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While the Republican Party is poised to make major gains in red states in the battle for the U.S. Senate, the situation is flipped in governors races, where Republicans are facing a tough time defending chief executives who won office in blue states in the Obama backlash of 2010.

The toughest races for Republicans are in Maine and Pennsylvania, followed by Wisconsin, Florida and Michigan, where incumbents who won in the tea party wave four years ago are struggling.

PHOTOS: 2014 Midterms: Vulnerable Democrats

Its the opposite case for the Senate, where Democrats who rode to victory on President Obamas coattails in 2008 are facing growing fatigue with his agenda.

Analysts said voters might be primed for corrections in both cases.

The gubernatorial and Senate contests are cyclical and are being conducted on different turf, said Kyle Kondik, of the University of Virginias Center for Politics. The gubernatorial races are mostly contested every four years during midterms, which means the last time these races were up was in 2010, a great Republican year. It stands to reason that four years later the Republicans might be a bit overextended.

There are 36 governorships up for grabs in the Nov. 3 elections, and Republicans are defending 22 of them.

PHOTOS: Republican governors in blue states vulnerable in 2014 midterm elections

Independent handicappers generally agree that 16 races are competitive, and more than half of them are in states that Mr. Obama carried in the 2008 and 2012 elections.

Of those, Govs. Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania, Paul LePage of Maine, Rick Scott of Florida, Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Rick Snyder of Michigan are considered vulnerable.

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Republican governors in blue states vulnerable in 2014 midterm elections