Track the swing: See the biggest party shifts from 2018 in gubernatorial races so far

So far, governor’s mansions in three states will change party hands — Massachusetts and Maryland flipped to Democrats, while Nevada flipped to Republicans. CNN has not yet projected winners in Alaska or Arizona.

The three biggest shifts in favor of one party or the other since 2018 have been in eastern blue states that have a history of swinging to elect moderate Republicans as their chief executives: The two Democratic flips and Vermont, which swung more toward Republicans. Both Massachusetts and Maryland will make history with Maura Healey as the first out lesbian governor and first elected female governor of Massachusetts and Wes Moore as Maryland’s first Black governor.

Healey and Moore are both succeeding moderate Republicans who had been two of the most popular governors in the country. In Vermont, moderate Republican Gov. Phil Scott — another one of the nation’s most popular governors — is projected to win reelection by an even wider margin than he did four years ago. As of Monday morning, Scott was leading by more than 45 points after winning by 15 points in 2018.

Three Republican incumbent governors in particular expanded their margins — by about 20 points — to make their states much more red: South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

In both Florida and South Dakota, every county that has reported results so far has swung toward Republicans, including the ones that voted for Democratic challengers.

Gubernatorial races provide a window into how political winds have shifted since the last midterm election in 2018, because the same 36 states have gubernatorial races on the ballot both years and many of the same candidates are up for reelection. Below, we break down how states and counties shifted in their votes for governor compared with four years ago.

Data will update every 15 minutes.