Governors Turning Blue Nationwide

The latest Wall St. Journal/Zogby polling on gubernatorial races around the country is out, and there’s encouraging news for Democrats.

There are 19 states facing elections for governor in 2006, and in 12 of those states there is currently a Republican in the governor’s mansion (including Colorado, where Democrat Bill Ritter has a 7.3 percent lead over Republican Bob Beauprez). The latest polling reports from Zogby show that Democrats are leading in seven of those 12 states formerly controlled by Republicans, while Republicans aren’t favored in any of the five states currently held by Democrats.

Most of the Republican advantages in gubernatorial races are in states where there is an incumbent running for re-election. Florida is the only state without an incumbent Republican where a Republican candidate is still leading the polls.