Decision Desk HQ Podcast Episode 10: Getting Gubernatorial, with Jessica Taylor from The Cook Political Report
It’s been a busy couple of months since we began the DDHQ Podcast. But heading into the holiday period, we decided to focus our last regular podcast of 2025 on the 36 gubernatorial contests that will be on the ballot in 2026! To explore this rich topic, DDHQ Chief Elections Analyst Geoffrey Skelley was joined by Jessica Taylor from The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter. Jessica is the Senate and Governors Editor for Cook, so she was the ideal person to dig into all the gubernatorial action happening in 2026.
We discussed the overall governor picture, where Republicans hold a slight majority of seats nationally. But with it being President Trump’s second midterm, Democrats hope to capture a majority of governorships for the first time since before 2010. They have a path, including targeting GOP-held toss-ups in Nevada and Georgia. But Republicans will have a shot at flipping Democratic-held seats in red-leaning Kansas and purple Michigan and Wisconsin. All told, it turns out that red-leaning states like Iowa might prove critical to deciding which party holds more top state executive posts after the 2026 election.
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