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 In races shaped by voters' worries about the uneven economic
recovery, Republicans won the governor's posts in the Democratic
strongholds of Massachusetts, Maryland and President Barack Obama's
home state of Illinois, according to projections.
The big state wins for Republican incumbents and newcomers among the
36 governors' races bolstered an already very good night for
Republicans who won back control of the Senate.
"It was a Republican sweep tonight," said Dianne Bystrom, director
of Iowa State University's Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and
Politics. "I think it's tied to people feeling the country is moving
in the wrong direction and on the wrong track."
Polls showed the top issue in voters' minds was the uncertain
prospects for the economy, and Americans tend to trust the
Republican Party more than the Democratic Party with fixing the
economy, she said.
 In Illinois, a state suffering from a public pension crisis and the
nation's lowest credit rating, Republican businessman Bruce Rauner
ousted Democratic Governor Pat Quinn.
Obama, former President Bill Clinton and other big-name Democrats
stumped for Quinn, but he was weakened by state budget woes.
"We have a pension problem that is threatening to devalue every
asset in the state. It's not a small issue," said Rauner supporter
Brian Timpone of River Forest, a Chicago suburb.
In Wisconsin, Republican Governor Scott Walker, a conservative Tea
Party favorite considered to have presidential aspirations, defeated
Democrat Mary Burke, Reuters/Ipsos projected. He survived a recall
election in 2012, beating back a labor-supported effort to oust him
from the governor’s office.
In Florida, one of the most important swing states in the nation,
Republican Governor Rick Scott was the projected winner over Charlie
Crist, a former Republican governor turned Democrat. The contest
featured months of mud-slinging and attack ads on both sides.
Party control of governorships is seen as critical in the 2016 White
House contest, when candidates use governors to help build
state-by-state support toward a possible nomination. Going into
Tuesday, Republicans occupied the governor's mansions in 29 of the
50 states.
BROWNBACK FIGHTS BACK
Incumbents fared better than predicted after polls showed about 10
governors battling to save their jobs.
"Americans are famous for wanting to throw the bums out and then
they want to throw everybody else's bums out and they keep their own
bum," said Bystrom.
 Michigan's Republican Governor Rick Snyder prevailed over a
Democratic political insider, former U.S. Representative Mark
Schauer, after state finances improved under Snyder's watch and the
bankrupt city of Detroit edged closer to getting back on course.
In his acceptance speech, Snyder said his administration had not
sought a quick fix for Michigan's economic troubles.
"We realized that we could not just fix Michigan," Snyder said. "We
realized it was time to reinvent Michigan.
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"Now when you talk to that young person, you'll hear, 'I'm moving to
Detroit,'" he added.
In Pennsylvania, however, Republican Governor Tom Corbett lost to
Democrat Tom Wolf, making him the first incumbent governor in his
state's modern history to fail to win a second term. In his
concession speech in Pittsburgh, Corbett said he had made tough
choices as governor, knowing they would be unpopular.
"I said I might be a one-term governor, and I am. And I am proud,"
Corbett said.
Among other Democratic victories were Rhode Island, where state
treasurer Gina Raimondo will be the state's first female governor.
Raimondo helped the state reach a critical 2011 deal to curtail
spending on pensions, which lost her some union support.
In Connecticut, Democratic incumbent Dannel Malloy claimed victory
over Republican businessman and former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland
Tom Foley in a close race, though all the votes had not been
counted.
"We don't have the final numbers, but we know what the big numbers
are, and we are going to win this thing," Malloy told cheering
supporters.
Kansas Republican Governor Sam Brownback won re-election by beating
Democrat Paul Davis in the historically Republican state despite a
bruising campaign that focused on the fiscal problems that followed
Brownback's tax cuts.
Republican Charlie Baker, the former chief executive of a New
England health insurer, won the Massachusetts governor’s race,
beating Democrat Martha Coakley, in the contest to replace Governor
Deval Patrick, a Democrat who is retiring.
Democrats fell far short as expected in the state of Texas, where
Republican Greg Abbott, the state's attorney general, defeated his
Democratic opponent, state Senator Wendy Davis, who had become a
party icon for a 10-hour filibuster against abortion restrictions.
(Additional reporting by Saundra Amrhein in St. Petersburg, Mark
Guarino in Chicago, David Adams in Miami, Brendan O'Brien in
Milwaukee, Dan Kelley in Philadelphia, Serena Maria Daniels in
Detroit and Todd Melby in Hudson, Wisconsin; Editing by Mary
Milliken, Eric Walsh, Jim Loney and Ken Wills)
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