Electing America's Governors

David L. Leal is an Associate Professor of Government at The University of Texas at Austin. He received a Ph.D. and MA in Political Science from Harvard University and a BA in Political Science from Stanford University. In addition to state politics, his research interests include Latino politics - particularly Latino political behavior and public opinion - and public policy. He has published over thirty journal articles and book chapters on these topics. Dr. Leal was an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow from 1998-1999 and a National Academy of Education/Spencer Post-Doctoral Fellow from 2002-2004.

'We need to know more about America's fifty state Governors - -not least because four of the last five Presidents were elected from the Governorship. David L. Leal does a superb and sophisticated job of examining the states' chief executives, selecting the electoral connection as his microscope. Anyone interested in politics will benefit from a close reading of Leal's findings, and the book is well suited to both senior undergraduate and graduate classroom use.' - Larry J. Sabato, Director, UVA Center for Politics, and Author of Divided States of America (2005) 'This...represents a solid comparative approach to looking at gubernatorial elections over a seventeen-year period. The author has spent a great deal of time developing his approach, reviewing what has been done in the past in trying to understand these elections across the states and over time. He also made a very strong effort to compare these gubernatorial elections with the other major statewide elections - U.S. Senate elections - held during the same period. This book will lead to others picking up the challenge and trying to do some explorations on their own, and Leal has left several suggestions as to where some of the next research should be going in studying these elections in the states.' - Thad Beyle, Professor of Political Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 'Two facets of David L. Leal's analysis stand out. First, Leal's new approachexpands our piecemeal understanding of gubernatorial elections by providing a comprehensive analysis of the many factors associated with a person's decision to become a candidate for governor, voter mobilization, and gubernatorial election outcomes. Second, his findings are presented in the context of research on elections to the U.S. Senate. This provides a more thorough understanding of the electoral dynamics surrounding the two most visible offices in any state. This book will be the starting point for all future studies of contests for state chief executives.' - James D. King, Professor of Political Science, University of Wyoming

• Introduction Election Outcomes: Campaign Expenditures and Candidate Quality Election Outcomes: State and National Economic and Social Conditions Voter Turnout: Competition, Candidates, and Conditions Candidate Quality Revisited Gubernatorial vs. Senate Election Dynamics: Progressive Ambition Gubernatorial vs. Senate Election Dynamics: Electoral Competition and Campaign Intensity Gubernatorial vs. Senate Election Dynamics: Third Party and Independent Campaigns Conclusions