Here is a brief look at key gubernatorial races that voters will decide on Nov. 8:
INDIANA - Democrat Evan Bayh, 32-year-old secretary of state and son of former U.S. Sen. Birch E. Bayh, leads Republican Lt. Gov. John M. Mutz in a bid to break the GOP's 20-year hold on the office. The contest is being watched for the coattail effect of the Bush-Quayle ticket in Sen. Dan Quayle's home state. Republican Gov. Robert Orr is barred by law from a third term.NORTH CAROLINA - Republican Gov. Jim Martin leads Democratic Lt. Gov. Bob Jordan in a race that has used television with creative malice. Jordan has lampooned Martin's budget-writing process with a commercial starring chimpanzees in business suits. Martin has run an ad with footage of Jordan telling black newspaper editors he agrees with them on some issues but won't discuss them publicly for fear of alienating "rednecks."
RHODE ISLAND - Republican Edward D. DiPrete is in a tight race for re-election against Democrat Bruce G. Sundlun, a communications executive who lost to DiPrete by a landslide in 1986. Sundlun has made an issue of news stories about DiPrete family land deals, an unfinished bridge, the hiring of a reputed mobster's ex-wife for a state job and state contracts awarded to DiPrete campaign contributors.
WEST VIRGINA - Republican Arch Moore's bid for an unprecedented fourth term appears headed for defeat against Democrat Gaston Caperton, an insurance executive and political novice who spent a record $2.1 million on the primary alone. Unemployment is high and the government had to borrow $80 million to keep operating this year.
UTAH - Republican Norm Bangerter, seeking a second term, trails Democrat Ted Wilson, former mayor of Salt Lake City. Independent Merrill Cook has robbed Bangerter of support among conservatives who blame him for the biggest tax increase in Utah history. Bangerter's campaign is looking for a coattail effect from Bush and from GOP Sen. Orrin Hatch.
VERMONT - Democrat Madeleine Kunin, Vermont's first woman governor, is favored to win a third two-year term against state House GOP leader Michael Bernhardt. She has a robust economy, including the nation's lowest unemployment rate, in her favor.
Bernhardt has sought to capitalize on opposition to Vermont's "growth bill," a measure to control development. The law brought out the independent, anti-government streak in hunters, trappers, farmers and others.