Democrats Flip Five Governorships and Hold a Majority of States as Voters Reject Abortion Rollbacks and Back Voter ID
Texas, Georgia, Ohio, Iowa and Nevada changed hands, 15 states elected women, Idaho and Missouri abortion measures failed in opposite directions, and voter-ID rules passed almost everywhere.
Wednesday, November 4, 2026/3 min read
The governors' map moved as far as Congress did. NBC News reported at 7:16 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday that Democrats had flipped five Republican-held governorships: Texas, where Gina Hinojosa beat Greg Abbott; Georgia, where Keisha Lance Bottoms won; Ohio, where Amy Acton defeated Vivek Ramaswamy for the first Democratic win there in two decades; Iowa; and Nevada, where Aaron Ford ousted Governor Joe Lombardo, per NBC's live blog. By 1:39 p.m. NBC added that Democrats now hold full control of government in Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Elsewhere Josh Shapiro won re-election in Pennsylvania, JB Pritzker a third term in Illinois, and Katie Hobbs re-election in Arizona against Andy Biggs. Republicans held Florida, where Byron Donalds is the incoming governor. Voters in 15 states elected women governors, a record, including eight Democrats and Republicans Sarah Huckabee Sanders in Arkansas and Marsha Blackburn in Tennessee, and five Black governors will serve at the same time for the first time. Alaska and Kansas were still too close to call on Wednesday evening.
What happened to the abortion measures?
Voters moved in one direction on abortion whichever way the question was framed. Idaho rejected a measure that would have overturned its strict restrictions and established access until viability. Missouri rejected a Republican-backed measure that would have repealed the state's 2024 abortion-rights amendment and added limits on gender-affirming care. Nevada and Virginia both approved amendments writing abortion rights into their constitutions, Yahoo News' tally of the measures reported. Vermont overwhelmingly approved a ban on discrimination based on gender identity.
Which voter ID and citizenship measures passed?
Most of them. North Carolina approved a photo voter-ID amendment, Ohio's Issue 3 passed, and Nevada approved voter ID alongside its abortion amendment. The exceptions were California's Proposition 39, Colorado's Amendment 84 and Arizona's Proposition 144, which all failed. Virginia also approved Question 3, restoring voting rights to people with felony convictions on release, and Wisconsin rejected a measure that would have barred closing places of worship during emergencies while approving a ban on government discrimination or preferential treatment.
California's Proposition 40, the one-time 5 percent tax on billionaires we flagged on election morning, was short of a majority at 43.7 percent with 83 percent of precincts reporting, CNBC said, and Proposition 43, which would raise the threshold for tax-related initiatives, was also trailing with more than half the vote counted, Yahoo reported. Idaho voters, having rejected the abortion measure, also rejected a ban on future initiatives to legalise marijuana or psychedelics and chose the Winchester Model 1873 as the official state gun.
What else did voters decide?
Transgender-rights measures went the restrictive way in most places: Arizona's Proposition 318 on school facilities by birth sex and Nebraska's Initiative 442 on sports passed, Washington's Measure 638 and two Colorado initiatives appeared to be passing, and Missouri's combined measure failed. Massachusetts kept recreational marijuana sales, Nebraska rejected online sports betting, Montana guaranteed the right to pursue ballot initiatives, and North Dakota, South Dakota and Utah all rejected 60 percent thresholds for amendments or tax initiatives. Alabama approved weekly national anthem and daily pledge and prayer policies in schools.
Thirty-six governorships were on the ballot. CNBC's election desk counts at least 28 Democratic governors, the party's first majority since 2010, and it now sits alongside a Democratic Congress. The states with new trifectas have budgets to write by spring; the ones with split results, Kansas and Alaska among them, are still counting.
Published in The Outspoken Digest
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