In 2019, Ballotpedia is covering elections for 36 state executive offices in Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Each state has its governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and secretary of state offices on the ballot, along with a number of down-ballot seats (24 across the three states). In total, 139 candidates filed to run for these 36 seats.

 

As of August 2019, more Republican candidates filed to run for the executive offices than Democratic candidates. Seventy-two Republicans, 65 Democrats, and two third-party candidates filed. This is an average of 2.0 Republican candidates per seat, 1.8 Democratic candidates per seat, and 0.1 third-party candidates per seat. Overall, roughly 3.9 total candidates filed per seat.

 

Entering the election, Democrats hold eight of the offices and Republicans hold the other 28. Democrats hold one governorship, two attorneys general offices, one secretary of state office, and four down-ballot offices. Republicans hold two governorships, three lieutenant governorships, one attorney general office, two secretary of state offices, and 20 down-ballot offices.

 

Of the four top-ballot seats up for election in each state, the gubernatorial races drew the most candidates. Twenty-nine candidates filed for governor across all three states; this included nine in Kentucky, nine in Louisiana, and 11 in Mississippi. Sixteen of the gubernatorial candidates filed as Democrats, 12 as Republicans, and one as a third-party candidate. The office that drew the second-most candidates is secretary of state with 16, followed by lieutenant governor with 14 and attorney general with nine. The down-ballot elections drew 71 candidates.