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State government triplexes
Party Control of State Government |
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Trifectas |
A trifecta is when one political party holds the governorship, a majority in the state senate, and a majority in the state house in a state's government. |
Current trifecta status Party control of state government Historical and potential changes in trifectas |
Triplexes |
A triplex is when one political party holds the positions of governor, attorney general, and secretary of state in a state's government. |
Current triplex status Conflict between governors and AGs Conflict between governors and SoS |
Analysis |
Trifecta vulnerability in the 2024 elections Trifectas and triplexes Trifectas and legislatively referred constitutional amendments Who Runs the States report |
State government triplex is a term that describes when one political party holds the following three positions in a state's government: governor, attorney general, and secretary of state.[1]
As of September 10, 2025, there are 25 Republican triplexes, 20 Democratic triplexes, and 5 divided governments where neither party holds triplex control.
In states where the attorney general or secretary of state are appointed by the governor, Ballotpedia considers the office to be held by the governor's party for the purposes of defining triplexes until the governor appoints a specific person to those offices.[2] If a state does not have all three triplex offices, Ballotpedia considers that state a triplex if one party controls both triplex offices in that state.
This page includes the following additional information regarding state government triplexes:
- An overview of state government triplexes, including;
- A list of states with divided control;
- A list of states with single-party control
- An overview of changes in state government triplex status by year; and
- How triplexes align with trifectas.
Overview of state government triplexes
States with divided control
This table contains states where control of the top executive positions is split between the parties or one or more of the positions are held by independent or nonpartisan officers not appointed by the governor.
States with divided control | |||
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State | Governor | Attorney General | Secretary of State |
Kansas | Laura Kelly | Kris Kobach | Scott Schwab |
Kentucky | Andy Beshear | Russell Coleman | Michael Adams |
Nevada | Joe Lombardo | Aaron Ford | Cisco Aguilar |
Pennsylvania | Josh Shapiro | Dave Sunday | Al Schmidt |
Vermont | Phil Scott | Gordon Rhea | Sarah Copeland Hanzas |
States with single-party control
Democratic
Republican
Changes in triplex status
Changes in 2024
No triplex status changes occurred in 2024.Triplexes and trifectas
- See also: State government trifectas and triplexes
A state government trifecta is a term to describe when one political party holds majorities in both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.
As of September 10, 2025, there are 23 states with both a Republican trifecta and triplex, 15 states with both a Democratic trifecta and triplex, and 12 whose trifecta and triplex statuses are different.
Currently, 38 of the 50 states have a trifecta and a triplex of the same party.
State breakdown
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ Ballotpedia chose to highlight these offices because they are typically the most visible positions in states and serve important administrative functions.
- ↑ This is because it is very uncommon for an attorney general or secretary of state appointed by a governor to often be in direct conflict with that governor.
- ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "Acting Secretary of the Commonwealth," accessed April 17, 2023
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