而2023年将是选举不那么拥挤的一年，因为它位于2022年中期选举和2024年总统竞选在肯塔基州、路易斯安那州和密西西比州，仍将举行三场州长竞选。
共和党人希望翻转一个席位，保住另一个席位，民主党人希望保住第三个席位。这些结果也可能开始显示选民在去年中期选举后以及他们回到投票站投票选举总统之前的感受。
去年是成功的一年民主党州长候选人随着党翻转亚利桑那州，马里兰州和马萨诸塞州。
民主党州长协会(DGA)主席、新泽西州长菲尔·墨菲(Phil Murphy)表示，DGA现任副主席、堪萨斯州州长劳拉·凯利(Laura Kelly)将在应用从传统上支持共和党的州和有共和党领导人历史的州的胜利中吸取的经验教训方面发挥重要作用。
在2023年的州长竞选中，肯塔基州和路易斯安那州由民主党人把持。
肯塔基州州长安迪·贝希尔(Andy Beshear)在2019年当选，取代了共和党州长马特·贝文(Matt Bevin)，并寻求连任。路易斯安那州州长约翰·贝尔·爱德华兹任期有限。
密西西比州州长泰特·里维斯也在寻求连任。
肯塔基
定于5月份在肯塔基州举行的共和党初选，正在形成一场与11月份的贝希尔对决的激烈竞争。
州司法部长丹尼尔·卡梅伦(Daniel Cameron)、州农业专员瑞安·夸尔斯(Ryan Quarles)和女商人凯利·克拉夫特(Kelly Craft)是唐纳德·特朗普总统任内的美国驻联合国大使，他们都参加了共和党初选。
卡梅伦获得了特朗普的早期支持，是该州历史上第一位黑人司法部长。他在2020年获得了全国的关注他的团队如何应对大陪审团谁没有起诉路易斯维尔的警察谁杀了布莱娜·泰勒对她的死负有直接责任。
肯塔基州州长的竞选将是一个考验，看看民主党人能否在特朗普以超过25个百分点的优势击败总统乔·拜登的州继续行使权力。
但是民主党在竞选中确实有优势，因为有一个受欢迎的现任者竞选连任。不过，在路易斯安那州，他们将不得不推出爱德华兹的潜在继任者。
“显然，我们的首要任务是让安迪·贝希尔在肯塔基州再次当选，”墨菲说。“约翰·贝尔·爱德华兹是路易斯安那州杰出的州长……但约翰·贝尔是有任期限制的。因此，我们必须找到接替他的人，这是一个正在展开的过程。”
路易斯安那
目前，四名共和党人正在参加路易斯安那州州长竞选:州众议员理查德·纳尔逊、州参议员沙伦·休伊特、州财政部长约翰·施罗德和州司法部长杰夫·兰德里。尽管该州的初选还有10个月，但在10月份，路易斯安那州共和党在11月份提前支持兰德里，这引发了该州其他政客的一些抗议。
“没有比竞争更保守、更[共和党]的了，”副州长比利·努格瑟说发微博。“这个认可过程看起来更像共产主义中国，而不是我们所了解和热爱的路易斯安那州。有人认为这是一场加冕礼。真正的共和党人将确保我们举行选举，而不是君主制。”
任期有限的民主党人爱德华兹于2015年首次当选。在堕胎权等关键问题上，他明显与党内其他人意见相左。
密西西比河
最后，在密西西比州，民主党人自1998年以来就没有赢得过州长职位，可能会面临最艰难的竞选，墨菲坚持认为他们不会把它从地图上拿掉。
“我们认为有了合适的候选人，对比我们作为民主党人的立场和当前在任者的实际中等记录，这是一个我们将非常认真对待的状态，”他谈到正在吹捧的里维斯当地学校的成绩作为他出价的一部分。
布兰登·普雷斯利，猫王的远房表亲(他们的祖父是兄弟)，上周宣布他将竞选密西西比州州长。
普雷斯利自2007年以来一直在公共服务委员会任职，他形容自己是一个“民粹主义者，FDR-Billy McCoy民主党人”，并以跨越过道而闻名。他在2004年支持前总统乔治·w·布什的连任竞选。
Can a Democrat hold on as governor in deep-red Kentucky?
While 2023 will be a less crowded year for elections, because it falls between the 2022 midterms and the 2024 presidential race, it will still feature three governors races, in Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi.
Republicans hope to flip one seat and hold another and Democrats hope to hold the third. The results could also begin to show how voters are feeling in the wake of last year's midterms and before they head back to the polls to vote for president.
Last year was a successful one for Democratic gubernatorial candidates, with the party flipping Arizona, Maryland and Massachusetts.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, chair of the Democratic Governors Association (DGA), said that Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, the current vice-chair of the DGA, will be important in applying the lessons learned from the wins in traditionally red states and states with a history of Republican leaders.
Of the gubernatorial races in 2023, Kentucky and Louisiana are held by Democrats.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear was elected in 2019, ousting Republican Gov. Matt Bevin, and is seeking reelection. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards is term-limited.
Mississippi's governor, Tate Reeves, is seeking reelection as well.
Kentucky
The Republican primary in Kentucky, scheduled for May, is shaping up to be a serious competition to face off against Beshear in November.
State Attorney General Daniel Cameron, state Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles and businesswoman Kelly Craft, a U.S. ambassador to the U.N. under President Donald Trump, are among those running in the Republican primary.
Cameron, who scored an early endorsement from Trump, is the first Black attorney general in the state's history. He garnered national attention in 2020 for how his team handled a grand jury who then did not indict the Louisville officers who shot Breonna Taylor for any direct wrongdoing in her death.
The Kentucky governor's race will be a test to see if Democrats can continue wielding power in a state where Trump beat President Joe Biden by more than 25 points.
But Democrats do have an edge in the race due to having a popular incumbent running for reelection. In Louisiana, though, they'll have to field a potential successor to Edwards.
"Clearly, our top priority is to get Andy Beshear reelected in Kentucky," Murphy said. "John Bel Edwards has been a phenomenal governor in Louisiana … but John Bell is term-limited. So, we've got to find somebody to step into his shoes and that's a process that is unfolding."
Louisiana
Currently, four Republicans are running in the Louisiana governor race: state Rep. Richard Nelson, state Sen. Sharon Hewitt, state Treasurer John Schroder and state Attorney General Jeff Landry. But despite the state's primary being 10 months away, in October, the Louisiana Republican Party gave an early endorsement to Landry in November, which sparked some outcry from other politicians in the state.
"There is nothing more conservative, nothing more [Republican], than competition," Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser tweeted. "This endorsement process looks more like communist China than the Louisiana we know and love. Some think this is a coronation. Real republicans will make sure we have an election, not a monarchy."
Edwards, the Democrat who is term-limited, was first elected in 2015. He notably departs from others in his party on key issues like abortion access.
Mississippi
Lastly, in Mississippi, a state where Democrats haven't won the governor's office since 1998 and will likely be facing their toughest race, Murphy insisted they aren't taking it off the map.
"We think with the right candidate and contrasting what we as Democrats stand for up against the actual middling record of the current incumbent, that's a state that we're going to take very seriously," he said of Reeves, who is touting accomplishments in local schools as part of his bid.
Brandon Presley, a distant cousin of Elvis Presley (their grandfathers were brothers), announced last week that he is running for governor of Mississippi.
Presley, who has served on the Public Service Commission since 2007, describes himself as a "Populist, FDR-Billy McCoy Democrat" and is known for reaching across the aisle. He endorsed the reelection campaign of former President George W. Bush in 2004.
