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Open seats in state legislative elections, 2025

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Last updated on August 25, 2025
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There are 180 state legislative seats up for election on November 4, 2025, in two states. Of that total, there are eight open seats, guaranteeing at least 4% of all seats will be won by newcomers. That was the lowest by percentage of any odd-year cycle since 2011.

An open seat is one where no incumbent filed to run, meaning it is guaranteed to be won by a newcomer. Learn more about the terms and methodologies used in this analysis.

Ballotpedia uses the number and percentage of open seats to help determine the overall competitiveness of an election cycle. A greater number of open seats guarantees more newcomers entering legislatures and typically results in more candidates running for office. A smaller number of open seats guarantees fewer newcomers and typically results in fewer candidates running for office.

In 2025:

  • There were four open Democratic seats, those most recently held by Democrats at the time of filing.
  • There were four open Republican seats, those most recently held by Republicans at the time of filing.
  • The total number of open seats—eight—was nine fewer and a 53% decrease from 2021.



    • Open state legislative seats, 2025
    Chamber Seats
    Democratic Republican Other Total
    # %
    House 180 4 4 0 8 4.4%
    Senate 0 0 0 0 0 -
    Total 180 4 4 0 8 4.4%


    Click [show] on the table below to view open seat statistics by state in 2025. Hover over column headings to learn more about their contents.

    Historical comparison

    Factors like the number of chambers holding elections, number of seats up for election, term limits, and redistricting can effect the number of open state legislative seats in a given year. In 2025, for example, there were two chambers holding elections for 180 total seats. In 2023, eight chambers held elections for 578 total seats, meaning greater potential for end-of-term retirements and incumbent ineligibility due to term limits. Elections following redistricting may also feature more open seats if incumbents are drawn into each other's districts. Incumbents may retire or challenge the other incumbent(s) for the overlapping district, leaving other districts open.

    The chart below shows a breakdown of open seats from 2011 to 2025. The "Other" value includes seats left open by minor party and independent officeholders.


    Click [show] on the table below to view overall open seat statistics by state from 2011 to 2025. Hover over column headings to learn more about their contents.

    By state

    Overview

    New Jersey

    There were 80 seats up for election in New Jersey. Of that total, four seats (5.0%) were open.

    In 2025

    Statistics from 2025 are shown below. Hover over column headings to learn more about their contents.

    Open state legislative seats in New Jersey, 2025
    Chamber Seats
    Democratic Republican Other Total
    # %
    House 80 4 0 0 4 5.0%
    Senate Did not hold elections
    Total 80 4 0 0 4 5.0%

    2011-2025

    Historical open seat statistics are shown below. Hover over column headings to learn more about their contents.

    Open state legislative seats in New Jersey, 2011-2025
    Year Seats
    Democratic Republican Other Total
    # %
    2011 120 7 8 0 15 12.5%
    2013 120 4 2 0 6 5.0%
    2015 80 5 2 0 7 8.8%
    2017 120 5 8 0 13 10.8%
    2019 80 1 3 0 4 5.0%
    2021 120 6 6 0 12 10.0%
    2023 120 18 10 0 28 23.3%
    2025 80 4 0 0 4 5.0%


    See also:

    Virginia

    There were 100 seats up for election in Virginia. Of that total, four seats (4.0%) were open.

    In 2025

    Statistics from 2025 are shown below. Hover over column headings to learn more about their contents.

    Open state legislative seats in Virginia, 2025
    Chamber Seats
    Democratic Republican Other Total
    # %
    House 100 0 4 0 4 4.0%
    Senate Did not hold elections
    Total 100 0 4 0 4 4.0%

    2011-2025

    Historical open seat statistics are shown below. Hover over column headings to learn more about their contents.

    Open state legislative seats in Virginia, 2011-2025
    Year Seats
    Democratic Republican Other Total
    # %
    2011 140 9 10 1 20 14.3%
    2013 100 2 6 1 9 9.0%
    2015 140 7 8 0 15 10.7%
    2017 100 1 6 0 7 7.0%
    2019 140 5 11 0 16 11.4%
    2021 100 1 4 0 5 5.0%
    2023 140 26 18 0 44 31.4%
    2025 100 0 4 0 4 4.0%


    See also:

    Impact of term limits

    A seat can become open when an incumbent is term-limited. Fifteen state legislatures have term limits, which require incumbents to leave office after serving a certain length of time.

    Neither New Jersey nor Virginia have term limits for state legislators.

    Terms and methodologies

    Incumbent

    See also: Incumbent

    Ballotpedia defines incumbency by chamber. Under this definition, if an incumbent in House District 1 filed for re-election in House District 2, they would still be counted as an incumbent due to their remaining in the same chamber even though they ran for a different seat. If an incumbent in House District 1 filed to run in Senate District 2, they would not be counted as an incumbent in the Senate race since they are coming from a different chamber.

    Ballotpedia uses the term re-elect to refer to any incumbent who is running in an election to retain their office, including incumbents who were originally appointed to their position.

    Open seat

    An open seat is one where no incumbents filed to run, or filed but withdrew and did not appear on any ballot for the seat. Open seat figures freeze at the time of the primary unless an incumbent did not participate in the primary but later chose to seek re-election as a minor party or independent candidate, in which case the seat for which they filed would not be counted as open.

    If a seat was open at the time of the primary, but a non-incumbent candidate later assumed office (via special election or appointment), the seat would still be counted as open since the original incumbent did not file to run in the primary.

    Seat

    State legislative seats represent the total number of candidates who can be elected. These totals may differ from state legislative districts.

    In most states, every state legislative district includes a single seat. These are referred to as single-member state legislative districts.

    Certain states have multi-member state legislative districts, where a single district contains multiple seats. In these districts, open seat figures pertain to individual seats. For example, if a multi-member district contains three seats and two incumbents file for re-election but one does not, that one seat would be counted as an open seat.

    Difference between open seats and retiring incumbents

    An open seat is one where no incumbents filed to run. Typically, this occurs when an incumbent leaves office. But incumbents may choose to run for some other seat within the same chamber. When this happens, that incumbent's original seat can be left open without the incumbent leaving office.

    See also

    Footnotes

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