The Latest: Vermont and Oregon governors win re-election

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Tuesday's elections for governor and other state offices (all times local):

11:50 p.m.

There will be no change at the top in Vermont or Oregon.

Republican Gov. Phil Scott won re-election Tuesday in the traditionally Democratic state of Vermont by defeating Democratic challenger Christine Hallquist.

In Oregon, Democratic Gov. Kate Brown won re-election over Republican challenger Knute Buehler.

Republicans had believed that Oregon provided one of their best chances to flip a Democratic governor's seat in a year when Democrats generally have been making greater gains.

Democrats on Tuesday flipped governor's offices in at least four states — Illinois, Kansas, Michigan and New Mexico.

Republicans entered Election Day holding 33 governor's offices and two-thirds of the state legislative chambers.

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11:40 p.m.

Democrat Laura Kelly has defeated a prominent ally of President Donald Trump to win the Kansas governor's race.

Kelly defeated Republican Secretary of State Kris Kobach (KOH'-bahk) on Tuesday to flip the governor's office from red to blue.

It was at least the fourth Democratic pickup, along with wins in the Illinois, Michigan and New Mexico governors' races.

Kobach had built a national profile as an advocate of tough immigration policies and strict voter photo ID laws. He served as vice chairman of Trump's now-defunct commission on voter fraud.

Kelly will be Kansas' third governor in a year.

Republican Gov. Sam Brownback resigned in January to accept a position in Trump's administration. He was succeeded by Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer, whom Kobach defeated in the Republican gubernatorial primary.

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11:35 p.m.

Republicans have turned back Democratic challengers to keep control of the governors' offices in Arizona, New Hampshire and Ohio.

In Ohio, Republican Attorney General Mike DeWine defeated Democrat Richard Cordray on Tuesday to lead a GOP sweep of nonjudicial statewide offices. DeWine will succeed term-limited Republican Gov. John Kasich (KAY'-sihk).

Cordray had been an Obama-era consumer protection chief.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey defeated Democratic education professor David Garcia to win re-election in a race that focused on border security and education.

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (soo-NOO'-noo) won another two-year term by defeating former Democrat state Sen. Molly Kelly.

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11:30 p.m.

Republican Ron DeSantis will be Florida's next governor, riding President Donald Trump's support to a victory over Democrat Andrew Gillum.

The 40-year-old former congressman and Navy officer won Tuesday after Trump went to Florida twice in the final six days of the election to help increase Republican turnout.

Gillum was hoping to become Florida's first black governor. He conceded late Tuesday.

DeSantis was considered an underdog until Trump injected himself in the Republican primary, helping DeSantis cruise to victory over better-funded and better-known Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam.

DeSantis stumbled after his nomination, most notably by saying Floridians shouldn't "monkey this up" be electing Gillum. Although he took a more moderate turn after the primary, he relied heavily on Trump in the last days of the election.

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11:25 p.m.

Florida Democratic nominee for governor Andrew Gillum is conceding to his Republican rival, Ron DeSantis.

The Tallahassee mayor was seeking to become the state's first black governor and become the first Democrat to win the governor's race in more than 20 years.

The Associated Press has not called the race.  

DeSantis was supported in the race by President Donald Trump.

Gillum told a crowd gathered on the campus of Florida A&M University on Tuesday he sincerely regrets he "couldn't bring it home for you."

Gillum pulled off an upset when he won the Democratic primary in August.

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11:10 p.m.

Democrats have held on to governors' offices in Minnesota and Hawaii.

Minnesota Rep. Tim Walz defeated Republican Jeff Johnson on Tuesday to mark the first time since the 1950s that one of Minnesota's political parties has held on to the office for at least three terms. He will replace Gov. Mark Dayton, who chose not to seek re-election.

In Hawaii, Gov. David Ige (EE'-gay) won re-election by defeating Republican state Rep. Andria Tupola. Hawaii is a heavily Democratic state.

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11:05 p.m.

Democrats are chipping away at Republican leadership in state capitols by flipping control of at least three gubernatorial offices.

Democrats J.B. Pritzker in Illinois, Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan and Michelle Lujan Grisham in New Mexico won elections Tuesday for seats previously held by Republicans.

Democratic gubernatorial candidates also were putting up strong challenges in the previously Republican-held states of Iowa, Kansas, Wisconsin and South Dakota.

Heading into Tuesday's elections, Republicans controlled 33 governor's office and two-thirds of all state legislative chambers. That included 25 states where they held a trifecta of power, compared with just eight for Democrats.

Whitmer's victory breaks that Republican trifecta in Michigan. The Democratic gubernatorial victories in Illinois and New Mexico could give them trifectas there.

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11 p.m.

Democrats have taken a firm grip on power in New Mexico by flipping the governor's office, previously held by a Republican.

Democratic Michelle Lujan Grisham won the governor's race Tuesday by defeating Republican Steve Pearce in an election that featured two sitting members of Congress.

Heading into Tuesday, Democrats already held majorities in both chambers of the state Legislature. But term-limited Gov. Susana Martinez had held the chief executive's office for Republicans for the past eight years.

The victory by Lujan Grisham could position Democrats to have full control over the redistricting of congressional and state legislative seats after the 2020 Census.

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10:50 p.m.

A woman who during the 2016 presidential election accused Donald Trump of sexually harassing her a decade earlier has lost her bid for a seat in Ohio's legislature.

Democrat Rachel Crooks lost on Tuesday to incumbent Republican state Rep. Bill Reineke (RY'-nuh-kee) in her first attempt at a public office.

The former Trump Tower receptionist said she met Trump in 2006 when she was 22 and he kissed her "directly on the mouth" against her will. Trump denied the accusations when they first surfaced a month before the 2016 election.

Crooks says she decided to run in Ohio's Republican-leaning 88th House District partly because she thinks Trump escaped consequences for harassment alleged by her and others.

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10:40 p.m.

Republican Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts has won re-election to another term by defeating Democratic state Sen. Bob Krist.

Ricketts' victory on Tuesday will extend a 20-year run of Republican governors in the conservative state.

Ricketts has pledged to keep pushing for lower taxes and limits on state spending. He will be paired with a state legislative chamber that is officially nonpartisan but also has a majority of Republicans.

Krist was previously a Republican but changed his affiliation after announcing his run for governor.

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10:35 p.m.

Rep. Jared Polis has won Colorado's open gubernatorial seat to keep it under Democratic control.

Polis defeated Republican state Treasurer Walker Stapleton on Tuesday to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper. Polis will become Colorado's first openly gay governor.

He campaigned on universal health, renewable energy standards and publicly funded early childhood education. He also vowed to stand up to President Donald Trump's efforts to dismantle the federal health care law.

Although often a swing state, Colorado has not had a Republican governor since 2007.

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10:20 p.m.

The Kentucky clerk who went to jail in 2015 for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples has lost her bid for a second term.

Republican incumbent Kim Davis was defeated by Democrat Elwood Caudill Jr. in Tuesday's election for clerk of Rowan County in northeastern Kentucky.

Caudill is well known in the county. He lost to Davis by just 23 votes in the 2014 Democratic primary. Davis later switched to the GOP.

Davis went from obscure local official to a national figure when she stopped issuing marriage licenses days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Constitution guarantees same-sex couples the right to marry. Davis cited her religious beliefs for her action, saying she was acting under "God's authority."

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10:10 p.m.

Democrat Gretchen Whitmer has won the Michigan governor's race to break a Republican power bloc that had been a top target for Democrats.

Whitmer is a former state legislative leader and defeated Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette (SHOO'-tee) in Tuesday's election. She will succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Rick Snyder.

Republicans had controlled the governor's office and both chambers of the Michigan Legislature since racking up big victories in the 2010 midterm elections during Democratic President Barack Obama's tenure. The GOP used that trifecta of power to enact congressional and state legislative maps that favored Republicans.

That made Michigan a top target for national Democrats.

Whitmer's victory continues a trend of party changes in Michigan. Voters have not elected back-to-back governors of the same party since the 1960s.

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10:05 p.m.

Republican businessman Kevin Stitt has won Oklahoma's open gubernatorial seat.

Stitt defeated former Democratic attorney general Drew Edmondson in Tuesday's election to replace term-limited Republican Gov. Mary Fallin.

Stitt will be paired with Republican majorities in the Oklahoma House and Senate in the traditionally conservative state.

He won election by casting himself as a businessman who is a political outsider in the mold of President Donald Trump.

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9:55 p.m.

Voters in Alabama and South Carolina have chosen to give full terms to a pair of Republican governors who rose to power because of political circumstances.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster defeated Democratic state Rep. James Smith on Tuesday to win a four-year term.

McMaster had been elevated from lieutenant governor in 2017 when Gov. Nikki Haley left office to become President Donald Trump's ambassador to the United Nations.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey defeated Democrat Walt Maddox to win a four-year term. Ivey was elevated from lieutenant governor in 2017 when Gov. Robert Bentley resigned amid the fallout from allegations of a relationship with a top aide.

Both Republican governors are paired with Republican majorities in their state legislatures.

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9:40 p.m.

A Democrat will be back in charge of Illinois now that billionaire J.B. Pritzker has defeated Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner in one of the nation's most expensive gubernatorial races ever.

Pritzker put more than $150 million of his own money into the race against Rauner, who also spent tens of millions of dollars of his own wealth.

Pritzker's victory could restore a solid grip on government for Democrats, who already controlled both chambers of the state Legislature heading into Tuesday's election. Rauner's four-year term as governor had interrupted a Democratic trifecta that began in 2003.

If Democrats retain a trifecta after the 2020 elections, they would be in a position to control how boundaries are redrawn for Illinois congressional and state legislative districts after the 2020 Census.

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For AP's complete coverage of the U.S. midterm elections: http://apne.ws/APPolitics