Governors’ races offer sharpest skirmishes

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Some of the sharpest bare-knuckle skirmishes this election season are the races for governor, especially in states shouldering the highest unemployment rates and largest tax increases.

Many also are important in presidential elections, and both parties are pouring millions of dollars into statehouse races in the closing days of the campaign.

There are now 26 Democratic governors and 24 Republicans. A record 37 governorships are up for grabs Nov. 2; more than half are contests where an incumbent isn’t running.

Polls show Democrats risk losing around a dozen seats, including those in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, Maine and New Mexico. But they also have a shot at pickups in four or five states, including California and possibly Florida.

Unlike the federal government, states can’t spend money they don’t have or print it when they run out. Governors and state legislatures had few options when they were among the first to be hit by the wave of anti-government anger over the economy.

States and local governments have been raising taxes, laying off teachers and other public servants and cutting services.

In the budget year that ended last month, 29 states increased taxes by a total of $24 billion, the largest amount in more than 30 years, according to the bipartisan National Governors Association.

Of that $24 billion, California accounted for about $10 billion, and New York, $6 billion. Most of the rest of the tax increases were in Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin.

Joblessness in many states is far worse than the nation’s 9.6 percent unemployment rate.

In hard-hit states, the debates are less about broader themes or social issues and more about the nuts and bolts of governing, taxes and spending. Some examples:

In the California battle between former Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown and billionaire businesswoman Meg Whitman, a divisive issue is Whitman’s proposal to eliminate state capital-gains taxes, a move she says would help stimulate California’s ailing economy but which Brown challenges. Most polls show the race a tossup or give Brown a slight edge.

In Ohio, Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland and Republican John Kasich have clashed over taxes and how to lead the state out of the economic crisis. Kasich, a former congressman, accuses Strickland of doing too little to lessen Ohio’s tax burden. Strickland blames Bush-era policies and Wall Street greed for Ohio’s grief. Kasich’s strong early lead has narrowed in recent polls, but he’s still ahead of Strickland in most surveys.

In the race to succeed retiring Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, Republican front-runner Tom Corbett and Democratic rival Dan Onorato have clashed over who will better rein in state spending and a proposed tax on the state’s burgeoning natural-gas industry. Onorato supports the tax; Corbett opposes it. Both have said they are willing to consider legislation to replace local school property taxes with an expanded state sales tax.

In Texas, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White has accused appointees of Republican Gov. Rick Perry of pressuring Texas teacher retirement-system managers to make potentially risky investments that gave state business to politically connected companies, an allegation Perry disputes.