair) against him and accused him of opposing interracial marriage. The problem? Abbott has been in an interracial marriage himself for more than 30 years. Cecilia Abbott will be Texas’ first Hispanic first lady.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.