Ballotpedia’s 2024 study of competitiveness in state executive official elections found that 45.1% of incumbents (74 incumbents across 164 seats) did not seek re-election, leaving those seats open. That was above the average rate of open state executive seats from 2011-2023 (35.7%).

Every year, Ballotpedia publishes an annual report on the competitiveness of state executive elections nationwide. Several factors contribute to an election’s competitiveness such as whether there is an incumbent running for re-election and whether it is contested or uncontested. This analysis examines both the degree of competitiveness, relative to past election years and factors that may have contributed to the degree of competitiveness in the current year.

Of the various types of executive offices, seven exist in all 50 states: governor, attorney general, superintendent of schools, insurance commissioner, agriculture commissioner, labor commissioner, and public service commissioner. This analysis studies these offices, and all Other state executive offices such as lieutenant governor, secretary of state, treasurer, controller, auditor, public lands commissioner, tax commissioner, railroad commissioner, public education commissioner, mine inspector, executive council, state board of equalization, state board of education, and state board of regents.

• 44.1% of primaries were contested, meaning more than one candidate ran. That is higher than the average rate of contested primaries in even years from 2014-2024 (43.5%).
• Ninety incumbents (54.9%) sought election for 164 seats in 2024. An average of 128.2 (65.1%) state executive incumbents sought re-election in even years from 2012-2024.
• Of the 90 incumbents running, 52 (57.8%) advanced to the general election without a contested primary.
• One-hundred-fifteen (44.1%) of a possible 261 primaries were contested, meaning 146 (58.9%) were uncontested. An average of 43.5% of state executive primaries were contested in even-year elections from 2014-2024.

There were 74 open state executive office elections in 2024 without an incumbent on the general election ballot. As a percentage of all offices on the ballot, 45.1% of incumbents did not seek re-election. This was higher than the average for open offices from 2011-2023 (35.7%).

Of the 74 open state executive seats in 2024, 14 (8.5% of the 164 total seats up for election) were open because term limits prevented the incumbent from running again. This lowest percentage since Ballotpedia began tracking this data in 2011.