2005 United States gubernatorial elections
The 2005 United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 8, 2005 in the states of New Jersey and Virginia as well as in the U.S. commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
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3 governorships 2 states; 1 territory | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Map of the results Democratic hold Covenant gain No election | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
National effect
Shortly before election day, U.S. President George W. Bush returned from a trip to Latin America to provide last-minute campaigning for Virginian gubernatorial candidate Jerry W. Kilgore. After the defeat of Kilgore and Doug Forrester in New Jersey, Democrats ascribed these victories to the President's decreasing popularity. Republicans then tried to downplay these Democratic triumphs as victories exclusive to those states and their candidates. Some speculate that these two elections were harbingers of the positive momentum around the Democratic party, and it could be said that they had some positive effect on the landmark victories in the 2006 midterm elections and the 2008 presidential election for the party. Republicans, however, maintain that the Democrats' advantage in 2005 was due simply to the fact that they were the incumbent party.
Election results
| State | Incumbent | Party | Status | Opposing candidates |
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| New Jersey | Richard Codey | Democratic | Retired, Democratic victory | Jon Corzine (Democratic) 52.87% Doug Forrester (Republican) 43.17% Hector Castillo (Independent) 1.29% Jeffrey Pawlowski (Libertarian) 0.67% Matt Thieke (Green) 0.54% Richard Codey (as write-in) 0.43% Edward Forchion (Marijuana) 0.41% Michael Latigona (Independent) 0.23% Wesley Bell (Independent) 0.18% Angela Lariscy (Socialist Workers) 0.11% Constantino Rozzo (Socialist) 0.09% |
| Northern Mariana Islands | Juan Babauta | Republican | Defeated, 26.6% | Benigno Fitial (Covenant) 28.1% Heinz Hofschneider (Independent) 27.3% Froilan Tenorio (Democratic) 18% |
| Virginia | Mark Warner | Democratic | Term-limited, Democratic victory | Tim Kaine (Democratic) 51.72% Jerry Kilgore (Republican) 45.99% Russ Potts (Independent) 2.22% |