Most Incumbent Govs Win The Day

Voters dumped a Democratic governor in Indiana for a Bush administration official and turned out a Republican incumbent in New Hampshire as 11 states elected their top leaders Tuesday.

In Montana, Democrats took the governor's office for the first time in 16 years, while Republicans captured the Missouri governorship. In Washington state, a few thousand votes separated the candidates, so a victor likely wouldn't be decided until mail-in ballots are counted - a process that could take days.

Elsewhere, incumbents won or the party in power kept control of executive mansions in Delaware, North Carolina, North Dakota, Utah, Vermont and West Virginia.

In Indiana, former White House budget chief Mitch Daniels unseated Democratic Gov. Joe Kernan, who was facing his first test at the polls since he took office after former Gov. Frank O'Bannon died last year. In New Hampshire, Democrat John Lynch edged out one-term GOP Gov. Craig Benson.

Probably the most closely watched race - the Missouri governorship - went to the GOP, where Republican Matt Blunt defeated Democrat Claire McCaskill by less than 3 percentage points.

Nationwide, each party gained two governorships and lost two governorships. Only the Republicans could still gain: the unsettled Washington state race was for a Democratic seat.

There, the contest between Republican Dino Rossi and Democrat Christine Gregoire, the state attorney general, teetered back and forth as more votes were tallied. The state's heavy reliance on mail-in ballots was likely to hold up the final tally.

In Delaware, Democratic Gov. Ruth Ann Minner withstood a surprisingly strong challenge from Republican Bill Lee to win a second term.

Montana Democrat Brian Schweitzer, a farmer who unsuccessfully sought a Senate seat in 2000, defeated Republican Secretary of State Bob Brown in the race there for an open seat.

Republican Jon Huntsman Jr. took Utah's open governor's seat, while North Dakota GOP Gov. John Hoeven, Vermont Republican Gov. Jim Douglas and North Carolina Democratic Gov. Mike Easley each won second terms. In West Virginia, Democratic Secretary of State Joe Manchin took an open seat.

Minner won in Delaware despite making what some saw as an insensitive response to a prison inmate's abduction and rape of a counselor. "In prisons, you almost expect this to happen," she said.

The open seats in Missouri, Montana, Utah and Washington state triggered record spending and unprecedented bursts of out-of-state money, and the heat of the presidential race had an effect on at least a couple of races.

New Hampshire's Benson lost his bid for a second term in a state that went for Democrat John Kerry, a reversal of its 2000 vote. In Indiana, a state that went solidly and quickly for Bush, Daniels had the prominent support of the president.

Others contests remained resolutely local, turning on taxes, economic development or transportation issues.

Even before Election Day, dismay over economic problems and other woes over the past few years led to the ouster of governors in Missouri (where one-term Democratic Gov. Bob Holden lost in the primary) and Utah (where GOP Gov. Olene Walker lost the nomination at the party convention).

Three other governors - in Montana, Washington and West Virginia - chose not to seek re-election.

In Utah, Huntsman, a businessman and Bush administration diplomat, easily beat Scott Matheson Jr., dean of the University of Utah law school and the son of a former governor.

By Robert Tanner