If you're looking for the most interesting gubernatorial races to watch in the coming year, the nation's biggest states are a good place to start.
Democrats Jerry Brown and Andrew Cuomo look like safe bets for re-election in California and New York, respectively. And, despite the pending retirement of Rick Perry, Republicans are confident of maintaining their hold on the governor's mansion in Texas.
But Florida, Pennsylvania and Illinois all feature embattled incumbents whose reelection campaigns will easily cost tens of millions of dollars. Michigan GOP Gov. Rick Snyder could also face a real contest.
In all, 36 states will be voting for governor in 2014. All but a handful will feature incumbents favored for re-election.
List of current United States governors
Two states are holding gubernatorial contests this year. New Jersey Republican Chris Christie is considered close to a lock for a second term, while the open race in Virginia between Republican Ken Cuccinelli and Democrat Terry McAuliffe remains a toss-up.
With no discernible "wave" as yet looking likely to break in favor of one party or the other next year, the overall partisan breakdown — currently favoring the GOP by 30 to 20 — is not likely to change terribly much.
Each contest matters, however. Within each state, the governor is the main political actor and can largely set the agenda as he or she sees fit.
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