Election results, 2020: State government trifectas

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
2021 →
← 2019



Ballotpedia Election Coverage Badge.png
2020 state-level election analysis
Statewide analysis
State government trifectas
Trifecta vulnerability
Presidential election results by trifecta status
State government triplexes
Officials seeking other offices
Incumbent win rates
Noteworthy third party candidates
State legislatures
Annual Competitiveness Report
Battleground chambers
Open seats • Incumbents defeated
Close races • Flipped seats
Supermajorities and gubernatorial conflict
State executives
Annual Competitiveness Report
Partisan balance of governors
Impact of term limits
Gubernatorial and presidential split-ticket states
Gubernatorial and U.S. Senate elections
Battleground polls
Other 2020 analysis
Federal election analysis
Local election analysis

Updated February 12, 2021

Republicans gained trifecta control in Montana and New Hampshire. Republicans have 23 trifectas (a net gain of two), Democrats have 15 trifectas, and 12 states have divided governments (a net loss of two).

Heading into the 2020 elections, there were 36 state government trifectas—the most since 2013. Republicans had 21 trifectas, and Democrats had 15. The other 14 states had divided government, meaning neither party had a trifecta.

In the November 3, 2020, elections, 44 states held elections for one or more trifecta offices. A state government trifecta occurs when one party holds the governorship and a majority in both chambers of a state's legislature. We identified 16 vulnerable trifectas: eight Democratic and eight Republican. We also identified seven states where one or both parties had the potential to gain a trifecta.

The states under divided government included eight with a Democratic governor and Republican legislature and four with a Republican governor and Democratic legislature. The final two states were Alaska (with a Republican governor and state Senate majority, but a minority coalition in the state House) and Minnesota (with a Democratic governor and state House majority, but a Republican state Senate majority).

Though Republicans won a plurality of seats in the Alaska House, Republicans were unable to organize a majority, resulting in a minority coalition comprised of 16 Democrats, three independents, and two Republicans. Click here to read more.

The Republican flips from divided power to trifecta control in 2020 were in:

  • Montana: Republicans won control of the governorship.
  • New Hampshire: Republicans won control of the state Senate and House.

As a result of the 2020 elections, the country had 23 Republican-held trifectas, 15 Democratic-held trifectas, and 12 divided governments, as illustrated by the table below.

Change in state government trifectas, 2020 elections
Trifecta status Before After Net
Democratic trifectas Democratic Party 15 15 0
Republican trifectas Republican Party 21 23 +2
Divided government 14 12 -2



The map below shows trifecta statuses following the 2020 election.



The map below shows trifecta control in states going into the 2020 election.



Control of legislative chambers

The table below shows control of legislative chambers in each state before and after the 2020 elections.

State legislative chamber control before and after 2020 elections
Pre-election majority Post-election majority Change?
State State Senate State House State Senate State House Y/N
Alabama Republican Republican Republican Republican N/A[1]
Alaska Republican Split Republican Split No
Arizona Republican Republican Republican Republican No
Arkansas Republican Republican Republican Republican No
California Democratic Democratic Democratic Democratic No
Colorado Democratic Democratic Democratic Democratic No
Connecticut Democratic Democratic Democratic Democratic No
Delaware Democratic Democratic Democratic Democratic No
Florida Republican Republican Republican Republican No
Georgia Republican Republican Republican Republican No
Hawaii Democratic Democratic Democratic Democratic No
Idaho Republican Republican Republican Republican No
Illinois Democratic Democratic Democratic Democratic No
Indiana Republican Republican Republican Republican No
Iowa Republican Republican Republican Republican No
Kansas Republican Republican Republican Republican No
Kentucky Republican Republican Republican Republican No
Louisiana Republican Republican Republican Republican N/A[1]
Maine Democratic Democratic Democratic Democratic No
Maryland Democratic Democratic Democratic Democratic N/A[1]
Massachusetts Democratic Democratic Democratic Democratic No
Michigan Republican Republican Republican Republican No
Minnesota Republican Democratic Republican Democratic No
Mississippi Republican Republican Republican Republican N/A[1]
Missouri Republican Republican Republican Republican No
Montana Republican Republican Republican Republican No
Nebraska Republican Republican No
Nevada Democratic Democratic Democratic Democratic No
New Hampshire Democratic Democratic Republican Republican Yes
New Jersey Democratic Democratic Democratic Democratic N/A[1]
New Mexico Democratic Democratic Democratic Democratic No
New York Democratic Democratic Democratic Democratic No
North Carolina Republican Republican Republican Republican No
North Dakota Republican Republican Republican Republican No
Ohio Republican Republican Republican Republican No
Oklahoma Republican Republican Republican Republican No
Oregon Democratic Democratic Democratic Democratic No
Pennsylvania Republican Republican Republican Republican No
Rhode Island Democratic Democratic Democratic Democratic No
South Carolina Republican Republican Republican Republican No
South Dakota Republican Republican Republican Republican No
Tennessee Republican Republican Republican Republican No
Texas Republican Republican Republican Republican No
Utah Republican Republican Republican Republican No
Vermont Democratic Democratic Democratic Democratic No
Virginia Democratic Democratic Democratic Democratic N/A[1]
Washington Democratic Democratic Democratic Democratic No
West Virginia Republican Republican Republican Republican No
Wisconsin Republican Republican Republican Republican No
Wyoming Republican Republican Republican Republican No

See also

v • e
Ballotpedia
About
Editorial Content
Geoff Pallay, Director of Editorial Content and Editor-in-Chief • Ken Carbullido, Vice President of Election Product and Technology Strategy • Norm Leahy, Senior Editor • Daniel Anderson, Managing Editor • Ryan Byrne, Managing Editor • Cory Eucalitto, Managing Editor • Mandy Gillip, Managing Editor • Doug Kronaizl, Local Elections Project Manager • Jaclyn Beran • Marielle Bricker • Joseph Brusgard • Emma Burlingame • Kelly Coyle • Thomas Ellis • Frank Festa • Nicole Fisher • Brianna Hosea • Joseph Greaney • Thomas Grobben • Jaime Healy-Plotkin • Tyler King • Glorie Martinez • Nathan Maxwell • Ellie Mikus • Jackie Mitchell • Ellen Morrissey • Mackenzie Murphy • Kaley Platek • Samantha Post • Adam Powell • Ethan Rice • Spencer Richardson • Victoria Rose • Briana Ryan • Myj Saintyl • Maddy Salucka • Maddie Sinclair Johnson • Abbey Smith • Alexis Thacker • Janie Valentine • Joel Williams • Samuel Wonacott • Trenton Woodcox
v • e
State government trifectas and triplexes
Overview
Ballotpedia Election Coverage Badge.png
Party control of state government
Trifecta vulnerability analyses by year
2018 • 2019 • 2020 • 2021 • 2022 • 2023 • 2024
Post-election analyses by year
2018 • 2019 (trifectas, triplexes) • 2020 (trifectas, triplexes, presidential) • 2021 (trifectas, triplexes) • 2022 (trifectas, triplexes) • 2023 (trifectas, triplexes) • 2024 (trifectas, triplexes)
  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 This state did not hold state legislative elections in 2020.
Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Election_results,_2020:_State_government_trifectas&oldid=9004709"