Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
2018 election analysis: Number of state legislators by party
Updated 4:00pm EST, December 26, 2018
This content is part of Ballotpedia's analysis of the 2018 midterm elections. For comprehensive election results, click here.
Democrats had a net gain of 308 seats in the 87 state legislative chambers that held regularly-scheduled elections on November 6, 2018. Republicans lost 294 seats in the elections, and third-party and independent candidates lost 14 seats.
Democrats gained 65 state senate seats. Republicans lost 60 Senate seats, and third-party and independent candidates lost five.
Democrats gained 243 state house seats. Republicans lost 234 state house seats, and third-party and independent candidates lost nine.
The charts below show the total changes in state legislative seats, state senate seats, and state house seats, respectively.
| Change in state legislative partisan composition, 2018 elections | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Before | After | Net | |
| Democrats |
2,815 | 3,123 | +308 | |
| Republicans |
3,757 | 3,463 | -294 | |
| Other/3rd parties |
38 | 24 | -14 | |
| Total | 6,561 | 6,561 | -- | |
| Change in state senate partisan composition, 2018 elections | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Before | After | Net | |
| Democrats |
651 | 716 | +65 | |
| Republicans |
947 | 887 | -60 | |
| Other/3rd parties |
8 | 3 | -5 | |
| Total | 1,606 | 1,606 | -- | |
| Change in state house partisan composition, 2018 elections | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Before | After | Net | |
| Democrats |
2,164 | 2,407 | +243 | |
| Republicans |
2,810 | 2,576 | -234 | |
| Other/3rd parties |
30 | 21 | -9 | |
| Total | 5,004 | 5,004 | -- | |
Flipped seats
The map below contains a state-by-state breakdown of state legislative seats that changed party control in the November 2018 elections. Hover over a state to view how many seats each party flipped.
Visit this page to see the chambers that changed partisan control in the 2018 elections: 2018 election analysis: Partisan balance of state legislative chambers
Visit the following pages to see where Democrats and Republicans gained and lost seats in 2018:
- State legislative chambers where Democrats lost seats, 2018
- State legislative chambers where Democrats gained seats, 2018
- State legislative chambers where Republicans gained seats, 2018
- State legislative chambers where Republicans lost seats, 2018
See also
- 2018 election analysis: State government trifectas
- 2018 election analysis: Partisan balance of state legislative chambers
- 2018 election analysis: Incumbents defeated in state legislative elections
- 2018 election analysis: Partisan balance of governors
- 2018 election analysis: State government triplexes
- 2018 election analysis: Control of the U.S. House
- 2018 election analysis: Control of the U.S. Senate
- 2018 election analysis: Was 2018 a wave election?
Footnotes