State legislative elections, 2019

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2019 State
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On November 5, 2019, Democrats won majorities in the Virginia State Senate and the Virginia House of Delegates, while holding their majority in the New Jersey General Assembly. The victories in Virginia made the state a Democratic state government trifecta. Republicans held their majorities in the Mississippi State Senate and the Mississippi House of Representatives.

Seven of the country's 99 state legislative chambers held regular elections in 2019. These seven chambers represented 538 of the country's 7,383 state legislative seats (7.3%). This page contains information about regularly scheduled state legislative elections; click here to read about state legislative special elections in 2019.

Heading into the November 2019 general elections, Republicans held six of the seven chambers and 292 of the 538 seats (54.3%). Democrats held one chamber and 240 seats (44.6%).[1] Overall, Republicans controlled 61 of 99 legislative chambers (61.6%) and 3,863 of 7,383 state legislative seats (52.3%). Democrats controlled 37 chambers (37.4%) and 3,467 seats (47.0%).[2]

Click on the links below to navigate to election pages for each chamber.

General elections in Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia took place on November 5, 2019. Louisiana also held a primary election on October 12, where candidates could win an election outright. In cases where no candidate won the primary outright, general elections in Louisiana took place on November 16, 2019. Louisiana and Mississippi held gubernatorial elections in 2019 as well.

These were the final elections in each of these state legislatures before the 2020 redistricting process. The legislators elected in 2019 will be responsible for the redistricting scheduled to occur after the 2020 census.

A Ballotpedia analysis of trifecta vulnerability in 2019 found the following:

  • Louisiana (Divided government) had a slight chance of becoming a Republican trifecta and a low chance of becoming a Democratic trifecta.
  • Mississippi (Republican trifecta) was a moderately vulnerable Republican trifecta.
  • New Jersey (Democratic trifecta) was a non-vulnerable Democratic trifecta.
  • Virginia (Divided government) had a moderate chance of becoming a Democratic trifecta and a moderate chance of remaining under divided government.

Read the analysis here.

Keep reading to learn more about:

Flipped chambers in the 2019 elections

This table lists state legislative chambers where party control changed as a result of the November 5, 2019, elections.

Flipped state legislative chambers, 2019 elections
State Chamber Pre-election control Post-election control
Virginia Senate Republicans Republican Party Democrats Democratic Party
Virginia House Republicans Republican Party Democrats Democratic Party

Change in seats

Across the chambers holding legislative elections in 2019, Democrats gained one seat and Republicans gained 12 seats. The charts below show the total change and the change broken down by chamber type. The "other/3rd parties" category includes vacant seats.

Change in state legislative partisan composition, 2019 elections
Total Before After Net
Democrats Democratic Party 236 237 +1
Republicans Republican Party 286 298 +12
Other/3rd parties Grey.png 16 3 -13
Total 538 538 --


Change in state senate partisan composition, 2019 elections
Total Before After Net
Democrats Democratic Party 51 49 -2
Republicans Republican Party 76 82 +6
Other/3rd parties Grey.png 4 0 -4
Total 131 131 --


Change in state house partisan composition, 2019 elections
Total Before After Net
Democrats Democratic Party 185 188 +3
Republicans Republican Party 210 216 +6
Other/3rd parties Grey.png 12 3 -9
Total 407 407 --

State government trifectas

See also: Gubernatorial and legislative party control of state government

Heading into the 2019 state legislative elections, Mississippi was a Republican trifecta, New Jersey was a Democratic trifecta, and Louisiana and Virginia were both under divided government. Kentucky was also a Republican trifecta but only held a gubernatorial election. The 2019 elections resulted in one additional Democratic trifecta and one fewer Republican trifecta—Virginia became a Democratic trifecta, while Kentucky became under divided government.

A trifecta is when one political party holds these three positions in a state's government:

The concept of the trifecta is important in state lawmaking because in many states, the governor, senate majority leader, and house majority leader play decisive roles in the legislative process.

Heading into the 2019 elections, 36 states were controlled by a trifecta. States with a trifecta included:

  • Democratic Party 14 Democratic trifectas
  • Republican Party 22 Republican trifectas

As a result of the 2019 elections, there were 21 Republican trifectas and 15 Democratic trifectas.

Elections by state

Elections are being held for seven legislative chambers in the following four states:

State legislative special elections were also held in 2019. Click here to read more.

Elections summary

State legislative chambers up in 2019
Chambers Seats up Post-election partisan control Term length Term limits?
Louisiana Senate All 39 Republican Party 27-12 4 years Yes (3 terms)
Louisiana House All 105 Republican Party 68-35 4 years Yes (3 terms)
Mississippi Senate All 52 Republican Party 36-16 4 years No
Mississippi House All 122 Republican Party 75-46 4 years No
New Jersey General Assembly All 80 Democratic Party 52-28 2 years No
Virginia Senate All 40 Democratic Party 21-19 4 years No
Virginia House All 100 Democratic Party 55-45 2 years No

Louisiana

Louisiana's state legislators serve four-year terms. Both chambers have term limits which prevent a state legislator from serving for more than three terms, or twelve years, in a particular chamber. Louisiana legislators assume office at noon on the second Monday in January after their election.[3][4]

The Louisiana State Senate and the Louisiana House of Representatives last held elections in 2015.

  • Candidate filing deadline: August 8, 2019
  • Jungle primary election: October 12, 2019
  • General election:[5] November 16, 2019

State Senate

See also: Louisiana State Senate elections, 2019

Louisiana State Senate Party Control

Louisiana State Senate
Party As of November 16, 2019 After November 17, 2019
     Democratic Party 14 12
     Republican Party 25 27
Total 39 39

State House

See also: Louisiana House of Representatives elections, 2019

Louisiana House of Representatives Party Control

Louisiana House of Representatives
Party As of November 16, 2019 After November 17, 2019
     Democratic Party 39 35
     Republican Party 60 68
     Independent 5 2
     Vacancy 1 0
Total 105 105

Mississippi

Mississippi's state legislators serve four-year terms. Mississippi legislators assume office the Tuesday after the first Monday of January.[10]

The Mississippi State Senate and the Mississippi House of Representatives last held elections in 2015.

  • Candidate filing deadline: March 1, 2019
  • Primary election: August 6, 2019
  • Primary runoff election: August 27, 2019
  • General election: November 5, 2019

State Senate

See also: Mississippi State Senate elections, 2019

Mississippi State Senate Party Control

Mississippi State Senate
Party As of November 5, 2019 After November 6, 2019
     Democratic Party 18 16
     Republican Party 31 36
     Vacancies 3 0
Total 52 52

State House

See also: Mississippi House of Representatives elections, 2019

Mississippi House of Representatives Party Control

Mississippi House of Representatives
Party As of November 5, 2019 After November 6, 2019
     Democratic Party 44 46
     Republican Party 74 75
     Independent 2 1
     Vacancies 2 0
Total 122 122

New Jersey

New Jersey's state representatives are elected to two-year terms. New Jersey legislators assume office at noon on the second Tuesday in January following the election.[15]

The New Jersey General Assembly last held elections in 2017. The New Jersey State Senate did not hold elections in 2019. Senators began four-year terms after being elected in 2017.

  • Candidate filing deadline: April 1, 2019
  • Primary election: June 4, 2019
  • General election: November 5, 2019

State House

See also: New Jersey General Assembly elections, 2019

New Jersey General Assembly Party Control

New Jersey General Assembly
Party As of November 5, 2019 After November 6, 2019
     Democratic Party 54 52
     Republican Party 26 28
Total 80 80

Virginia

Virginia's state senators are elected to four-year terms and state representatives are elected to two-year terms. Virginia legislators assume office the second Wednesday in January after the election.[16][17]

  • Candidate filing deadline: March 28, 2019
  • Primary election: June 11, 2019
  • General election: November 5, 2019

State Senate

See also: Virginia State Senate elections, 2019

Virginia State Senate Party Control

Virginia State Senate
Party As of November 5, 2019 After November 6, 2019
     Democratic Party 19 21
     Republican Party 20 19
     Vacancies 1 0
Total 40 40

State House

See also: Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2019

Virginia House of Delegates Party Control

Virginia House of Delegates
Party As of November 5, 2019 After November 6, 2019
     Democratic Party 49 55
     Republican Party 51 45
Total 100 100

Battleground chambers

See also: Battlegrounds

Ballotpedia tracked three state legislative battleground chambers in 2019—the Louisiana House of Representatives, Virginia State Senate, and Virginia House of Delegates.

Party control of eight seats in the Louisiana state House was on the ballot in the November 16, 2019, general election. Had Republicans won all seven races where they were on the ballot, the party would have won a supermajority in the chamber.

Heading into the election, Republicans held a two-seat majority in both Virginia chambers. The Virginia State Senate has had a 2-seat or smaller majority (including several years as a tied chamber) since 2007. In the Virginia House of Delegates, Democrats picked up 15 seats in 2017, and only a Republican win in a tiebreaker of random chance in District 94 kept Republicans from losing control of the chamber.

Battlegrounds were chambers that we anticipated would be, overall, more competitive than other chambers and have the potential to see significant shifts in party control in the 2019 general elections.

Criteria for identification as a battleground chamber included the majority party's share of seats, the number of competitive races, and more. Read the complete list of criteria here.

The columns in the chart below list the following information:

  • Seats up in 2019: This was the number of seats in the chamber that were up for election in 2019.
  • Margin: This was the difference in seats between the majority and minority parties.
  • Majority share of seats: This was the percentage of the chamber's total seats controlled by the majority party.
  • Last time party control changed?: This was the election where the party in power before the 2019 elections took control of the chamber.
2019 battleground chambers
Chamber Seats up in 2019 Margin Majority share of seats Last time party control changed? Did it flip?
Louisiana House of Representatives All 105 R+21 57 percent 2010 No
Virginia State Senate All 40 R+2 53 percent 2015 Yes
Virginia House of Delegates All 100 R+2 51 percent 2000 Yes

State legislative special elections

See also: State legislative special elections, 2019

In 2019, special elections for state legislative positions were held for the following reasons:

  • 47 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
  • 21 due to a retirement
  • 6 due to the death of the incumbent
  • 1 due to a resignation related to criminal charges
  • 2 due to an election being rerun

Impact of special elections on partisan composition

The partisan breakdown for the special elections was as follows:

The table below details how many seats changed parties as the result of a special election in 2019. The number on the left reflects how many vacant seats were originally held by each party, while the number on the right shows how many vacant seats each party won in the special elections. In elections between 2011 and 2018, either the Democratic Party or Republican Party saw an average net gain of four seats across the country. Between 2017 and 2018, Democrats had a net gain of 19 seats.

Note: This table reflects information for elections that were held and not the total number of vacant seats.

Partisan Change from Special Elections (2019)
Party As of Special Election After Special Election
     Democratic Party 39 36
     Republican Party 38 40
     Independent 0 1
Total 77 77

Flipped seats

In 2019, eight seats flipped as a result of state legislative special elections.

Seats flipped from D to R

Seats flipped from R to D

Seats flipped from R to I


Electoral competitiveness

See also: Annual State Legislative Competitiveness Report: Vol. 9, 2019

Ballotpedia's 9th Annual State Legislative Competitiveness Report analyzes the features of all 538 state legislative elections taking place in November 2019. Key findings include:

HIGHLIGHTS
  • 299 (55.6 percent) state legislative elections do not have major party competition; they feature a candidate from just one of the two major political parties.
  • There are more races with two major party candidates in 2019 (44.4 percent) than there were in 2015, but fewer than there were in 2011.
  • 103 (19.1 percent) state legislative incumbents are not seeking re-election. Of those, 62 (60.2 percent) are Republicans, 39 (37.9 percent) are Democrats, and two (1.9 percent) are Independents.

    • Only four states hold state legislative elections during odd-numbered years: Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia. This year, both chambers in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Virginia were up for election, along with the New Jersey General Assembly. The last time all of these chambers were up for election at the same time was 2015. The table below shows competitiveness statistics for each odd-year election dating back to 2011.

    Competitiveness between years: 2011 - 2019 (odd years)
    2011 2013 2015 2017 2019
    % Open seats 18.2% 6.8% 13.9% 8.6% 19.1%
    % Incumbents facing primary 20.1% 12.2% 21.8% 16.0% 30.1%
    % Races with both major parties 57.4% 73.6% 38.7% 80.9% 44.4%
    % Defeated incumbents 5.9% 2.9% 5.8% 7.0% 3.9%

    Seats without major party opposition

    See also: Major party candidates with major party competition in the November 2019 state legislative elections

    When a candidate from only one of either the Democratic or Republican parties runs for a state legislative seat, the seat is all but guaranteed to be won by that party. In 2019, 299 state legislative seats do not feature major party competition.

    • 158 state legislative elections (29.4 percent of all state legislative elections) did not feature a Democratic candidate and were likely to be won by a Republican. In other words, Democrats were contesting 70.6 percent of all state legislative seats.
    • 141 elections (26.2 percent of all state legislative elections) did not feature a Republican candidate and were likely to be won by a Democrat. In other words, Republicans were contesting 73.8 percent of all state legislative seats.
    • In two states, more than half of all candidates did not face major party competition.

    Open seats

    See also: Open seats in the 2019 state legislative elections

    In districts where the incumbent legislator does not file for re-election, the seat is guaranteed to a newcomer.

    • 103 state legislative incumbents are not running for re-election. In other words, nearly 20 percent of all state legislative seats won in the 2019 cycle were guaranteed to be held by a newly elected state legislator, the most since 2012.
    • 39 Democratic state legislators (37.9 percent of the total) did not seek re-election.
    • 62 Republican state legislators (60.2 percent of the total) did not seek re-election.
    • Two Independent state legislators did not seek re-election.

    Primary competitiveness

    See also: 2019 primary election competitiveness in state and federal government

    As the chart below shows, 2019 has the highest rate of contested primaries in any odd-year election since 2015, and also the highest rate of incumbents contested in primaries. To learn more about competitiveness in state legislative primaries in 2019, visit this page.

    Primary election competitiveness, 2015-2019 (odd years)
    Year Total seats Open seats Total candidates Democratic primaries contested Republican primaries contested Total contested Incumbents contested in primaries % of incumbents contested in primaries
    2019
    538
    110
    1,064
    70
    58
    26.8%
    129
    30.1%
    2017
    220
    20
    471
    34
    17
    14.2%
    32
    16.0%
    2015
    398
    60
    781
    41
    41
    26.6%
    91
    26.9%

    Defeated incumbents

    See also: Incumbents defeated in 2019's state legislative elections

    As the chart below shows, 2019 only had a higher rate of defeated incumbents than 2013 across the last five odd-year election cycles. The statistics from the five previous cycles are available below.

    Defeated incumbents, 2011-2019 (odd years)
    Year Total seats Incumbents running Incumbents defeated in primary Incumbents defeated in general Incumbents defeated total (percent)
    2019
    538
    435
    9
    8
    17 (3.9%)
    2017
    220
    201
    0
    14
    14 (7.0%)
    2015
    538
    463
    14
    13
    27 (5.8%)
    2013
    220
    205
    2
    4
    6 (2.9%)
    2011
    578
    473
    8
    20
    28 (5.9%)

    Historical competitiveness data

    In 2010, Ballotpedia began using official candidate lists from each state to examine the competitiveness of every state legislative race in the country. Three factors are used in the analysis: the number of incumbents who do not seek re-election, the number of races that feature only one major party candidate, and the number of incumbents who draw primary challengers.

    The following table details the data collected from regularly scheduled state legislative elections between 2010 and 2018. It features the total number of seats up for election, open seats, races that included only one major party candidate, and incumbents who faced primary challengers. The table is organized by even-year elections and odd-year elections because years that have the same number of seats up for elections are similar in terms of their competitiveness.

    Competitiveness in state legislative elections (2010-2018)
    Year Total seats Open seats No major party
    challengers         		Primaries featuring
    incumbents
    Odd-year elections
    2017 220 20 (9.1%) 42 (19.1%) 32 (16.0%)
    2015 538 75 (13.9%) 330 (61.3%) 101 (21.8%)
    2013 220 15 (6.8%) 58 (26.4%) 25 (12.2%)
    2011 578 105 (18.2%) 246 (42.6%) 95 (20.1%)
    Even-year elections
    2018 6,073 1,181 (19.5%) 2,017 (33.2%) 1,064 (21.8%)
    2016 5,923 1,040 (17.6%) 2,477 (41.8%) 1,005 (20.6%)
    2014 6,057 1,030 (17.0%) 2,606 (43.0%) 1,009 (20.1%)
    2012 6,015 1,227 (20.4%) 2,409 (40.0%) 1,175 (24.5%)
    2010 6,125 1,140 (18.6%) 2,000 (32.7%) 1,133 (22.7%)

    Odd-year elections since 2009

    Four states hold state legislative elections in odd-numbered years: Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia. In the last 10 years, there have been between two and eight state legislative chambers up in an election cycle. Only two chambers--the New Jersey General Assembly and the Virginia House of Delegates--hold regular elections every two years. The other six chambers hold elections every two to four years, depending on when the last round of redistricting took place.

    The chart below details the results of state legislative elections from 2009 to 2017. During that period, two chambers flipped party control--both in 2011.[18] Partisan changes ranged from a Republican gain of 27 seats in 2011 to a Democratic gain of 18 seats in 2017.

    Odd-year elections since 2009
    Year Chambers up Flipped chambers Seats up Total Democratic seats pre-election Total Democratic seat change Total Republican seats pre-election Total Republican seat change
    2017 3[19] None 220 110 +18 110 -18
    2015 7[20] None 538 230 0 302 +4
    2013 3[21] None 220 104 +1 113 -2
    2011 8[22] 2[18] 578 287 -24 285 +27
    2009 2[23] None 178 92 -6 86 +6

    Impact of term limits

    See also: Louisiana State Senate elections, 2019 and Louisiana House of Representatives, 2019

    In 2019, 47 state legislators were ineligible to run for office because of term limits. Louisiana was the only state holding elections for a term-limited legislature in 2019.

    Of the 15 state legislatures with term limits, Louisiana is the only state where term limits were imposed by the state’s lawmakers, rather than through the ballot initiative process. Under Louisiana’s term limits, state lawmakers can serve no more than three four-year terms. The state’s term limits law was enacted in 1995. The first year that term limits impacted the ability of incumbents to run for office was in 2007.

    Incumbents

    The following table detailed the number of state legislators unable to run for re-election in 2019 due to term limits broken down by party and chamber.

    2019 term-limited incumbents
    Party # of termed senators # of termed representatives Total
    Democratic 4 13 17
    Republican 12 17 29
    Independent 0 1 1
    Total 16 31 47

    Political context

    The 2019 elections occurred in the aftermath of significant Democratic gains in the 2018 elections and 2017 elections. In the 2018 elections, Democrats flipped a net 308 legislative seats and picked up six legislative chambers, reversing some of the Republican gains made from 2010 to 2016.

    Changes in chamber partisan control, 2010 to 2018

    See also: Partisan composition of state legislatures

    Prior to the 2010 elections, Democrats controlled 60 of the country's 99 state legislative chambers, Republicans controlled 37, and two chambers were not controlled by either party. In the six years that followed, Republicans made significant gains and took control of many of the chambers that were previously held by Democrats. After the 2016 elections, Democrats controlled 31 chambers and Republicans controlled 68.

    In the 2017 and 2018 elections, Democrats increased their number of state legislative chambers to 37, and Republicans saw their number of chambers fall to 61. Control of one chamber, the Alaska House of Representatives, was split between the parties.

    From 2010 to 2018, there were 61 instances where a state legislative chamber changed partisan control. Of these 61 changes, 40 involved a chamber changing from Democratic to Republican control and 17 involved a chamber changing from Republican to Democratic control. The other four involved chambers that were split between the two parties (Oregon House in 2010 and 2012; Montana House in 2010; Alaska House in 2018).

    Most of the changes came during major elections but some also came through special elections (Louisiana House in 2010; Washington Senate in 2017) and party switching (Louisiana House in 2010; Mississippi Senate in 2011). In some cases, the party that gained control did not have a numerical majority but instead controlled the chamber through a bipartisan coalition (i.e., Alaska House in 2016). This table does not account for changes in party control or ties in a chamber that lasted for less than one year and were not the result of a regularly scheduled election. An example of this is the brief period of Democratic control in the Virginia State Senate in 2014.[24]

    From 2010 to 2018, 39 chambers switched control: 24 switched control once, 11 switched control twice, one switched control three times, and three switched control four times.

    For this chart, a red box indicates that the chamber flipped from Democratic to Republican control, and a blue box indicates that the chamber flipped from Republican to Democratic control.[25]

    Chamber changes in partisan control: 2010-2018
    Party changes in 2010 Party changes in 2011 Party changes in 2012 Party changes in 2014 Party changes in 2016 Party changes in 2017 Party changes in 2018 Party changes in 2019
    Alabama Senate Louisiana Senate[26][27] Alaska Senate Colorado Senate Alaska House Washington Senate Alaska House[28] Virginia Senate
    Alabama House Mississippi Senate[29][30] Arkansas Senate Maine Senate Iowa Senate Colorado Senate Virginia House
    Colorado House Mississippi House Arkansas House Minnesota House Kentucky House Maine Senate
    Indiana House Virginia Senate[31] Colorado House Nevada Senate Minnesota Senate Minnesota House
    Iowa House Maine Senate Nevada House Nevada Senate New Hampshire House
    Louisiana House[32][33] Maine House New Hampshire House Nevada House New Hampshire Senate
    Maine Senate Minnesota Senate New Mexico House New Mexico House New York Senate
    Maine House Minnesota House West Virginia Senate
    Michigan House New Hampshire House West Virginia House
    Minnesota Senate Oregon House[34]
    Minnesota House Washington Senate
    Montana House[35]
    New Hampshire Senate
    New Hampshire House
    New York Senate
    North Carolina Senate
    North Carolina House
    Ohio House
    Oregon House[36]
    Pennsylvania House
    Wisconsin Senate
    Wisconsin House
    Total changes: 22 Total changes: 4 Total changes: 11 Total changes: 9 Total changes: 7 Total changes: 1 Total changes: 7 Total changes: 2

    The chart below shows how many chambers each party controlled after the November elections in a given year.

    Partisan control of state legislative chambers: 2010-2018
    Election Democratic chambers Republican chambers Other
    Before 2010 60 37 2
    2010 38 59 2
    2011 35 60 4
    2012 41 56 2
    2013 41 56 2
    2014 30 68 1
    2015 30 68 1
    2016 31 68 0
    2017 32 67 0
    2018 37 61 1
    2019 39 59 1

    State legislatures and presidents

    First two years in office

    Heading into the 2019 election, the Republican Party was coming off a substantial loss of seats during a major election for the first time in more than a decade. Republicans across the country collectively lost 345 seats in 2017 and 2018, marking the third time during the last four presidencies that the party of the sitting president--Donald Trump (R) in this case--lost seats during that president's first midterm election. Democrats lost 702 seats during Barack Obama's (D) first two years in office and 488 seats during Bill Clinton's (D) first two years. Only George W. Bush (R) saw a net gain of seats during his first two years with Republicans winning a net 110 seats.




    Two-term presidents

    It is normal for a party to lose ground in state legislatures when their party controls the presidency for two terms. Between the time of Franklin Roosevelt (D) and George W. Bush (R), the political party of the president lost, on average, 450 state legislative seats while holding the White House. The losses that the Democratic Party sustained under Barack Obama (D), however, were exceptional, rivaled only by the terms of Richard Nixon (R) and Dwight Eisenhower (R), when Republicans lost 800 and 843 seats, respectively.

    Trifectas from 2010 to 2018

    See also: State government trifectas

    A state government trifecta occurs when one political party controls the primary levers of power in a state: the governor's office, the state Senate, and the state House. From 2010 to 2018, the Republican Party increased its number of trifectas and the Democratic Party saw a decline in its trifectas. However, Democrats picked up six trifectas in the 2018 elections, and Republicans lost four trifectas.

    This chart shows the number of trifectas each party held heading into elections from 2010 to 2018, and the number of trifectas following the 2018 elections.

    Trifectas by year: 2010-2018
    Election Democratic trifectas Republican trifectas States under divided government
    Pre-2010 elections 17 10 23
    Pre-2012 elections 11 22 17
    Pre-2014 elections 12 24 14
    Pre-2016 elections 7 23 20
    Pre-2018 elections 8 26 16
    Post-2018 elections 14 22 14


    Analysis of state elections

    See also: Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2019


    In 2019, eight states held elections for executive, legislative, or judicial seats, including elections for seven of the nation's 99 state legislative chambers and for three gubernatorial seats.

    All state elections:
    2019 election analysis: State government trifectas
    Trifecta vulnerability in the 2019 elections
    2019 primary election competitiveness in state government
    State executive elections:
    State executive official elections, 2019
    Gubernatorial elections, 2019
    Secretary of State elections, 2019
    Attorney General elections, 2019
    2019 election analysis: State government triplexes
    State executive official elections without a Democratic or Republican candidate, 2019
    List of candidates in state executive elections, 2019
    State legislative elections:
    State legislative elections, 2019
    State legislative special elections, 2019
    Annual State Legislative Competitiveness Report: Vol. 9, 2019
    State legislative elections without a Democratic or Republican candidate, 2019
    Open seats in the 2019 state legislative elections
    Impact of term limits on state legislative elections in 2019
    2019 primary election competitiveness in state and federal government
    Incumbents defeated in 2019's state legislative elections
    List of candidates in state legislative elections, 2019
    Other state elections:
    State judicial elections, 2019
    2019 ballot measures


    Footnotes

    1. ↑ The remaining six seats were either vacant or held by independent legislators.
    2. ↑ The 99th chamber was controlled by Democrats and Republicans through a power-sharing agreement. The remaining were either vacant or held by independent legislators.
    3. ↑ Louisiana Constitution, "Article 3, Section 5," accessed February 10, 2021
    4. ↑ Louisiana Constitution, "Article 4, Section 3," accessed February 10, 2021
    5. ↑ Held if no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote in the primary.
    6. ↑ Louisiana Republican Legislative Delegation, "Republican Delegation Welcomes Senator Norby Chabert to the Republican Party," accessed October 5, 2017
    7. ↑ Four state senators switched their party affiliation from Democrat to Republican and Republicans flipped two seats in special elections.
    8. ↑ Nola, "Senate election completes Republican takeover of Louisiana government," February 21, 2011
    9. ↑ NOLA, "Louisiana Republicans take first House majority since Reconstruction with latest party switch," December 17, 2010
    10. ↑ Mississippi Constitution, "Article 4, Section 36," accessed November 1, 2021
    11. ↑ Google Books, "Crossing the Aisle: Party Switching by U.S. Legislators in the Postwar Era," accessed August 31, 2017
    12. ↑ Jackson Free Press, "Dems Bolster Power in Legislature," November 14, 2007
    13. ↑ Natchez Democrat, "State Sen. Mettetal joins Republican Party," January 30, 2008
    14. ↑ The Dispatch, "Brown chosen as No. 2 in Senate," January 3, 2012
    15. ↑ New Jersey Constitution, "Article IV, Section II (2.)," accessed February 10, 2021
    16. ↑ Virginia Legislative Information System, "Code of Virginia - § 24.2-214. Election and term of Senators." accessed January 6, 2022
    17. ↑ Virginia Legislative Information System, "Code of Virginia - § 24.2-215. Election and term of members of the House of Delegates." accessed January 6, 2022
    18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 The Mississippi House flipped from Democratic to Republican control, and the Virginia Senate flipped from Democratic control to split control.
    19. ↑ NJ Senate and House; VA House
    20. ↑ LA Senate and House; MS Senate and House; NJ House; VA Senate and House
    21. ↑ NJ Senate and House; VA House
    22. ↑ LA Senate and House; MS Senate and House; NJ Senate and House; VA Senate and House
    23. ↑ NJ House and VA House
    24. ↑ The Washington Post, "Virginia Republicans snatched control of the state Senate, ended budget-Medicaid impasse," June 9, 2014
    25. ↑ 2015 and 2013 are not included because no chambers flipped those years.
    26. ↑ The chamber first changed from Democratic to Republican control in a February 2011 special election. Republicans increased their majority to 24-15 in the 2011 elections.
    27. ↑ Fox News, "GOP Candidate Wins Lousiana [sic] Senate Special Election, Shifting Majority," February 20, 2011
    28. ↑ Chamber went from being controlled by a Democratic-led bipartisan coalition to being led by a coalition with power split between the parties.
    29. ↑ The chamber changed partisan control prior to the 2011 elections due to Democrats switching to the Republican Party and special election wins by Republicans. Republicans increased their majority in the 2011 elections to 31-21.
    30. ↑ The Washington Post, "Southern Democrats in dire straits; 2011 looms large," January 11, 2011
    31. ↑ In the 2011 elections, the chamber changed from a 22-18 Democratic advantage to a 20-20 tie. Republicans effectively controlled the chamber because Lieutenant Gov. Bill Bolling (R) could cast tie-breaking votes.
    32. ↑ This chamber did not hold elections in 2010. It switched partisan control in December 2010 when Democrat Noble Ellington changed his party affiliation to Republican. In the regularly-scheduled 2011 elections, Republicans increased their majority to 58-45.
    33. ↑ Nola.com, "Louisiana Republicans take first House majority since Reconstruction with latest party switch," December 17, 2010
    34. ↑ In this election, the Oregon House changed from a 30-30 tie to a 34-26 Democratic advantage.
    35. ↑ This chamber went from a 50-50 tie to a 68-32 Republican advantage in the 2010 elections.
    36. ↑ This chamber went from a 36-24 Democratic advantage to a 30-30 tie in the 2010 elections.
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