United States gubernatorial elections were held in October and November 2007 in three states. The final results were a net change of zero among the parties. Republicans picked up the open seat in Louisiana and reelected incumbent Haley Barbour in Mississippi, while Democrats defeated Republican incumbent Ernie Fletcher in Kentucky. Going into the elections, the Democratic Party held 28 governors' seats, while the Republican Party held 22. Democratic and Republican candidates filed in all three states, and the Libertarian Party had ballot representation in Louisiana. Total results At the 2007 gubernatorial elections, all 55 United States governors' seats were occupied. Of the 55 seats, 31 were held by Democrats, 23 were held by Republicans, and one was held by a third party. In this election, however, only three of the 55 seats were being contested. Two were held by Republicans, and one was held by a Democrat. |- ! style="background:#e9e9e9;" colspan="2" rowspan="2"| Party ! style="background:#e9e9e9; text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Popular vote ! style="background:#e9e9e9;" colspan="2" rowspan="2"| Seats won |- ! style="background:#e9e9e9; text-align:right;"| Vote ! style="background:#e9e9e9; text-align:right;"| % |- | | style="text-align: left" | Republican Party | align=right | 1,550,957 | 50.54% | 2 |- | | style="text-align: left" | Democratic Party | align=right | 1,316,999 | 42.91% | 1 |- | | style="text-align: left" | Independents | align=right | 198,263 | 6.46% | 0 |- | | style="text-align: left" | Libertarian Party | align=right | 2,639 | 0.09% | 0 |- ! colspan="2" style="text-align:left;"| Total | align=right | 3,068,858 | 100% | 3 |} Race summary Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher ran for reelection for a second term. Various polls indicated he had been very unpopular with an approval rating of 38%. Also, Fletcher's governorship had been embroiled in scandal due to the criminal indictment of several people in his administration for illegally hiring workers into the state merit system based on political considerations. Fletcher was challenged in the primary by Anne Northup, a former U.S. Representative who served Kentucky's 3rd congressional district from 1997–2007, as well as Paducah businessman Billy Harper. Underscoring the controversy over the hiring scandal, Lieutenant Governor Steve Pence chose not to run for re-election on the Fletcher ticket and publicly endorsed Northup. In addition, Northup was endorsed by U.S. Senator Jim Bunning. However, Fletcher won the primary, winning 101,233 votes (50%) and carrying 106 of Kentucky's 120 counties in a three-way race. Northup won the state's largest county, which