Serving as governor used to be a stepping stone to the Senate. These days, not so much.
Governors are refusing to run for open Senate seats — despite heavy lobbying from the national parties — and sitting senators are opting to run for governor rather than for re-election. The Senate’s current slate of governors-turned-senators say there’s a good reason why.
“They see the same thing that we see in terms of a dysfunctional operation in the Senate and the House,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, who served as South Dakota’s governor from 2003-2011. “We don’t even do appropriations. We do continuing resolutions. We’re not able to build consensus. Those are not good things.”
Sen. Rick Scott, Florida’s governor from 2011-2019, said both jobs have merit. But the intensely partisan nature of Congress makes it hard to get anything accomplished, as opposed to being an executive at the state level.
“I think there is frustration. People want to get things done,” Scott said. “It’s hard. It’s very partisan up here right now. That’s frustrating, but I’m optimistic it’s gonna get better.”
Between 1900 and 2021, 153 governors had become senators — while far fewer senators (just 21 since 1900) left to become governors. But that may be changing as the Senate’s partisan gridlock makes the job less appealing.
It’s not hard to see the draw of a gubernatorial role. Governors work from their home state, avoiding the chaos of weekly travel to D.C. They’re solidly in charge of the state, rather than one of 100. They’re often dealing with more substantive policy debates instead of federal squabbles.
“You get to set your own agenda. You get to actually see it implemented,” said Sen. John Hoeven, who previously served as governor of North Dakota from 2000-2010. “I think anyone that’s here that’s been a governor, almost without fail, we’ll tell you that’s the best job you can get.”
But for party operatives looking to recruit or retain quality Senate candidates in 2026, that appeal could spell trouble.
Recruitment of governors to run for Senate in 2026 is not going well. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu have all wholly rejected the idea of running for open Senate seats in their state. Each would have been among the top recruits for — or the only shot at — making those races competitive for their party.
Other candidates seem shaky in states with even higher stakes. Democratic Gov. Janet Mills in Maine appears hesitant to run, despite her state being a critical pickup opportunity for her party. Former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper has yet to make a decision, but is considered the marquee recruit for Democrats in that race. Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in Georgia has yet to make a decision on whether he’ll challenge Sen. Jon Ossoff — the most vulnerable Democratic Senate incumbent this term.
What’s more, at least three current senators are fleeing D.C. for a seat back home, an unusual move. Sen. Michael Bennet is running for Colorado governor. At least two other senators — Marsha Blackburn and Tommy Tuberville — are expected to launch gubernatorial bids.
Some senators who were once governors told NOTUS they think both jobs are valuable. Sen. Jim Risch (Indiana’s governor, briefly, from 2006-2007) said that governors who come to the Senate without prior state legislature experience might be in for a rude awakening.
“They’re both great jobs. They’re two very different jobs,” Risch said. “The guys who served in their state legislature before they became governor, they get this. People who never served in their legislature before they became governor, they come here and think it’s like being governor.”
“It isn’t the same, and they’re not so happy here,” he added.
Others said a perk of working in the Senate — as opposed to being a governor — is that your policy portfolio grows. Sen. Tim Kaine said he likes working on issues like national security, which he didn’t get to do as governor of Virginia from 2006-2010.
“I always tell governors, I know you want to be the executive. You don’t want to be one out of 100,” he said. “But you haven’t been able to really work on the national security issues in a way you can dig into on the Senate side.”
Scott said the Senate has the perk of being involved in things like foreign policy, in addition to “fixing Medicare, fixing Medicaid, making sure you preserve Social Security.”
“What’s great about being up here is that you’re involved in all those issues.”
And though some former governors acknowledged the comparably lacking appeal of the job, they swore it’s worth the while. Sen. Jim Justice — the most recent governor-turned-senator — said, “If you’re serving for the right reason, whether you’re the governor or a senator, there’s plenty of room to feel awfully rewarded for what you’re doing.”
Justice joined the Senate this year after two terms as governor of West Virginia. His freshman Senate class featured a number of senators who’d never previously served in office — another growing trend in the chamber.
Sen. John Hickenlooper went as far as to say that governors who opt to stay in their states are missing out.
“I think they’re making a big mistake,” said Hickenlooper, who was Colorado governor from 2011-2019. “I think most of them will be bored.”
Still, Hickenlooper acknowledged how much easier it is to be popular as governor, despite the emotional involvement of home-state work and the unpredictability of legislative issues.
“They’re down on Congress, right? ‘Congress is bad. Congress didn’t do anything,’” Hickenlooper said of voters’ views. “And governors are: ‘They picked up after the flood. They got my kitten down from the tree.’ But it’s a whack-a-mole.’”
“You’re doing a million different things,” he added. “It’s exhausting. It’s a hard job. But it’s not as hard as being a Senator. Senate, you’re one of 100, it’s all relationships, and you’re dealing with the hardest, most difficult problems and obstacles in the country, in the world.”
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Ursula Perano is a reporter at NOTUS. Helen Huiskes is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.