in 2011, tomblin stated his desire to run for the governorship. following a ruling by the supreme court of appeals on january 18, 2011, a special gubernatorial election was scheduled for october 4, 2011. tomblin was successful in the democratic primary, beating a field of six contenders, while morgantown businessman bill maloney emerged as the republican nominee in the may 14 primary. he went on to win the general election against maloney and was sworn in as governor on november 13, 2011. immediately before taking the oath as governor, tomblin officially resigned from both the offices of senate president and state senator.