Democrats press to win a majority of governors' offices in midterms after power struggles with Trump

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democrats are heading into Tuesday's midterm elections hoping to take over a majority of governors' offices for the first time in two decades, as they ride a wave of voter discontent over the economy, inflation, healthcare and the future of democracy.

The number of states in play is surprisingly large, a reflection of President Donald Trump's poor approval ratings dragging on his party. Competitive races include those in heavily populated states such as Texas and Florida; presidential battleground states such as Michigan and Wisconsin; and reliably red states such as Iowa and Ohio.

In the weeks leading up to Election Day, Trump went to heavily Republican areas to headline rallies attended by GOP gubernatorial candidates looking for a boost.

All told, 36 states that are home to about 80% of the nation’s population will elect a governor Tuesday. In 19 states, the office is open. Heading into the elections, Democratic governors represented 60% of the nation’s population, but Republicans held 26 of the nation's 50 governors’ offices.

“Our goal is not just the majority of the population, but the majority of states,” Meghan Meehan-Draper, the executive director of the Democratic Governors Association, told The Associated Press.

Democrats last gained a majority of governorships in 2006, flipping six governors’ offices in the last midterm under a second-term Republican president. Republicans recaptured the majority four years later.

Meanwhile, more states under Democratic leadership could mean more governors fighting — or ignoring — Trump's agenda.

Trump has tested the power of states, clashing primarily with Democratic-led states over call-ups of National Guard troops, immigration operations, conditions on federal aid and efforts to assert federal control over election requirements, including restricting mail voting.

Democrats' best opportunities to pick up a governor’s office are in Alaska, Georgia, Iowa and Ohio, where the incumbents are term-limited, and in Nevada, where state Attorney General Aaron Ford is challenging Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo.

Georgia and Alaska haven’t elected a Democratic governor since 1998. Iowa and Ohio haven’t elected one since 2006.

Republicans' best chance to capture an executive suite is in Kansas, a normally deep red state where Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly is term-limited.

Next on the GOP’s list is Wisconsin, where Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany is taking on Democrat David Crowley, after the Milwaukee County executive eked out a primary win.

Republicans also have an eye on Michigan's open governor’s office and on Oregon, where Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek is trying to fend off a second challenge from Republican state Sen. Christine Drazan.

Democrats feel like they have a chance in Texas, Florida, Oklahoma and Nebraska.

Ohio’s race grabbed national headlines when Republican Vivek Ramaswamy's campaign created an ad featuring Democrat Amy Acton’s estranged mother criticizing her. Acton’s mother lost custody of her children decades ago after her husband, Acton’s stepfather, was indicted for raping Acton as a child.

The ad drew bipartisan rebukes, including from Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine. Conversely, Trump praised the ad and Vice President JD Vance, an Ohioan, defended it.

In Texas, where no Democrat has been elected to statewide office since 1994, Democratic state Rep. Gina Hinojosa mounted a competitive challenge to third-term Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.

Hinojosa was seen as a long shot after she emerged from a primary with a fraction of Abbott’s cash total. In September, fellow Latino politicians and politicos wrote to the Democratic Governors Association to request $10 million in campaign aid, saying Hinojosa had made it a close race.

The DGA gave $1 million — far less than it spent in Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio and Wisconsin.

Notably, Abbott skipped Trump’s rally in Texas, a sign of the president's unpopularity.

California Democrat Xavier Becerra is expected to cruise to victory, as is Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York.

Republicans are trying to hang on to Florida, the nation’s third-most populous state, where Republican U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds is vying against Democrat David Jolly, a former Republican congressman.

Control of the executive branch is on the line in the six swing states from the 2024 presidential election: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

The winners could have substantial influence over election administration during the 2028 presidential election. That could be important, considering Trump’s interest in expanding federal control over elections.

Meanwhile, some Democratic governors seeking reelection are considered possible presidential candidates in 2028.

They include Govs. Wes Moore of Maryland, JB Pritzker of Illinois and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania.

Demonstrating a big margin of victory, fundraising prowess and the electoral strength to help other Democrats win sends a strong signal to donors and party activists, analysts say.

In Texas, Hinojosa is vying to become the first Latina governor, while Deb Haaland of New Mexico hopes to become the first Native American woman to lead a state.

More states are poised to elect Black governors, as well. There are seven Black major party gubernatorial nominees on ballots, in addition to Maryland’s Moore. In the past 250 years, only three elected governors have been Black.

Follow Marc Levy at http://twitter.com/timelywriter

Florida Democratic candidate for governor David Jolly speaks during an interfaith event Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, in Hollywood, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Florida Republican candidate for governor Byron Donalds speaks at a campaign event, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Democratic Texas gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa speaks during a campaign event in San Antonio, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Whit sits on the shoulders of father Hayden Anderson-Michaud as he casts his ballot at a polling location open for early voting at the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, in Wasilla, Alaska. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

NEW YORK (AP) — A rebound for several influential Big Tech stocks is helping to lift the U.S. market on Tuesday despite a fall for Apple and mixed trading elsewhere on Wall Street.

The S&P 500 rose 0.5%, even though more stocks fell within the index than rose. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 247 points, or 0.5%, as of 12:21 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1% higher.

The stock market has been shaky recently as technology and artificial-intelligence stocks have swung on worries their prices shot too high in the frenzy around AI. Several of the most influential AI-related stocks held firmer Tuesday, which supported the market, after flipping from gains in the morning to losses in the afternoon a day earlier.

Nvidia rose 3.2% and was the strongest force pushing upward on the S&P 500 Tuesday. Close behind were gains of 3.2% for Broadcom 5.5% for Advanced Micro Devices and 2.6% for Micron Technology.

Apple was long seen on Wall Street as a Big Tech company that’s less dependent on AI. But it’s still feeling the effects of the AI boom.

Memory chips for computers have become more expensive because of the demand created by the rush to build AI data centers. Those additional expenses are hitting Apple, which said it expects to make less profit from each $1 of its revenue during the final three months of this year.

That helped send Apple’s stock down 2%, even though the seller of iPhones and Mac computers reported stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

Palantir Technologies fell 2.1% even though it likewise reported a better profit than expected. The software company said it made more money working with U.S. companies than from the U.S. government for the first time, as U.S. commercial revenue soared 148% from a year earlier.

Tuesday’s midterm elections may also be keeping financial markets unsteady, but history suggests they may not matter much for the broad market. Going back to 1970, the S&P 500 has had a positive return in the six months following a midterm election every time, according to Brock Weimer, an analyst at Edward Jones.

Some on Wall Street speculate that a Democratic sweep of Congress this time around could lead to more regulations and restrictions on AI development. But Donald Trump would still be president and have the power to veto. And Wall Street generally prefers split control of Washington, which it sees as offering less risk of transformative policies that could reshape the economy.

On the winning side of Wall Street Tuesday were stocks of several companies that reported stronger profits for the summer than analysts expected.

Celanese climbed 4.7%, and DuPont added 8.8%.

Revvity jumped 11.7% for one of the biggest gains in the S&P 500 after the life sciences company topped analysts’ expectations and CEO Prahlad Singh said end market conditions are continuing to improve.

Expectations are high for all kinds of companies to continue to deliver big gains in profits as the U.S. economy keeps chugging along, even with high inflation and elevated interest rates. That helped send the S&P 500 to a record high last month.

An encouraging report on the U.S. job market said Tuesday that employers were advertising more job openings at the end of September than economists expected. That helped push the yield on the 10-year Treasury up to 4.96% from 4.91% late Monday.

In the oil market, prices continued to swing. Brent climbed above $107 per barrel overnight before briefly dropping below $101 in the morning amid continued uncertainty about what will happen in the war with Iran. It was most recently down 1.4% at $103.27.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were lower across Europe and mixed in Asia. South Korea’s Kospi dropped 3.6% for one of the world’s sharpest moves following losses for its two tech giants, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

Stocks rose 0.3% in Australia after the country’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate for the fifth time this year.

AP Writers Elaine Lai, David McHugh and Rod McGuirk contributed to this report.

FILE - Traders Jonathan Mueller, left, and Michael Capolino work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

A screen displays a news conference by Federal Reserve Board Chairman Kevin Warsh on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

FILE - Trader Michael Capolino, left, and Specialist Thomas McArdle work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, file)

A dealer watches computer monitors near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A dealer walks near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) and SK Hynix stock price at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

An employee works at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

A TV cameraman films the screen displaying the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) in a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)