Updated January 11, 2021

In the 50 states, there are 99 state legislative chambers altogether. Eighty-six of those chambers held legislative elections in 2020. The general election for state legislative races took place on November 3, 2020.

Republicans won new majorities in two chambers: the New Hampshire State Senate and New Hampshire House of Representatives. There were no chambers where Democrats won new majorities in 2020. In one other chamber, the Alaska House of Representatives, a minority coalition remained in control.

Heading into the 2020 elections, Republicans held a majority in more chambers than Democrats. There was a Republican majority in 59 chambers and a Democratic majority in 39 chambers. In the Alaska House, there was a power-sharing agreement between the parties as part of a coalition.

A state government trifecta is a term to describe single-party government when one political party holds three positions in a state's government. Heading into the 2020 elections, there were 36 trifectas: 15 Democratic and 21 Republican. The other 14 states were under divided government, meaning they had neither a Democratic nor a Republican trifecta. As a result of the elections, Republicans gained trifectas in Montana and New Hampshire, which both entered the election under divided government.

Ballotpedia identified 24 state legislative battleground chambers in 2020. Heading into the 2020 elections, Democrats controlled eight battleground chambers and Republicans controlled 15. The other battleground chamber was the Alaska House, which was split under a power-sharing agreement, although Republicans had a 22-15 majority.

Ballotpedia identified 16 states with vulnerable trifectas and seven states where new trifectas could form ahead of the 2020 elections. Click here for more.

The 2020 elections came after the Democratic Party gained chambers and trifectas in 2018. As a result of the 2018 elections, Democrats gained majorities in five chambers and a power-sharing agreement in the Alaska House. Democrats also gained trifectas in six states. Democrats continued that momentum in 2019, where they won majorities in the Virginia Senate and Virginia House, gained a trifecta in Virginia, and broke the Republican trifecta in Kentucky.

On this page, you will find:

The partisan balance of all state legislative seats
Chambers that changed party control in the 2020 elections
A list of incumbent defeated by election
Information on trifectas
A list of elections by state
Information on battleground chambers
Information on special elections in 2020
An overview of competitiveness in 2020
Historical competitiveness data
Analysis of margins of victory in 2018
How term limits impacted the 2020 elections
Political context surrounding the 2020 elections

Partisan balance

See also: Partisan composition of state senates and Partisan composition of state houses

As of March 16th, 2025, Republicans controlled 55.69% of all state legislative seats nationally, while Democrats held 43.68%. Republicans held a majority in 58 chambers, and Democrats held the majority in 39 chambers. Two chambers (Alaska House and Alaska Senate) were organized under multipartisan, power-sharing coalitions.

Partisan balance of all 7,386 state legislative seats
Legislative chamber			Other	Vacant
State senates	836	1,127	3	7
State houses	2,390	2,986	19	18
Total:	3,226	4,113	22	25

On Election Day 2010, Democrats held 4,031 state legislative seats nationwide to Republicans' 3,246. Republicans gained seats in every even-numbered election year through 2016. On Election Day 2016, Republicans held 4,102 state legislative seats to Democrats' 3,150.

States where one party gained seats in both chambers

See also: Election results, 2020: Number of state legislators by party

There were 19 states where either Democrats, Republicans, or both had a net gain of state legislative seats in both state legislative chambers.^[1] Democrats had a net gain in both legislative chambers of six states. Republicans had a net gain in both legislative chambers of 15 states.^[2] This analysis includes seats vacant at the time of the election as its own category. This means a party may be recorded as gaining a seat that was most recently held by a member of the same party if that seat was vacant at the time of the election.

The table below shows these states and the net gains made by each party in both state legislative chambers. Democratic gains are shown on the left. Republican gains are shown on the right.

States where one party gained seats in both chambers, 2020
Democratic			Republican
State	Net House gains	Net Senate gains	State	Net House gains	Net Senate gains
Connecticut	+6	+2	Arkansas	+3	+2
Georgia	+5	+1	Florida	+7	+1
Massachusetts	+2	+1	Kentucky	+13	+2
Missouri	+1	+2	Missouri	+1	+1
New York	+3	+3	Montana	+9	+1
Vermont	+4	+1	Nevada	+3	+1
			New Hampshire	+57	+4
			North Dakota	+1	+3
			Ohio	+3	+1
			Oregon	+1	+1
			South Carolina	+3	+3
			South Dakota	+3	+2
			Vermont	+3	+1
			West Virginia	+17	+3
			Wyoming	+2	+3

Election results, 2020: State legislative chambers that changed party control

See also: Election results, 2020: State legislative chambers that changed party control

Updated February 21, 2021

Eighty-six of 99 state legislative chambers across 44 states held general elections on November 3, 2020. Partisan control flipped in two chambers—Republicans gained majorities in the New Hampshire House of Representatives and the New Hampshire State Senate.

Heading into the 2020 elections, Republicans had majorities in 59 chambers and Democrats had majorities in 39 chambers. In the Alaska House, there was a power-sharing agreement between the parties as part of a coalition.

The National Conference of State Legislatures' Tim Storey and Wendy Underhill wrote, "With just two chamber flips so far, it looks like 2020 will see the least party control changes on Election Day since at least 1944 when only four chambers changed hands. In the 1926 and 1928 elections, only one chamber changed hands."^[3]

As a result of the 2020 elections, Republicans gained trifectas—single-party control of the governorship and both state legislative chambers—in two states: New Hampshire and Montana. In New Hampshire, Gov. Chris Sununu (R) won re-election. In Montana, Republicans maintained majorities in both legislative chambers and Greg Gianforte (R) won the gubernatorial race.

In 2018, when 87 chambers held elections, six chambers changed partisan control. Democrats captured the Colorado State Senate, Maine State Senate, Minnesota House of Representatives, New Hampshire House of Representatives, New Hampshire State Senate, and New York State Senate.

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^[4]
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^[4]
Maine	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic	No
Maryland	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic	N/A^[4]
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^[4]
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^[4]
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^[4]
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

Margin of victory

See also: Margin of victory analysis for the 2020 state legislative elections

Across all 5,875 seats up for election, the average margin of victory was 27.0%. An electoral margin of victory (MOV) is the difference between the share of votes cast for the winning candidate and the second-place candidate in an election. Only races with more than one candidate were included in this average. The chart below displays the breakdown of races by the winner's partisan affiliation and margin of victory for each state legislative chamber with single-member districts which held elections in 2021. A darker shade of red or blue indicates a larger margin for that party.

The chart below displays the breakdown of races by the winner's partisan affiliation and margin of victory for each state legislative chamber with single-member districts which held elections in 2020. A darker shade of red or blue indicates a larger margin for that party. The table below displays how many seats were up for election in each chamber and how many seats each party won. It also includes a breakdown of how many seats Democrats and Republicans won by 10% or less and without opposition in each chamber, as well as the average margin of victory for each party. Click on a particular header to sort the table.

Average MOV for state legislative elections, 2020
Chamber	Seats up for election	Seats won by Democrats	Seats won by Democrats by margins of 10% or less	Seats won by unopposed Democrats	Average margin of victory for Democrats	Seats won by Republicans	Seats won by Republicans by margins of 10% or less	Seats won by unopposed Republicans	Average margin of victory for Republicans	Seats won by independent and minor-party candidates
Alaska House of Representatives	40	15	5	4	17.6%	21	3	4	30.5%	4
Alaska State Senate	10	3	1	0	23.7%	7	1	1	30.4%	0
Arizona House of Representatives	60	13	2	5	14.5%	17	10	1	9.4%	0
Arizona State Senate	30	14	5	1	26.6%	16	4	1	39.9%	0
Arkansas House of Representatives	100	22	14	2	17.3%	78	5	43	33.8%	0
Arkansas State Senate	17	2	1	0	29.8%	15	1	8	27.0%	0
California State Assembly	80	60	2	3	33.1%	19	6	2	17.8%	1
California State Senate	20	17	0	4	27.1%	3	2	0	8.7%	0
Colorado House of Representatives	65	41	5	2	28.7%	24	3	1	27.2%	0
Colorado State Senate	18	11	0	0	37.4%	7	2	0	14.2%	0
Connecticut House of Representatives	151	97	21	24	28.5%	54	19	7	15.2%	0
Connecticut State Senate	36	24	3	6	22.6%	12	8	1	7.6%	0
Delaware House of Representatives	41	26	14	0	35.3%	15	2	6	28.0%	0
Delaware State Senate	11	8	2	2	26.5%	3	0	2	10.7%	0
Florida House of Representatives	120	42	23	5	21.8%	78	17	1	21.9%	0
Florida State Senate	20	9	1	1	31.1%	11	2	0	20.2%	0
Georgia House of Representatives	180	77	55	7	22.0%	103	13	38	33.9%	0
Georgia State Senate	56	22	14	1	34.9%	34	2	13	34.1%	0
Hawaii House of Representatives	51	47	17	2	40.9%	4	1	0	20.6%	0
Hawaii State Senate	13	12	6	0	36.1%	1	0	0	16.7%	0
Idaho House of Representatives	70	12	2	2	30.1%	58	2	24	40.9%	0
Idaho State Senate	35	7	1	1	20.5%	28	1	15	40.5%	0
Illinois House of Representatives	118	73	40	9	35.9%	45	10	7	30.1%	0
Illinois State Senate	20	17	8	3	15.9%	3	0	1	76.4%	0
Indiana House of Representatives	100	29	14	2	24.7%	71	7	17	30.8%	0
Indiana State Senate	25	7	6	1	5.1%	18	1	3	30.8%	0
Iowa House of Representatives	100	41	18	7	17.2%	59	11	9	26.8%	0
Iowa State Senate	25	6	2	2	18.6%	19	2	3	24.6%	0
Kansas House of Representatives	125	39	11	10	21.1%	86	13	34	27.7%	0
Kansas State Senate	40	11	1	6	18.6%	29	7	10	24.2%	0
Kentucky House of Representatives	100	25	15	4	17.6%	75	9	18	36.7%	0
Kentucky State Senate	19	5	4	0	99.7%	14	2	3	42.5%	0
Maine House of Representatives	151	80	23	13	20.2%	67	16	10	21.5%	4
Maine State Senate	35	22	2	6	15.8%	13	0	0	25.8%	0
Massachusetts House of Representatives	160	129	102	5	29.4%	30	7	15	12.7%	1
Massachusetts State Senate	40	37	29	2	38.2%	3	0	1	15.5%	0
Michigan House of Representatives	110	52	1	9	36.6%	58	5	0	26.7%	0
Minnesota House of Representatives	134	70	2	14	31.1%	64	11	0	28.9%	0
Minnesota State Senate	67	33	0	6	31.8%	34	8	0	27.0%	0
Missouri House of Representatives	163	49	27	7	27.4%	114	5	51	35.0%	0
Missouri State Senate	17	7	1	1	49.3%	10	2	3	35.6%	0
Montana House of Representatives	100	33	6	5	25.5%	67	9	23	32.3%	0
Montana State Senate	25	8	1	3	17.9%	17	2	7	29.9%	0
Nevada State Assembly	42	26	4	5	25.1%	16	3	7	19.3%	0
Nevada State Senate	10	6	3	1	22.9%	4	2	0	18.3%	0
New Hampshire House of Representatives	400	105	9	66	10.3%	99	71	1	7.9%	0
New Hampshire State Senate	24	10	0	2	19.1%	14	4	0	13.2%	0
New Mexico House of Representatives	70	44	7	12	25.1%	25	5	13	18.0%	1
New Mexico State Senate	42	27	1	5	28.0%	15	3	8	16.7%	0
New York State Assembly	150	106	39	8	43.3%	43	3	8	23.1%	1
New York State Senate	63	42	11	7	39.1%	21	6	5	18.7%	0
North Carolina House of Representatives	120	51	7	10	27.8%	69	12	4	26.2%	0
North Carolina State Senate	50	22	0	5	27.2%	28	4	0	27.3%	0
North Dakota House of Representatives	46	2	0	2	2.0%	21	5	3	16.1%	0
North Dakota State Senate	23	1	0	1	8.4%	22	6	7	25.8%	0
Ohio House of Representatives	99	35	7	8	26.7%	64	5	4	39.8%	0
Ohio State Senate	16	1	0	0	19.7%	15	4	0	26.1%	0
Oklahoma House of Representatives	101	19	6	5	17.3%	82	3	58	31.7%	0
Oklahoma State Senate	24	2	1	1	1.8%	22	1	10	36.9%	0
Oregon House of Representatives	60	37	6	8	26.2%	23	2	0	30.2%	0
Oregon State Senate	15	6	4	1	21.1%	9	2	0	28.6%	0
Pennsylvania House of Representatives	203	90	33	11	27.3%	113	14	34	26.5%	0
Pennsylvania State Senate	25	10	5	2	13.5%	15	2	1	31.3%	0
Rhode Island House of Representatives	75	65	40	7	25.7%	10	2	4	18.2%	0
Rhode Island State Senate	38	33	19	2	28.8%	5	1	2	20.1%	0
South Carolina House of Representatives	124	43	19	6	32.6%	81	3	47	31.1%	0
South Carolina State Senate	46	16	6	4	14.4%	30	2	9	28.9%	0
South Dakota House of Representatives	70	7	3	4	4.5%	30	9	9	12.7%	0
South Dakota State Senate	35	3	0	2	9.2%	32	1	10	34.7%	0
Tennessee House of Representatives	99	26	18	3	29.0%	73	4	34	41.9%	0
Tennessee State Senate	16	2	1	1	3.5%	14	1	3	43.4%	0
Texas House of Representatives	150	67	26	10	27.8%	83	16	22	29.8%	0
Texas State Senate	16	8	0	1	36.7%	8	0	1	34.5%	0
Utah House of Representatives	75	17	2	3	24.0%	58	5	11	38.8%	0
Utah State Senate	15	2	0	0	21.3%	13	0	5	47.0%	0
Vermont House of Representatives	150	70	23	17	17.9%	29	10	10	12.2%	5
Vermont State Senate	30	7	0	4	9.8%	6	3	2	13.4%	0
Washington House of Representatives	98	57	6	6	30.6%	41	9	4	23.6%	0
Washington State Senate	25	12	1	3	22.4%	13	3	3	17.9%	0
West Virginia House of Delegates	100	18	1	11	8.6%	49	10	10	26.5%	0
West Virginia State Senate	17	3	0	1	10.4%	14	4	2	22.2%	0
Wisconsin State Assembly	99	38	6	8	30.9%	61	8	10	24.8%	0
Wisconsin State Senate	16	6	2	1	56.3%	10	2	2	18.7%	0
Wyoming House of Representatives	60	7	4	3	3.0%	51	3	33	33.7%	2
Wyoming State Senate	15	0	0	0	—	15	0	9	33.9%	0
Totals	5,875	2,503	827	444	26.7%	2,950	484	788	27.3%	44

In 2020, there were 56 races decided by margins of 0.5% or smaller.

State legislative races decided by 0.5% or less, 2020
District	Winner	Runner-up	Margin (%)	Margin (number of votes)
Florida State Senate District 37	Ileana Garcia	Jose Javier Rodriguez	32	0.01%
West Virginia House of Delegates District 51	John Williams	Cindy Frich	33	0.02%
New Hampshire House of Representatives Hillsborough 21	Mary Mayville	Jack Balcom	22	0.02%
Connecticut House of Representatives District 90	Craig Fishbein	Jim Jinks	7	0.05%
Pennsylvania State Senate District 45	James Brewster	Nicole Ziccarelli	69	0.05%
Ohio State Senate District 16	Stephanie Kunze	Crystal Lett	116	0.05%
Washington State Senate District 5	Mark Mullet	Ingrid Anderson	58	0.07%
West Virginia House of Delegates District 50	Joey Garcia	Michael Angelucci	65	0.10%
Arkansas House of Representatives District 38	Carlton Wing	Matthew Stallings	16	0.11%
New Hampshire House of Representatives Hillsborough 19	Dick Marston	William E. Zackeroff	10	0.12%
Alaska House of Representatives District 27	Liz Snyder	Lance Pruitt	11	0.12%
New Hampshire House of Representatives Carroll 3	Jerry Knirk	Susan Ticehurst	11	0.12%
New Hampshire House of Representatives Merrimack 20	Nick White	David Doherty	20	0.13%
Minnesota House of Representatives District 6A	Julie Sandstede	Robert Farnsworth	30	0.14%
New Hampshire House of Representatives Strafford 7	Timothy Fontneau	Harrison deBree	4	0.14%
Arkansas House of Representatives District 32	Ashley Hudson	Jim Sorvillo	24	0.14%
North Dakota House of Representatives District 18	Corey Mock	Cindy Kaml	16	0.16%
West Virginia House of Delegates District 16	John Mandt Jr.	Mark Bates	71	0.17%
New Hampshire House of Representatives Hillsborough 34	Melbourne Moran Jr.	Charlie Hall	18	0.17%
New Hampshire House of Representatives Hillsborough 15	Erika Connors	Macy McNair	17	0.18%
Vermont House of Representatives Grand Isle-Chittenden District	Michael Morgan	Mitzi Johnson	20	0.19%
New Hampshire House of Representatives Hillsborough 43	Benjamin Baroody	Joseph Lachance	77	0.20%
New Hampshire House of Representatives Hillsborough 4	Lisa Post	Jennifer Bernet	22	0.21%
Oregon House of Representatives District 52	Anna Williams	Jeffrey Helfrich	84	0.21%
West Virginia House of Delegates District 35	Kayla Young	Kathy Ferguson	247	0.24%
New Hampshire House of Representatives Hillsborough 38	Stephanie Hyland	Riche Colcombe	70	0.28%
Missouri House of Representatives District 21	Robert Sauls	Vicki Riley	45	0.29%
New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 21	Robert Cushing	Katherine Harake	124	0.32%
Texas House of Representatives District 112	Angie Chen Button	Brandy Chambers	222	0.32%
New Hampshire House of Representatives Hillsborough 22	Tony Labranche	Peter Hansen	74	0.34%
Iowa State Senate District 22	Sarah Trone Garriott	Scott Cirksena	164	0.36%
South Carolina House of Representatives District 90	Justin Bamberg	Glenn Posey	59	0.36%
Minnesota House of Representatives District 38B	Ami Wazlawik	Elliott Engen	100	0.36%
South Dakota House of Representatives District 12	Arch Beal	Erin Royer	66	0.37%
Oklahoma House of Representatives District 46	Jacob Rosecrants	Nancy Sangirardi	79	0.38%
Utah House of Representatives District 45	Steven Eliason	Wendy Davis	77	0.40%
Texas House of Representatives District 135	Jon Rosenthal	Justin Ray	300	0.40%
Michigan House of Representatives District 19	Laurie Pohutsky	Martha Ptashnik	237	0.40%
Arizona State Senate District 28	Christine Marsh	Kate Brophy McGee	497	0.41%
Wisconsin State Assembly District 73	Nick Milroy	Keith Kern	139	0.42%
New Hampshire House of Representatives Hillsborough 28	Tom Lanzara	William Bordy	67	0.42%
Montana State Senate District 38	Edith McClafferty	Jim Buterbaugh	57	0.43%
New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 5	Wayne MacDonald	Anne Warner	412	0.45%
Missouri House of Representatives District 135	Betsy Fogle	Steve Helms	79	0.45%
Illinois House of Representatives District 68	Dave Vella	John M. Cabello	239	0.45%
Kansas House of Representatives District 48	Jennifer Day	Terry Frederick	62	0.45%
New Hampshire State Senate District 11	Gary Daniels	Shannon Chandley	159	0.46%
New Hampshire House of Representatives Hillsborough 16	Joshua Query	Robert Kliskey	35	0.46%
Kansas House of Representatives District 102	Jason Probst	John Whitesel	31	0.46%
Minnesota House of Representatives District 19A	Susan Akland	Jeff Brand	108	0.47%
Kansas House of Representatives District 16	Linda Featherston	Rashard Young	67	0.47%
New Hampshire House of Representatives Strafford 2	Joseph Pitre	Emmanuel Krasner	23	0.47%
New Hampshire House of Representatives Hillsborough 23	Maria Perez	Michael Thornton	142	0.48%
Vermont House of Representatives Orange-1 District	Samantha Lefebvre	Kate MacLean	40	0.48%
Vermont House of Representatives Rutland-2 District	Arthur Peterson	Dave Potter	42	0.49%
Nevada State Senate District 5	Carrie Buck	Kristee Watson	329	0.49%

Incumbents defeated in 2020 elections

Incumbents defeated in primary elections

In 2020, 155 incumbents were defeated in primary elections.

60 Democratic incumbents were defeated. In other words, 87.9% of all Democratic incumbents who ran in a primary won.^[5]

94 Republican incumbents were defeated. In other words, 82.1% of all Republican incumbents who ran in a primary won.^[6]

Click [show] below to see a full list of incumbents defeated in primary elections.

Incumbents defeated in state legislative primaries, 2020
Incumbent	Party	Chamber	Year incumbent took office	Winning candidate	Margin of victory (votes)	Margin of victory (percentage)
Sylvia Allen	Republican	Arizona State Senate	2015	Wendy Rogers	5,220	17.4%
Rick Atkinson	Republican	West Virginia House of Delegates	2015	Riley Keaton	93	3.6%
Jimmy Bales	Democratic	South Carolina House of Representatives	1998	Jermaine Johnson	2,417	5.1%
T. Kevan Bartlett	Republican	West Virginia House of Delegates	2019	Dana Ferrell	324	14.6%
Sharon Beasley-Teague	Democratic	Georgia House of Representatives	1993	Mandisha Thomas	930	16.7%
Edward Berger	Republican	Kansas State Senate	2017	Mark Steffen	1,875	15.0%
Lorraine Birabil	Democratic	Texas House of Representatives	2020	Jasmine Crockett	92	0.9%
Larry Boggs	Republican	Oklahoma State Senate	2012	Warren Hamilton	222	4.6%
R. Travis Brenda	Republican	Kentucky House of Representatives	2019	Josh Bray	30	0.4%
William Brough	Republican	California State Assembly	2014	Laurie Davies (R) Scott Rhinehart (D)	10,889	7.2%
Thomas Brunner	Republican	South Dakota House of Representatives	2015	Dean Wink Kirk Chaffee	95	1.5%
Romy Cachola	Democratic	Hawaii House of Representatives	2012	Ernesto Ganaden	676	27.8%
Scott Cadle	Republican	West Virginia House of Delegates	2018	Jonathan Pinson Joshua Higginbotham	238	2.7%
Michael Capps	Republican	Kansas House of Representatives	2018	Patrick Penn	2,196	48.8%
Mitch Carmichael	Republican	West Virginia State Senate	2012	Amy Nichole Grady	676	4.1%
Chris Carter	Democratic	Missouri House of Representatives	2019	Marlon Anderson	42	0.6%
Heather Carter	Republican	Arizona State Senate	2019	Nancy K. Barto	1,743	5.2%
Sue Cline	Republican	West Virginia State Senate	2016	David Stover	2,275	20.0%
John B. Coghill	Republican	Alaska State Senate	2009	Robert Myers Jr.	14	0.4%
William Conley Jr.	Democratic	Rhode Island State Senate	2013	Cynthia Mendes	649	23.1%
John Cooper	Republican	Arkansas State Senate	2014	Dan Sullivan	1,610	17.2%
Daryl Cowles	Republican	West Virginia House of Delegates	2006	George Miller	125	3.9%
Thomas Crank	Republican	Wyoming House of Representatives	2017	Scott Heiner	10	0.5%
Elizabeth Crowley	Democratic	Rhode Island State Senate	2009	Jonathon Acosta	204	10.6%
Kimberly Daniels	Democratic	Florida House of Representatives	2016	Angela Nixon	4,605	20.0%
Fred Davis Jr.	Democratic	New Hampshire House of Representatives	2018	David Cote Manny Espitia Stacie-Marie Laughton	40	3.8%
Bradley Daw^[7]	Republican	Utah House of Representatives	2015	Nelson Abbott	N/A	N/A
Raymond Dehn	Democratic	Minnesota House of Representatives	2013	Esther Agbaje	607	6.6%
Jeff Delzer^[8]	Republican	North Dakota House of Representatives	1994	Dave Nehring David Andahl	495	6.8%
Michael DenDekker	Democratic	New York State Assembly	2009	Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas	1,713	17.4%
John DeVeau	Republican	Maine House of Representatives	2018	Susan Bernard	370	49.1%
Greg DeVries	Republican	Montana House of Representatives	2019	Marta Bertoglio	695	22.9%
Pam Dickerson	Democratic	Georgia House of Representatives	2011	Sharon Henderson	164	1.5%
Tyler Diep	Republican	California State Assembly	2018	Janet Nguyen (R) Diedre Nguyen (D)	835	0.7%
Diana Dierks	Republican	Kansas House of Representatives	2013	Steven Howe	1,035	24.8%
Anna Eastman	Democratic	Texas House of Representatives	2020	Penny Morales Shaw	200	2.4%
Maria Donatucci	Democratic	Pennsylvania House of Representatives	2011	Regina Young	1,828	14.5%
David Dunn	Republican	Montana House of Representatives	2019	Brian Putnam	36	1.9%
Jason Dunnington	Democratic	Oklahoma House of Representatives	2014	Mauree Turner	250	4.3%
Chris Edwards	Republican	Nevada State Assembly	2015	Annie Black	1,375	22.1%
Larry Farnese	Democratic	Pennsylvania State Senate	2009	Nikil Saval	8,708	13.9%
Derrel Fincher	Republican	Oklahoma House of Representatives	2018	Wendi Stearman	613	11.0%
Dan Flynn	Republican	Texas House of Representatives	2003	Bryan Slaton	3,536	22.1%
William Fowler	Republican	New Hampshire House of Representatives	2018	Tim Baxter Aboul Khan Tina Harley	343	10.3%
Gregg Fulfer	Republican	New Mexico State Senate	2018	David M. Gallegos	236	6.6%
Eddie Gallimore	Republican	North Carolina State Senate	2019	Steven Jarvis	1,438	6.6%
Kenneth Gidge	Democratic	New Hampshire House of Representatives	2008	Fran Nutter-Upham Efstathia Booras Mark King	46	3.1%
Catherine A. Giessel	Republican	Alaska State Senate	2011	Roger Holland	1,632	28.4%
Bruce Givens	Republican	Kansas State Senate	2017	Michael Fagg	993	7.1%
Dan Goddard	Republican	Kansas State Senate	2017	Virgil Peck, Jr.	18	0.2%
Roni Green	Democratic	Pennsylvania House of Representatives	2020	Amen Brown	590	4.2%
Bruce Grubbs	Republican	Montana House of Representatives	2017	Caleb Hinkle	352	15.4%
Elmer Floyd	Democratic	North Carolina House of Representatives	2009	Kimberly Hardy	743	8.2%
Stan Frownfelter	Democratic	Kansas House of Representatives	2007	Aaron Coleman	14	0.9%
Dayle Hammock	Republican	South Dakota House of Representatives	2019	Scott Odenbach Mary Fitzgerald	427	6.9%
Randall Hardy	Republican	Kansas State Senate	2017	J.R. Claeys	2,928	25.2%
Jeff Hayden	Democratic	Minnesota State Senate	2011	Omar Fateh	1,969	9.7%
Michele Henson	Democratic	Georgia House of Representatives	1991	Zulma Lopez	440	8.7%
Matthew Hill	Republican	Tennessee House of Representatives	2004	Rebecca Alexander	2,108	26.2%
Mike Hill	Republican	Florida House of Representatives	2018	Michelle Salzman	1,048	5.0%
Lyle Hillyard	Republican	Utah State Senate	1985	Chris Wilson	4,558	25.3%
Staush Gruszynski	Democratic	Wisconsin State Assembly	2019	Kristina Shelton	2,649	57.7%
Sharon Jackson	Republican	Alaska House of Representatives	2019	Ken McCarty	149	11.5%
Al Jacquet	Democratic	Florida House of Representatives	2016	Omari Hardy	3,395	17.1%
Jason Janvrin	Republican	New Hampshire House of Representatives	2018	Max Abramson	133	4.7%
Earl Jaques Jr.	Democratic	Delaware House of Representatives	2009	Eric Morrison	778	22.3%
Jennifer Johnston	Republican	Alaska House of Representatives	2017	James Kaufman	1,025	46.1%
Deanna Jurius	Republican	New Hampshire House of Representatives	2018	Harry Bean Glen Aldrich Norman Silber Jonathan Mackie	8	0.1%
Lundy Kiger	Republican	Oklahoma House of Representatives	2018	Rick West	272	7.9%
Daylin Leach	Democratic	Pennsylvania State Senate	2009	Amanda Cappelletti	15,907	30.7%
John Lesch	Democratic	Minnesota House of Representatives	2003	Athena Hollins	961	20.6%
Chuck Little	Republican	West Virginia House of Delegates	2019	Dennis Kimes	389	16.8%
Raymond Johnston Jr.	Democratic	Rhode Island House of Representatives	2011	Leonela Felix	292	17.3%
Jeff Jones	Republican	Georgia House of Representatives	2015	Buddy DeLoach	298	3.7%
Yehiel Kalish	Democratic	Illinois House of Representatives	2019	Denyse Wang Stoneback	1,950	10.9%
Jim Karleskint	Republican	Kansas House of Representatives	2017	Lance Neelly	123	3.7%
Jan Kessinger	Republican	Kansas House of Representatives	2017	Jane Dirks	724	14.5%
Dan Kirkbride	Republican	Wyoming House of Representatives	2013	Jeremy Haroldson	232	7.7%
Gary Knopp^[9]	Republican	Alaska House of Representatives	2017	Ron Gillham	910	47.9%
Walter Kolodziej	Republican	New Hampshire House of Representatives	2008	Charles McMahon Mary Griffin Julius Soti Robert J. Lynn	77	1.3%
Charles Kopp	Republican	Alaska House of Representatives	2017	Thomas McKay	616	21.6%
Joel Krautter	Republican	Montana House of Representatives	2019	Brandon Ler	144	5.2%
Larry D. Kump	Republican	West Virginia House of Delegates	2018	Ken Reed	400	13.9%
Jay Lawrence	Republican	Arizona House of Representatives	2015	John Kavanagh Joseph Chaplik	661	1.0%
Gabrielle LeDoux	Republican	Alaska House of Representatives	2013	David Nelson	322	34.5%
Vicki Lensing	Democratic	Iowa House of Representatives	2001	Christina Bohannan	2,135	31.9%
Joseph Lentol	Democratic	New York State Assembly	1973	Emily Gallagher	1,151	5.8%
Tyler Lindholm	Republican	Wyoming House of Representatives	2015	Chip Neiman	219	6.4%
Richard Martinez	Democratic	New Mexico State Senate	2001	Leo Jaramillo	2,125	21.0%
David McBride	Democratic	Delaware State Senate	1981	Marie Pinkney	282	4.7%
Mark McKenney	Democratic	Rhode Island State Senate	2019	Jeanine Calkin	292	10.7%
Daniel McKiernan	Democratic	Rhode Island House of Representatives	2015	David Morales	381	21.5%
Aaron McWilliams	Republican	North Dakota House of Representatives	2016	Mike Beltz Jared Hagert	532	15.4%
Mario Mendez	Democratic	Rhode Island House of Representatives	2019	Ramon Perez	517	45.7%
Harold Metts	Democratic	Rhode Island State Senate	2005	Tiara Mack	495	19.7%
Christopher Millea	Democratic	Rhode Island House of Representatives	2019	Brandon Potter	329	19.6%
Michael Miller	Democratic	New York State Assembly	2009	Jenifer Rajkumar	1,966	26.8%
Frederick Moore	Republican	Montana House of Representatives	2019	Jerry Schillinger	1,168	28.2%
J.C. Moore	Republican	Kansas House of Representatives	2019	Brian Bergkamp	2,277	69.9%
Walter Mosley^[10]	Democratic	New York State Assembly	2013	Phara Souffrant Forrest	3,102	10.9%
David Nangle	Democratic	Massachusetts House of Representatives	1999	Vanna Howard	715	11.7%
Mark A. Neuman	Republican	Alaska House of Representatives	2005	Kevin McCabe	740	27.9%
Felix Ortiz	Democratic	New York State Assembly	1995	Marcela Mitaynes	280	2.7%
Jean O'Sullivan	Democratic	Vermont House of Representatives	2012	Emma Mulvaney-Stanak	201	15.9%
Mary Kay Papen	Democratic	New Mexico State Senate	2001	Carrie Hamblen	202	5.7%
Henry Parkhurst	Democratic	New Hampshire House of Representatives	2002	Natalie Quevedo	69	15.2%
William Pearson	Democratic	New Hampshire House of Representatives	2016	Joe Schapiro Amanda Toll	509	10.3%
John Pitsenbarger	Republican	West Virginia State Senate	2019	Robert Karnes	1,157	8.1%
Yoni Pizer	Democratic	Illinois House of Representatives	2020	Margaret Croke	1,212	4.5%
John Plumer	Republican	New Hampshire House of Representatives	2016	Michael Sylvia Douglas Trottier	142	9.2%
Eric Porterfield	Republican	West Virginia House of Delegates	2018	Marty Gearheart Joe Ellington Doug Smith	1,023	6.8%
Doug Post	Republican	South Dakota House of Representatives	2019	Tim Reed Larry Tidemann	213	7.2%
Val Potter	Republican	Utah House of Representatives	2017	Mike Petersen	966	11.3%
William Pownall	Republican	Wyoming House of Representatives	2015	Bill Fortner	374	20.8%
Gabriel Ramos	Democratic	New Mexico State Senate	2019	Siah Hemphill	1,610	23.3%
Adam Ravenstahl	Democratic	Pennsylvania House of Representatives	2010	Emily Kinkead	1,250	9.6%
Britt Raybould	Republican	Idaho House of Representatives	2018	Ronald Nate	294	4.4%
Jerald Raymond	Republican	Idaho House of Representatives	2018	Karey Hanks	148	1.6%
Tom Richmond	Republican	Montana State Senate	2017	Brad Molnar	1,256	29.0%
Albert Robinson	Republican	Kentucky State Senate	2013	Brandon Storm	744	4.2%
James Roebuck Jr.	Democratic	Pennsylvania House of Representatives	1985	Rick Krajewski	2,595	19.3%
Abigail Rooney	Republican	New Hampshire House of Representatives	2018	Glenn Bailey Peter Hayward	43	4.3%
Jana Della Rosa	Republican	Arkansas House of Representatives	2015	Kendon Underwood	179	9.7%
Eric Rucker	Republican	Kansas State Senate	2019	Brenda Dietrich	1,058	8.8%
Clemente Sanchez	Democratic	New Mexico State Senate	2013	Pamela Cordova	1,259	22.5%
Paul Scott	Republican	Oklahoma State Senate	2016	Jessica Garvin	238	3.1%
Raymond Seigfried	Democratic	Delaware House of Representatives	2019	Larry Lambert	652	17.9%
Jose Serodio	Democratic	Rhode Island House of Representatives	2019	Brianna Henries	275	23.3%
Ron Sharp	Republican	Oklahoma State Senate	2012	Shane Jett	1,458	18.8%
Wayne Shaw	Republican	Oklahoma State Senate	2012	Blake Cowboy Stephens	1,522	20.9%
J.D. Sheffield	Republican	Texas House of Representatives	2013	Shelby Slawson	3,670	23.1%
Dollyne Sherman	Republican	Indiana House of Representatives	2019	John Jacob	71	1.4%
Erik Simonson	Democratic	Minnesota State Senate	2017	Jen McEwen	5,149	46.6%
Aravella Simotas	Democratic	New York State Assembly	2011	Zohran Kwame Mamdani	423	2.6%
John Skubal	Republican	Kansas State Senate	2017	Kellie Warren	3,977	27.8%
Jeffrey Todd Smith^[11]	Republican	Ohio House of Representatives	2018	Rodney Creech	2,542	31.1%
John Arthur Smith	Democratic	New Mexico State Senate	1989	Neomi Martinez-Parra	501	9.8%
Lawrence Kit Spires	Republican	South Carolina House of Representatives	2006	D. Ryan McCabe	377	9.5%
Rick Staples	Democratic	Tennessee House of Representatives	2016	Sam McKenzie	929	18.1%
David Starr	Republican	New Hampshire State Senate	2018	Erin Hennessey	2,049	39.4%
Thyra Stevenson^[12]	Republican	Idaho House of Representatives	2016	Aaron von Ehlinger	2,990	56.2%
Thomas R. Tillis	Republican	Tennessee House of Representatives	2016	Todd Warner	685	8.1%
Richard Tass	Republican	Wyoming House of Representatives	2019	Barry Crago	523	18.4%
Mary Jo Taylor	Republican	Kansas State Senate	2017	Alicia Straub	3,039	19.6%
Kelley Tully	Democratic	Vermont House of Representatives	2020	Leslie Goldman Carolyn Partridge	82	3.6%
James Van Huss	Republican	Tennessee House of Representatives	2012	Tim Hicks	1,417	15.1%
John Viola	Democratic	Delaware House of Representatives	1999	Madinah Wilson-Anton	43	1.4%
Michael Von Flatern	Republican	Wyoming State Senate	2005	Troy McKeown	1,014	27.1%
Jarom Wagoner	Republican	Idaho House of Representatives	2017	Julie Yamamoto	623	16.5%
Moira Walsh	Democratic	Rhode Island House of Representatives	2017	Nathan Biah	223	29.5%
James Wangsness	Republican	South Dakota House of Representatives	2019	Spencer Gosch Charles Hoffman	1,637	21.4%
James Welch	Democratic	Massachusetts State Senate	2011	Adam Gomez	1,072	4.9%
James White	Republican	New Mexico State Senate	2016	Gregg Schmedes	582	8.5%
Les Yates	Republican	Kentucky House of Representatives	2019	Ryan Dotson	128	2.8%
Bryan N. Zollinger	Republican	Idaho House of Representatives	2016	Marco Erickson	134	2.7%

Incumbents defeated in general elections

Two-hundred and twenty seven incumbent state legislators lost re-election in general elections on Nov. 3, 2020. This represents 4.7% of all state legislative incumbents who ran in general elections.

165 Democrats

52 Republicans

10 Independent/minor party^[13]

This was the fewest number of state legislators defeated since 2010. It marked a 29.5% decrease from the 322 defeated in 2018 and was 54.8% lower than the decade-high 502 incumbents defeated in the 2010 general election. Since 2010, an average of 307 incumbents have been defeated in even-year general elections.

Click [show] on the header below to view the full list of incumbents defeated in regularly-scheduled general elections in 2020.

Incumbents defeated in general elections, 2020
Incumbent	Party	District
Alaska
Mel Gillis	Republican Party	Alaska House of Representatives District 25
Lance Pruitt	Republican Party	Alaska House of Representatives District 27
Arizona
Geraldine Peten	Democratic Party	Arizona House of Representatives District 4
Anthony Kern	Republican Party	Arizona House of Representatives District 20
Kate Brophy McGee	Republican Party	Arizona State Senate District 28
Arkansas
LeAnne Burch	Democratic Party	Arkansas House of Representatives District 9
Don Glover	Democratic Party	Arkansas House of Representatives District 11
Jim Sorvillo	Republican Party	Arkansas House of Representatives District 32
Bruce Maloch	Democratic Party	Arkansas State Senate District 12
Eddie Cheatham	Democratic Party	Arkansas State Senate District 26
California
Ling Ling Chang	Republican Party	California State Senate District 29
John M. W. Moorlach	Republican Party	California State Senate District 37
Colorado
Richard Champion	Republican Party	Colorado House of Representatives District 38
Bri Buentello	Democratic Party	Colorado House of Representatives District 47
Connecticut
Leslee Hill	Republican Party	Connecticut House of Representatives District 17
Kate Rotella	Democratic Party	Connecticut House of Representatives District 43
Pat Wilson Pheanious	Democratic Party	Connecticut House of Representatives District 53
Stephanie Cummings	Republican Party	Connecticut House of Representatives District 74
Noreen Kokoruda	Republican Party	Connecticut House of Representatives District 101
Brian Farnen	Republican Party	Connecticut House of Representatives District 132
Gennaro Bizzarro	Republican Party	Connecticut State Senate District 6
George Logan	Republican Party	Connecticut State Senate District 17
Delaware
Catherine Cloutier	Republican Party	Delaware State Senate District 5
Anthony Delcollo	Republican Party	Delaware State Senate District 7
Florida
Jennifer Webb	Democratic Party	Florida House of Representatives District 69
Delores Hogan Johnson	Democratic Party	Florida House of Representatives District 84
Cindy Polo	Democratic Party	Florida House of Representatives District 103
Jose Javier Rodriguez	Democratic Party	Florida State Senate District 37
Georgia
Deborah Silcox	Republican Party	Georgia House of Representatives District 52
Brett Harrell	Republican Party	Georgia House of Representatives District 106
Dale Rutledge	Republican Party	Georgia House of Representatives District 109
Robert Trammell	Democratic Party	Georgia House of Representatives District 132
P.K. Martin	Republican Party	Georgia State Senate District 9
Idaho
Jake Ellis	Democratic Party	Idaho House of Representatives District 15B
Chris Abernathy	Democratic Party	Idaho House of Representatives District 29A
Illinois
Grant Wehrli	Republican Party	Illinois House of Representatives District 41
Diane Pappas	Democratic Party	Illinois House of Representatives District 45
Mary Edly-Allen	Democratic Party	Illinois House of Representatives District 51
Allen Skillicorn	Republican Party	Illinois House of Representatives District 66
John M. Cabello	Republican Party	Illinois House of Representatives District 68
Monica Bristow	Democratic Party	Illinois House of Representatives District 111
Nathan Reitz	Democratic Party	Illinois House of Representatives District 116
Indiana
Ross Deal	Democratic Party	Indiana House of Representatives District 7
Chris Chyung	Democratic Party	Indiana House of Representatives District 15
Lisa Beck	Democratic Party	Indiana House of Representatives District 19
Melanie Wright	Democratic Party	Indiana House of Representatives District 35
Terry Goodin	Democratic Party	Indiana House of Representatives District 66
Cindy Kirchhofer	Republican Party	Indiana House of Representatives District 89
John Ruckelshaus	Republican Party	Indiana State Senate District 30
Iowa
Scott Ourth	Democratic Party	Iowa House of Representatives District 26
Heather Matson	Democratic Party	Iowa House of Representatives District 38
Karin Derry	Democratic Party	Iowa House of Representatives District 39
Andy McKean	Democratic Party	Iowa House of Representatives District 58
Mary Gaskill	Democratic Party	Iowa House of Representatives District 81
Jeff Kurtz	Democratic Party	Iowa House of Representatives District 83
Rich Taylor	Democratic Party	Iowa State Senate District 42
Kansas
Monica Murnan	Democratic Party	Kansas House of Representatives District 3
Tim Hodge	Democratic Party	Kansas House of Representatives District 72
Stephanie Yeager	Democratic Party	Kansas House of Representatives District 96
Kevin Braun	Republican Party	Kansas State Senate District 5
Anthony Hensley	Democratic Party	Kansas State Senate District 19
Kentucky
Dean Schamore	Democratic Party	Kentucky House of Representatives District 10
Robert Wiederstein	Democratic Party	Kentucky House of Representatives District 11
James Glenn Jr.	Democratic Party	Kentucky House of Representatives District 13
Maria Sorolis	Democratic Party	Kentucky House of Representatives District 48
Kathy Hinkle	Democratic Party	Kentucky House of Representatives District 96
Terri Branham Clark	Democratic Party	Kentucky House of Representatives District 100
Johnny Ray Turner	Democratic Party	Kentucky State Senate District 29
Maine
Daniel Hobbs	Democratic Party	Maine House of Representatives District 7
Henry Ingwersen	Democratic Party	Maine House of Representatives District 10
Shawn Babine	Democratic Party	Maine House of Representatives District 29
James Handy	Democratic Party	Maine House of Representatives District 58
Bettyann Sheats	Democratic Party	Maine House of Representatives District 64
Christina Riley	Democratic Party	Maine House of Representatives District 74
Kent Ackley	Common Sense Independent Party	Maine House of Representatives District 82
Betty Austin	Democratic Party	Maine House of Representatives District 107
Norman Higgins	Independent	Maine House of Representatives District 120
Michael Carpenter	Democratic Party	Maine State Senate District 2
Dana Dow	Republican Party	Maine State Senate District 13
Massachusetts
William Crocker Jr.	Republican Party	Massachusetts House of Representatives 2nd Barnstable District
Dean Tran	Republican Party	Massachusetts State Senate Worcester & Middlesex District
Michigan
Sheryl Kennedy	Democratic Party	Michigan House of Representatives District 48
Brian Elder	Democratic Party	Michigan House of Representatives District 96
Minnesota
John Persell	Democratic Party	Minnesota House of Representatives District 5A
Jeff Brand	Democratic Party	Minnesota House of Representatives District 19A
Jeanne Poppe	Democratic Party	Minnesota House of Representatives District 27B
Anne Claflin	Democratic Party	Minnesota House of Representatives District 54A
Brad Tabke	Democratic Party	Minnesota House of Representatives District 55A
Jerry Relph	Republican Party	Minnesota State Senate District 14
Dan Sparks	Democratic Party	Minnesota State Senate District 27
Dan Hall	Republican Party	Minnesota State Senate District 56
Matt Little	Democratic Party	Minnesota State Senate District 58
Missouri
Steve Helms	Republican Party	Missouri House of Representatives District 135
Montana
Debo Powers	Democratic Party	Montana House of Representatives District 3
Brad Hamlett	Democratic Party	Montana House of Representatives District 23
Barbara Bessette	Democratic Party	Montana House of Representatives District 24
Jasmine Krotkov	Democratic Party	Montana House of Representatives District 25
Jade Bahr	Democratic Party	Montana House of Representatives District 50
Margaret MacDonald	Democratic Party	Montana State Senate District 26
Nebraska
Dan Quick	Democratic Party	Nebraska State Senate District 35
Andrew La Grone	Republican Party	Nebraska State Senate District 49
Nevada
Connie Munk	Democratic Party	Nevada State Assembly District 4
Skip Daly	Democratic Party	Nevada State Assembly District 31
Shea Backus	Democratic Party	Nevada State Assembly District 37
New Hampshire
David Huot	Democratic Party	New Hampshire House of Representatives Belknap 3
Charlie St. Clair	Democratic Party	New Hampshire House of Representatives Belknap 9
Susan Ticehurst	Democratic Party	New Hampshire House of Representatives Carroll 3
Bruce Tatro	Democratic Party	New Hampshire House of Representatives Cheshire 15
Henry Noel	Democratic Party	New Hampshire House of Representatives Coos 3
Jerry Stringham	Democratic Party	New Hampshire House of Representatives Grafton 5
Kevin Maes	Democratic Party	New Hampshire House of Representatives Grafton 6
Richard Osborne	Democratic Party	New Hampshire House of Representatives Grafton 7
Timothy Josephson	Democratic Party	New Hampshire House of Representatives Grafton 11
Elaine French	Democratic Party	New Hampshire House of Representatives Grafton 14
Francesca Diggs	Democratic Party	New Hampshire House of Representatives Grafton 16
Jennifer Bernet	Democratic Party	New Hampshire House of Representatives Hillsborough 4
Kermit Williams	Democratic Party	New Hampshire House of Representatives Hillsborough 4
Donna Mombourquette	Democratic Party	New Hampshire House of Representatives Hillsborough 5
David Woodbury	Democratic Party	New Hampshire House of Representatives Hillsborough 5
Nancy Murphy	Democratic Party	New Hampshire House of Representatives Hillsborough 21
Kathryn Stack	Democratic Party	New Hampshire House of Representatives Hillsborough 21
Wendy Thomas	Democratic Party	New Hampshire House of Representatives Hillsborough 21
William Bordy	Democratic Party	New Hampshire House of Representatives Hillsborough 28
James Bosman	Democratic Party	New Hampshire House of Representatives Hillsborough 38
Ken Wells	Democratic Party	New Hampshire House of Representatives Merrimack 1
Joyce Fulweiler	Democratic Party	New Hampshire House of Representatives Merrimack 3
Clyde Carson	Democratic Party	New Hampshire House of Representatives Merrimack 7
Robert Forsythe	Republican Party	New Hampshire House of Representatives Merrimack 8
David Doherty	Democratic Party	New Hampshire House of Representatives Merrimack 20
Kathleen Martins	Democratic Party	New Hampshire House of Representatives Merrimack 24
Anne Warner	Democratic Party	New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 5
Mary Eisner	Democratic Party	New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 6
Mark Vallone	Democratic Party	New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 9
Liz McConnell	Democratic Party	New Hampshire House of Representatives Rockingham 11
Matthew Towne	Democratic Party	New Hampshire House of Representatives Strafford 4
Peg Higgins	Democratic Party	New Hampshire House of Representatives Strafford 22
Sandra Keans	Democratic Party	New Hampshire House of Representatives Strafford 23
Jeanne Dietsch	Democratic Party	New Hampshire State Senate District 9
Shannon Chandley	Democratic Party	New Hampshire State Senate District 11
Melanie Levesque	Democratic Party	New Hampshire State Senate District 12
Jon Morgan	Democratic Party	New Hampshire State Senate District 23
New Mexico
Art De La Cruz	Democratic Party	New Mexico House of Representatives District 12
Rodolpho Martinez	Democratic Party	New Mexico House of Representatives District 39
Candace Ruth Gould	Republican Party	New Mexico State Senate District 10
Sander Rue	Republican Party	New Mexico State Senate District 23
New York
Walter Mosley^[14]	Working Families Party	New York State Assembly District 57
Carmen Arroyo^[15]	Proven Leader Party	New York State Assembly District 84
Ellen Jaffee	Democratic Party	New York State Assembly District 97
Mark Johns	Republican Party	New York State Assembly District 135
Monica Martinez	Democratic Party	New York State Senate District 3
Jen Metzger	Democratic Party	New York State Senate District 42
North Carolina
Perrin Jones	Republican Party	North Carolina House of Representatives District 9
Sydney Batch	Democratic Party	North Carolina House of Representatives District 37
Stephen M. Ross	Republican Party	North Carolina House of Representatives District 63
Scott T. Brewer	Democratic Party	North Carolina House of Representatives District 66
Ray Russell	Democratic Party	North Carolina House of Representatives District 93
Christy Clark	Democratic Party	North Carolina House of Representatives District 98
Joe Sam Queen	Democratic Party	North Carolina House of Representatives District 119
Harper Peterson	Democratic Party	North Carolina State Senate District 9
North Dakota
John Grabinger	Democratic Party	North Dakota State Senate District 12
Larry Robinson	Democratic Party	North Dakota State Senate District 24
Jim Dotzenrod	Democratic Party	North Dakota State Senate District 26
Ohio
Dave Greenspan	Republican Party	Ohio House of Representatives District 16
Gil Blair	Democratic Party	Ohio House of Representatives District 63
Randi Clites	Democratic Party	Ohio House of Representatives District 75
Sean O'Brien	Democratic Party	Ohio State Senate District 32
Oklahoma
Matt Meredith	Democratic Party	Oklahoma House of Representatives District 4
Chelsey Branham	Democratic Party	Oklahoma House of Representatives District 83
Kelly Albright	Democratic Party	Oklahoma House of Representatives District 95
Allison Ikley-Freeman	Democratic Party	Oklahoma State Senate District 37
Oregon
Cheri Helt	Republican Party	Oregon House of Representatives District 54
Denyc Boles	Republican Party	Oregon State Senate District 10
Pennsylvania
Frank Dermody	Democratic Party	Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 33
Joseph Petrarca	Democratic Party	Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 55
Wendy Ullman	Democratic Party	Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 143
Thomas Killion	Republican Party	Pennsylvania State Senate District 9
Pam Iovino	Democratic Party	Pennsylvania State Senate District 37
Rhode Island
Nicholas Mattiello	Democratic Party	Rhode Island House of Representatives District 15
James Jackson	Democratic Party	Rhode Island House of Representatives District 26
John Lyle Jr.	Independent	Rhode Island House of Representatives District 46
South Carolina
Mandy Powers Norrell	Democratic Party	South Carolina House of Representatives District 44
Laurie Funderburk	Democratic Party	South Carolina House of Representatives District 52
Floyd Nicholson	Democratic Party	South Carolina State Senate District 10
Glenn Reese	Democratic Party	South Carolina State Senate District 11
Vincent Sheheen	Democratic Party	South Carolina State Senate District 27
South Dakota
Steven McCleerey	Democratic Party	South Dakota House of Representatives District 1
Michael Saba	Democratic Party	South Dakota House of Representatives District 9
Kelly Sullivan	Democratic Party	South Dakota House of Representatives District 13
Susan Wismer	Democratic Party	South Dakota State Senate District 1
Tennessee
John DeBerry Jr.^[16]	Independent	Tennessee House of Representatives District 90
Steven Dickerson	Republican Party	Tennessee State Senate District 20
Texas
Gina Calanni	Democratic Party	Texas House of Representatives District 132
Sarah Davis	Republican Party	Texas House of Representatives District 134
Peter Flores	Republican Party	Texas State Senate District 19
Utah
Eric Hutchings	Republican Party	Utah House of Representatives District 38
Vermont
Jim Carroll	Democratic Party	Vermont House of Representatives Bennington-2-2 District
Cynthia Browning	Independent	Vermont House of Representatives Bennington-4 District
Robert Bancroft	Republican Party	Vermont House of Representatives Chittenden-8-3 District
Charen Fegard	Democratic Party	Vermont House of Representatives Franklin-5 District
Mitzi Johnson	Democratic Party	Vermont House of Representatives Grand Isle-Chittenden District
Carl Demrow	Democratic Party	Vermont House of Representatives Orange-1 District
Peter Reed	Independent	Vermont House of Representatives Orange-Washington-Addison District
Dave Potter	Democratic Party	Vermont House of Representatives Rutland-2 District
Robin Chesnut-Tangerman	Vermont Progressive Party	Vermont House of Representatives Rutland-Bennington District
John Rodgers	Independent	Vermont State Senate Essex-Orleans District
Washington
Zack Hudgins	Democratic Party	Washington House of Representatives District 11-Position 1
Brian Blake	Democratic Party	Washington House of Representatives District 19-Position 2
Luanne Van Werven	Republican Party	Washington House of Representatives District 42-Position 1
Dean Takko	Democratic Party	Washington State Senate District 19
Steve O'Ban	Republican Party	Washington State Senate District 28
West Virginia
Rodney Miller	Democratic Party	West Virginia House of Delegates District 23
Tim Tomblin	Democratic Party	West Virginia House of Delegates District 24
Margaret Staggers	Democratic Party	West Virginia House of Delegates District 32
Amanda Estep-Burton	Democratic Party	West Virginia House of Delegates District 36
Jeff Campbell	Democratic Party	West Virginia House of Delegates District 42
Cindy Lavender-Bowe	Democratic Party	West Virginia House of Delegates District 42
William Hartman	Democratic Party	West Virginia House of Delegates District 43
Michael Angelucci	Democratic Party	West Virginia House of Delegates District 50
Rodney Pyles	Democratic Party	West Virginia House of Delegates District 51
Sammi Brown	Democratic Party	West Virginia House of Delegates District 65
Douglas Facemire	Democratic Party	West Virginia State Senate District 12
Wisconsin
Rob Hutton	Republican Party	Wisconsin State Assembly District 13
Jim Ott	Republican Party	Wisconsin State Assembly District 23
Patty Schachtner	Democratic Party	Wisconsin State Senate District 10
Wyoming
Stan Blake	Democratic Party	Wyoming House of Representatives District 39
Sara Burlingame	Democratic Party	Wyoming House of Representatives District 44
Liisa Anselmi-Dalton	Democratic Party	Wyoming State Senate District 12

Historical overview of incumbent losses

Overall

During the 2020 election cycle, 381 incumbents lost re-election, 154 in primaries and 227 in general elections. Compared to previous election cycles since 2010, the overall defeat of 381 incumbents was the second-lowest behind the 2016 elections, when 356 incumbents lost in both primaries and general elections.

The defeat of 227 incumbents in general elections was the lowest number in the past decade. The number defeated in 2020 represented a 29.5% decrease from the 322 defeated in 2018 and was 54.8% lower than the decade-high 502 incumbents defeated in the 2010 general election.

The defeat of 154 incumbent in primaries was the second-highest, exceeded only by the 2012 elections, when 194 incumbents lost to primary challengers.

Over the past decade, an average of 127 incumbents lost in primaries and 307 lost in general elections. With both combined, an overall average of 451 incumbents lost in each election cycle.

The graph below shows a comparison between incumbent losses from 2010 to 2020 broken down by the type of defeat.

Partisan analysis

Between 2010 and 2020, there were three even-year cycles when more Democratic incumbents lost re-election than Republicans, and three cycles where more Republican incumbents lost re-election than Democrats.

In primaries, Republican incumbents have been defeated at higher numbers than Democratic incumbents in the previous five election cycles. In 2010, both parties saw 56 incumbents defeated in primaries.

In general elections, the number of Democratic incumbent losses has exceeded that of Republican incumbents in four election cycles. The number of Republican losses has exceeded Democratic losses in two.

On average, over the past decade, more Republican incumbents lost in primaries than did Democrats (87 versus 57). More Democratic incumbents lost in general elections than did Republicans (186 versus 114). Overall, Democratic incumbents had a higher overall number of defeated incumbents than Republicans (243 versus 201).

The graph below shows a partisan breakdown of incumbent losses from 2010 to 2020. Use the buttons to view partisan data broken down by primary or general election.

Click [show] on the chart below to view a breakdown of state legislative incumbent losses in primaries and general elections used in the analysis above.

State legislative incumbents losses, 2010-2020
Year	Party	Primary election defeats	General election defeats	Total incumbent defeats
2020
	Democrats	60^[17]	165^[18]	225
	Republicans	94^[19]	52	146
	Other	N/A	10	10
	Total	154	227	381
2018
	Democrats	70	49	119
	Republicans	77	253	330
	Other	N/A	20	20
	Total	147	322	469
2016
	Democrats	39	126	165
	Republicans	84	103	187
	Other	N/A	4	4
	Total	123	233	356
2014
	Democrats	46	226	272
	Republicans	85	40	125
	Total	131	266	397
2012
	Democrats	71	66	137
	Republicans	123	224	347
	Other	N/A	4	4
	Total	194	294	488
2010
	Democrats	56	482	538
	Republicans	56	14	70
	Other	N/A	6	6
	Total	112	502	614
Decade Avg.
	Democrats	57	186	243
	Republicans	87	114	201
	Other	N/A	7	7
	Total	127	307	451

Trifectas

See also: State government trifectas

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.

Vulnerable trifectas in 2020

See also: Trifecta vulnerability in the 2020 elections

Gubernatorial or state legislative elections took place in 42 states in 2020. Trifecta status was at stake in all 42 states. A trifecta exists when one party holds the governorship, a majority in the state senate, and a majority in the state house.

Staff Researcher Madison Adkins gives a quick overview of the most vulnerable trifectas in 2020

View other episodes here.

At the time of the 2020 elections, there were 36 trifectas: 21 Republican trifectas and 15 Democratic trifectas. The remaining 14 states had a divided government where neither party had a trifecta. Elections for one or more trifecta offices took place in 19 of the 21 states with Republican trifectas, 13 of the 15 states with Democratic trifectas, and 10 of the 14 states with divided government. On this page, we assessed the likelihood of each existing state government trifecta breaking, and of new state government trifectas forming, as a result of the 2020 elections.

The basis for ratings in gubernatorial races are race ratings from the Cook Political Report, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and Inside Elections. Legislative races are assessed based on the absolute number of seats and the proportion of seats that would need to be flipped. Both chambers in a state's legislature are evaluated individually. Click here for more on how these ratings were calculated.

The 2020 elections resulted in Republicans gaining two trifectas in the states of Montana and New Hampshire, both of which had divided government at the time of the election. Democrats neither gained nor lost any trifectas in 2020.

Changes in a state government's policy priorities often follow changes in trifecta status, as trifecta control affords a political party the opportunity to advance its agenda. Gaining or breaking trifectas—or in some cases, maintaining divided government—thus often becomes a major priority for a party heading into each election cycle. "Few ever pay attention to [gubernatorial and state legislative] races, but they’re important for [redistricting] and waves can be leveraged for major gains," according to NBC News reporter Alex Seitz-Wald.^[20] Between 2010 and 2019, 70 state government trifectas were broken or gained.

Election results, 2020: Veto-proof majorities

See also: State government trifectas

Two state legislatures saw changes in their veto-proof majority status—typically when one party controls either three-fifths or two-thirds of both chambers—as a result of the 2020 elections. Democrats gained veto-proof majorities in Delaware and New York, bringing the number of state legislatures with a veto-proof majority in both chambers to 24: 16 held by Republicans and eight held by Democrats.

Forty-four states held regularly-scheduled state legislative elections on November 3. Heading into the election, there were 22 state legislatures where one party had a veto-proof majority in both chambers; 16 held by Republicans and six held by Democrats. Twenty of those states held legislative elections in 2020.

The veto override power can play a role in conflicts between state legislatures and governors. Conflict can occur when legislatures vote to override gubernatorial vetoes or in court cases related to vetoes and the override power.

Heading into the election, there were four states where the governor was a member of a different political party than the veto-proof majority: Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Maryland. All but Maryland held legislative elections in 2020, and no veto-proof majority status changes occurred. Ballotpedia identified five states with state legislative elections in 2020 that had the potential to gain a veto-proof majority of the party opposite the governor: Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Vermont, and Wisconsin. To find out what happened in those states, click here.

Although it has the potential to create conflict, the veto override power is rarely used. According to political scientists Peverill Squire and Gary Moncrief in 2010, only about five percent of vetoes are overridden.^[21]

Changes in state legislative veto-proof majorites
State	Before	After
Delaware	Democratic veto-proof majority in state House	Democratic veto-proof majority in state legislature
New York	Democratic veto-proof majority in state Assembly	Democratic veto-proof majority in state legislature

Changes in state legislative chamber veto-proof majorities
Chamber	Before	After
Connecticut State Senate	No veto-proof majority	Democratic veto-proof majority
Delaware State Senate	No veto-proof majority	Democratic veto-proof majority
Montana House of Representatives	No veto-proof majority	Republican veto-proof majority
Nevada State Assembly	Democratic veto-proof majority	No veto-proof majority
New York State Senate	No veto-proof majority	Democratic veto-proof majority

Veto-proof majorities and opposing-party governors

Veto-proof majorities are most important when the other party controls the governorship. This creates more opportunities for legislatures to override gubernatorial vetoes. Heading into 2020, the 22 state legislatures where one party had a veto-proof majority in both chambers included four states where the governor was a member of a different political party than the veto-proof majority: Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Maryland. All but Maryland held legislative elections in 2020. As a result of the 2020 elections, Republicans maintained veto-proof majorities in Kansas and Kentucky, and Democrats maintained their veto-proof majority in Massachusetts. No governorships in these states were up for election in 2020.

Elections by state

Click a tab below to read about 2020 state legislative elections in that state.

Alabama

2020 Elections
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2020 State; Legislative Elections
	2021 » « 2019
	2020 elections

Alabama did not hold any regular state legislative elections in 2020.

Alaska

Alaska's state senators are elected to four-year terms and state representatives are elected to two-year terms. Alaska legislators assume office on the third Tuesday of January following their election.^[22]^[23]

Alaska State Senate elections, 2020

Alaska State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	7	7
	Republican Party	13	13
Total		20	20

Alaska House of Representatives elections, 2020

Alaska House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	15	15
	Republican Party	22	21
	Independent	2	3
	Nonpartisan	0	1
	Vacancy	1	0
Total		40	40

Arizona

Arizona's state senators and representatives are elected to two-year terms. Arizona legislators assume office on the first day of the session after they are elected. Each regular session begins on the second Monday in January.^[24] Members are limited to four consecutive terms, or a total of eight years in each chamber.

Arizona State Senate elections, 2020

Arizona State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	13	14
	Republican Party	17	16
Total		40	40

Arizona House of Representatives elections, 2020

Arizona House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	29	29
	Republican Party	31	31
Total		60	60

Arkansas

Arkansas' state senators are elected to four-year terms and state representatives are elected to two-year terms. Arkansas legislators assume office on the second Monday of January following their election.^[25] Members are limited to 16 years in the general assembly.

Arkansas State Senate elections, 2020

Arkansas State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	9	7
	Republican Party	26	28
Total		35	35

Arkansas House of Representatives elections, 2020

Arkansas House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	23	22
	Republican Party	75	78
	Vacancy	2	0
Total		100	100

California

California's state senators are elected to four-year terms and state representatives are elected to two-year terms. California legislators assume office the first Monday in the December following their election.^[26] Members are limited to 12 years in the state legislature.

California State Senate elections, 2020

California State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	28	30
	Republican Party	11	9
	Vacancy	1	1
Total		40	40

California State Assembly elections, 2020

California State Assembly
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	61	60
	Republican Party	17	19
	Independent	1	1
	Vacancy	1	0
Total		80	80

Colorado

Colorado's state senators are elected to four-year terms and state representatives are elected to two-year terms. Colorado legislators assume office on the first day of the legislative session after their election. The legislative session must begin no later than 10:00 AM on the second Wednesday of January.^[27] The state constitution requires the newly elected governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, treasurer, and secretary of state to take office on the second Tuesday of January.^[28] In the year after those offices are elected, the legislative session must begin before the second Tuesday of January to declare the winners of those races.^[29]^[30] Senators are limited to two consecutive terms and representatives are limited to four consecutive terms, or a total of eight years in each chamber.

Colorado State Senate elections, 2020

Colorado State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	19	20
	Republican Party	16	15
Total		35	35

Colorado House of Representatives elections, 2020

Colorado House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	41	41
	Republican Party	24	24
Total		65	65

Connecticut

Connecticut's state senators and representatives are elected to two-year terms. Connecticut legislators assume office the Wednesday following the first Monday of January after their election.^[31]

Connecticut State Senate elections, 2020

Connecticut State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	22	24
	Republican Party	14	12
Total		36	36

Connecticut House of Representatives elections, 2020

Connecticut House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	91	97
	Republican Party	60	54
Total		151	151

Delaware

Delaware's state senators are elected to four-year terms and state representatives are elected to two-year terms. Delaware legislators assume office the first Wednesday after the first Monday in November (the day after election day).^[32]^[33]

Delaware State Senate elections, 2020

Delaware State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	12	14
	Republican Party	9	7
Total		21	21

Delaware House of Representatives elections, 2020

Delaware House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	26	26
	Republican Party	15	15
Total		41	41

Florida

Florida's state senators are elected to two or four-year terms and state representatives are elected to two-year terms. Florida legislators assume office on the day they are elected in the general election.^[34] Senators are limited to two consecutive terms and representatives are limited to four consecutive terms, or a total of eight years in each chamber.

Florida State Senate elections, 2020

Florida State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	17	16
	Republican Party	23	24
Total		40	40

Florida House of Representatives elections, 2020

Florida House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	46	42
	Republican Party	71	78
	Vacancy	3	0
Total		120	120

Georgia

Georgia's state senators and representatives are elected to two-year terms. Georgia legislators assume office the second Monday in January.^[35]

Georgia State Senate elections, 2020

Georgia State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	21	22
	Republican Party	35	34
Total		56	56

Georgia House of Representatives elections, 2020

Georgia House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	75	76
	Republican Party	104	103
	Vacancy	1	1
Total		180	180

Hawaii

Hawaii's state senators are elected to two or four-year terms and state representatives are elected to two-year terms. Hawaii legislators assume office on the day they are elected in the general election.^[36]

Hawaii State Senate elections, 2020

Hawaii State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	24	24
	Republican Party	1	1
Total		25	25

Hawaii House of Representatives elections, 2020

Hawaii House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	46	47
	Republican Party	5	4
Total		51	51

Idaho

Idaho's state senators and representatives are elected to two-year terms. Idaho legislators assume office on the first day in December following the general election.^[37]

Idaho State Senate elections, 2020

Idaho State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	7	7
	Republican Party	28	28
Total		35	35

Idaho House of Representatives elections, 2020

Idaho House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	14	12
	Republican Party	56	58
Total		70	70

Illinois

Illinois' state senators are elected to two or four-year terms and state representatives are elected to two-year terms. Illinois legislators assume office the second Wednesday in January.^[38]

Illinois State Senate elections, 2020

Illinois State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	40	41
	Republican Party	19	18
Total		59	59

Illinois House of Representatives elections, 2020

Illinois House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	74	73
	Republican Party	44	45
Total		118	118

Indiana

Indiana's state senators are elected to four-year terms and state representatives are elected to two-year terms. Indiana legislators assume office the day after their general election.^[39]

Indiana State Senate elections, 2020

Indiana State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	10	11
	Republican Party	40	39^[40]
Total		50	50

Indiana House of Representatives elections, 2020

Indiana House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	33	29
	Republican Party	67	71
Total		100	100

Iowa

Iowa's state senators are elected to four-year terms and state representatives are elected to two-year terms. Iowa state senators assume office on the first day of January which is not a Sunday or legal holiday.^[41]^[42] Iowa state representatives always assume office the first day of January after their election.^[43]

Iowa State Senate elections, 2020

Iowa State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	18	18
	Republican Party	32	32
Total		50	50

Iowa House of Representatives elections, 2020

Iowa House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	47	41
	Republican Party	53	59
Total		100	100

Kansas

Kansas' state senators are elected to four-year terms and state representatives are elected to two-year terms. Kansas legislators assume office the second Monday of January after their election.^[44]

Kansas State Senate elections, 2020

Kansas State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	11	11
	Republican Party	29	29
Total		40	40

Kansas House of Representatives elections, 2020

Kansas House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	41	39
	Republican Party	84	86
Total		125	125

Kentucky

Kentucky's state senators are elected to four-year terms and state representatives are elected to two-year terms. Kentucky legislators assume office the first day of January after their election.^[45]

Kentucky State Senate elections, 2020

Kentucky State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	10	8
	Republican Party	28	30
Total		38	38

Kentucky House of Representatives elections, 2020

Kentucky House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	37	25
	Republican Party	62	75
	Vacancy	1	0
Total		100	100

Louisiana

Louisiana did not hold any regular state legislative elections in 2020.

Maine

Maine's state senators and representatives are elected to two-year terms. Maine legislators assume office the day before the first Wednesday of December following the general election.^[46]^[47] Members are limited to four consecutive terms, or a total of eight years in each chamber.

Maine State Senate elections, 2020

Maine State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	21	22
	Republican Party	14	13
Total		35	35

Maine House of Representatives elections, 2020

Maine House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	87	80
	Republican Party	56	67
	Independent	5	4
	Common Sense Independent	1	0
	Vacancy	2	0
Total		151	151

Maryland

Maryland did not hold any regular state legislative elections in 2020.

Massachusetts

Massachusetts' state senators and representatives are elected to two-year terms. Massachusetts legislators assume office the first Wednesday in January after the election.^[48]

Massachusetts State Senate elections, 2020

Massachusetts State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	36	37
	Republican Party	4	3
Total		40	40

Massachusetts House of Representatives elections, 2020

Massachusetts House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	126	129
	Republican Party	31	30
	Independent	1	1
	Vacancy	2	0
Total		160	160

Michigan

Michigan did not hold any regular state senate elections in 2020. Michigan's state representatives are elected to two-year terms. Michigan legislators assume office at noon on the first day of January.^[49] Representatives are limited to three terms, or a total of six years in the chamber.

Michigan House of Representatives elections, 2020

Michigan House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	51	52
	Republican Party	58	58
	Vacancy	1	0
Total		110	110

Minnesota

Minnesota's state senators are elected to two or four-year terms and state representatives are elected to two-year terms. Minnesota legislators assume office on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January after the election. When the first Monday in January falls on January 1, legislators assume office on the first Wednesday after the first Monday.^[50]^[51]

Minnesota State Senate elections, 2020

Minnesota State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	32	33
	Republican Party	35	34
Total		67	67

Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2020

Minnesota House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	75	70
	Republican Party	59	64
Total		134	134

Mississippi

Mississippi did not hold any regular state legislative elections in 2020.

Missouri

Missouri's state senators are elected to four-year terms and state representatives are elected to two-year terms. Missouri legislators assume office the first day of the legislative session, which is the first Wednesday after the first Monday in January at 12:00pm.^[52] Senators are limited to two consecutive terms and representatives are limited to four consecutive terms, or a total of eight years in each chamber.

Missouri State Senate elections, 2020

Missouri State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	8	10
	Republican Party	23	24
	Vacancy	3	0
Total		34	34

Missouri House of Representatives elections, 2020

Missouri House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	48	49
	Republican Party	113	114
	Vacancy	2	0
Total		163	163

Montana

Montana's state senators are elected to four-year terms and state representatives are elected to two-year terms. Montana legislators assume office the first Monday of January following the election. If January 1 is a Monday, legislators assume office on the first Wednesday.^[53] Senators are limited to two terms and representatives are limited to four terms, or a total of eight years in each chamber.

Montana State Senate elections, 2020

Montana State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	20	19
	Republican Party	30	31
Total		50	50

Montana House of Representatives elections, 2020

Montana House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	42	33
	Republican Party	58	67
Total		100	100

Nebraska

Nebraska's state senators are elected to four-year terms. Nebraska legislators assume office the first Wednesday after the first Monday in January.^[54] Members are limited to two consecutive terms, or a total of eight years in the chamber.

Nebraska State Senate elections, 2020

Nebraska State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	18	17
	Republican Party	30	32
	Independent	1	0
Total		49	49

Nevada

Nevada's state senators are elected to four-year terms and state representatives are elected to two-year terms. Nevada legislators assume office on the first Wednesday after the first Monday in November (the day after election day).^[55] Senators are limited to three terms and representatives are limited to six terms, or a total of 12 years in each chamber.

Nevada State Senate elections, 2020

Nevada State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	13	12
	Republican Party	8	9
Total		21	21

Nevada State Assembly elections, 2020

Nevada State Assembly
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	29	26
	Republican Party	13	16
Total		42	42

New Hampshire

New Hampshire's state senators and representatives are elected to two-year terms. New Hampshire legislators assume office on the first Wednesday of December following the general election.^[56]

New Hampshire State Senate elections, 2020

New Hampshire State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	14	10
	Republican Party	10	14
Total		24	24

New Hampshire House of Representatives elections, 2020

New Hampshire House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	230	187
	Republican Party	156	213
	Libertarian Party	1	0
	Vacancy	13	0
Total		400	400

New Jersey

New Jersey did not hold any regular state legislative elections in 2020.

New Mexico

New Mexico's state senators are elected to four-year terms and state representatives are elected to two-year terms. New Mexico legislators assume office on the first day of January after a general election.^[57]

New Mexico State Senate elections, 2020

New Mexico State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	26	27
	Republican Party	16	15
Total		42	42

New Mexico House of Representatives elections, 2020

New Mexico House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	46	44
	Republican Party	24	25
	Independent	0	1
Total		70	70

New York

New York's state senators and representatives are elected to two-year terms. New York legislators assume office the first day of January after a general election.^[58]

New York State Senate elections, 2020

New York State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	40	43
	Republican Party	20	20
	Vacancy	3	0
Total		63	63

New York State Assembly elections, 2020

New York State Assembly
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	103	106
	Republican Party	42	43
	Independent	1	1
	Vacancy	4	0
Total		150	150

North Carolina

North Carolina's state senators and representatives are elected to two-year terms. North Carolina legislators assume office on January 1 the year after their election.^[59]

North Carolina State Senate elections, 2020

North Carolina State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	21	22
	Republican Party	29	28
Total		50	50

North Carolina House of Representatives elections, 2020

North Carolina House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	55	51
	Republican Party	65	69
Total		120	120

North Dakota

North Dakota's state senators and representatives are elected to four-year terms. North Dakota legislators assume office December 1st.^[60]

North Dakota State Senate elections, 2020

North Dakota State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	10	7
	Republican Party	37	40
Total		47	47

North Dakota House of Representatives elections, 2020

North Dakota House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	15	14
	Republican Party	79	80
Total		94	94

Ohio

Ohio's state senators are elected to four-year terms and state representatives are elected to two-year terms. Ohio legislators assume office the first day of January after a general election.^[61]^[62] Senators are limited to two consecutive terms and representatives are limited to four consecutive terms, or a total of eight years in each chamber.

Ohio State Senate elections, 2020

Ohio State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	9	8
	Republican Party	24	25
Total		33	33

Ohio House of Representatives elections, 2020

Ohio House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	38	35
	Republican Party	61	64
Total		99	99

Oklahoma

Oklahoma's state senators are elected to four-year terms and state representatives are elected to two-year terms. Oklahoma legislators assume office 15 days following the general election.^[63]^[64] Members are limited to 12 years in the state legislature.

Oklahoma State Senate elections, 2020

Oklahoma State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	9	9
	Republican Party	39	39
Total		48	48

Oklahoma House of Representatives elections, 2020

Oklahoma House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	23	19
	Republican Party	76	82
Total		101	101

Oregon

Oregon's state senators are elected to four-year terms and state representatives are elected to two-year terms. Oregon legislators assume office the second Monday in January following the election.^[65]

Oregon State Senate elections, 2020

Oregon State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	18	18
	Republican Party	12	12
Total		30	30

Oregon House of Representatives elections, 2020

Oregon House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	38	37
	Republican Party	22	23
Total		60	60

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania's state senators are elected to four-year terms and state representatives are elected to two-year terms. Pennsylvania legislators assume office on the first day of December after a general election.^[66]

Pennsylvania State Senate elections, 2020

Pennsylvania State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	21	21
	Republican Party	28	28
	Independent	1	1
Total		50	50

Pennsylvania House of Representatives elections, 2020

Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	93	90
	Republican Party	109	113
	Vacancy	1	0
Total		203	203

Rhode Island

Rhode Island's state senators and representatives are elected to two-year terms. Rhode Island legislators assume office the first Tuesday in January.^[67]

Rhode Island State Senate elections, 2020

Rhode Island State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	33	33
	Republican Party	5	5
Total		38	38

Rhode Island House of Representatives elections, 2020

Rhode Island House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	66	65
	Republican Party	8	10
	Independent	1	0
Total		75	75

South Carolina

South Carolina's state senators are elected to four-year terms and state representatives are elected to two-year terms. South Carolina legislators assume office the Monday after the election.^[68]

South Carolina State Senate elections, 2020

South Carolina State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	19	16
	Republican Party	27	30
Total		46	46

South Carolina House of Representatives elections, 2020

South Carolina State House
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	45	43
	Republican Party	78	81
	Vacancy	1	0
Total		124	124

South Dakota

South Dakota's state senators and representatives are elected to two-year terms. South Dakota legislators assume office the second Tuesday in January after the general election.^[69] Members are limited to four consecutive terms, or a total of eight years in each chamber.

South Dakota State Senate elections, 2020

South Dakota State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	5	3
	Republican Party	30	32
Total		35	35

South Dakota House of Representatives elections, 2020

South Dakota House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	11	8
	Republican Party	59	62
Total		70	70

Tennessee

Tennessee's state senators are elected to four-year terms and state representatives are elected to two-year terms. Tennessee legislators assume office on the day they are elected in the general election.^[70]

Tennessee State Senate elections, 2020

Tennessee State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	5	6
	Republican Party	28	27
Total		33	33

Tennessee House of Representatives elections, 2020

Tennessee House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	26	26
	Republican Party	73	73
Total		99	99

Texas

Texas' state senators are elected to two or four-year terms and state representatives are elected to two-year terms. Texas legislators assume office at the beginning of the legislative session, which starts at noon on the second Tuesday in January in the year after the election.^[71]^[72]

Texas State Senate elections, 2020

Texas State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	12	13
	Republican Party	19	18
Total		31	31

Texas House of Representatives elections, 2020

Texas House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	67	67
	Republican Party	83	83
Total		150	150

Utah

Utah's state senators are elected to four-year terms and state representatives are elected to two-year terms. Utah legislators assume office the first day in January.^[73]^[74]

Utah State Senate elections, 2020

Utah State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	6	6
	Republican Party	23	23
Total		29	29

Utah House of Representatives elections, 2020

Utah House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	16	17
	Republican Party	59	58
Total		75	75

Vermont

Vermont's state senators and representatives are elected to two-year terms. Vermont legislators assume office the first Wednesday after the first Monday in January after the election.^[75]

Vermont State Senate elections, 2020

Vermont State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	22	21
	Republican Party	6	7
	Vermont Progressive Party	2	2
Total		30	30

Vermont House of Representatives elections, 2020

Vermont House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	95	92
	Republican Party	43	46
	Vermont Progressive Party	7	7
	Independent	5	5
Total		150	150

Virginia

Virginia did not hold any regular state legislative elections in 2020.

Washington

Washington's state senators are elected to four-year terms and state representatives are elected to two-year terms. Washington legislators assume office the second Monday of January.^[76]

Washington State Senate elections, 2020

Washington State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	29	29
	Republican Party	20	20
Total		49	49

Washington House of Representatives elections, 2020

Washington House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	57	57
	Republican Party	41	41
Total		98	98

West Virginia

West Virginia's state senators are elected to four-year terms and state representatives are elected to two-year terms. West Virginia legislators assume office on the first day of December following their election.^[77]

West Virginia State Senate elections, 2020

West Virginia State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	14	11
	Republican Party	20	23
Total		34	34

West Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2020

West Virginia House of Delegates
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	41	24
	Republican Party	58	76
	Independent	1	0
Total		100	100

Wisconsin

Wisconsin's state senators are elected to four-year terms and state representatives are elected to two-year terms. Wisconsin legislators assume office the first Monday in January following the election, unless the first Monday of January falls on January 1 or 2. In those cases, legislators assume office on January 3.^[78]

Wisconsin State Senate elections, 2020

Wisconsin State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	13	12
	Republican Party	18	21
	Vacancy	2	0
Total		33	33

Wisconsin State Assembly elections, 2020

Wisconsin State Assembly
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	34	38
	Republican Party	63	61
	Vacancy	2	0
Total		99	99

Wyoming

Wyoming's state senators are elected to four-year terms and state representatives are elected to two-year terms. Wyoming legislators assume office the first Monday in January in odd-numbered years.^[79]

Wyoming State Senate elections, 2020

Wyoming State Senate
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	3	2
	Republican Party	27	28
Total		30	30

Wyoming House of Representatives elections, 2020

Wyoming House of Representatives
Party		As of November 3, 2020	After November 4, 2020
	Democratic Party	9	7
	Republican Party	49	51
	Libertarian Party	0	1
	Independent	1	1
	Vacancy	1	0
Total		60	60

Change in seats

The tables below show the total changes in state legislative seats, state Senate seats, and state House seats, respectively. Totals shown below include partisan data only from the 86 chambers that held regularly-scheduled elections in 2020.^[80]

Change in state legislative partisan composition, 2020
	Before	After	Net
Democratic	2,986	2,872	-114
Republican	3,320	3,495	+175
Other^[81]	83	69	-14
Vacant	50	3	-47
Total	6,439	6,439	-

State-specific data
State	Total seats	Pre-election				Post-election				Net change
State	Total seats	Dem.	Rep.	Oth.	Vac.	Dem.	Rep.	Oth.	Vac.	Dem.	Rep.	Oth.
Alaska	60	22	35	2	1	22	34	4	0	0	-1	+2
Arizona	90	42	48	0	0	43	47	0	0	+1	-1	0
Arkansas	135	32	101	0	2	29	106	0	0	-3	+5	0
California	120	89	28	1	2	90	28	1	1	+1	0	0
Colorado	100	60	40	0	0	61	39	0	0	+1	-1	0
Connecticut	187	113	74	0	0	121	66	0	0	+8	-8	0
Delaware	62	38	24	0	0	40	22	0	0	+2	-2	0
Florida	160	63	94	0	3	58	102	0	0	-5	+8	0
Georgia	236	93	141	1	1	99	137	0	0	+6	-4	-1
Hawaii	76	70	6	0	0	71	5	0	0	+1	-1	0
Idaho	105	21	84	0	0	19	86	0	0	-2	+2	0
Illinois	177	114	63	0	0	114	63	0	0	0	0	0
Indiana	150	43	107	0	0	40	110	0	0	-3	+3	0
Iowa	150	65	85	0	0	59	91	0	0	-6	+6	0
Kansas	165	52	113	0	0	50	115	0	0	-2	+2	0
Kentucky	138	47	90	0	1	33	105	0	0	-14	+15	0
Maine	186	108	69	7	2	102	80	4	0	-6	+11	-3
Massachusetts	200	163	35	1	1	166	33	1	0	+3	-2	0
Michigan^[82]	110	51	58	0	1	52	58	0	0	+1	0	0
Minnesota	201	105	94	2	0	103	98	0	0	-2	+4	-2
Missouri	197	56	136	0	5	59	138	0	0	+3	+2	0
Montana	150	61	88	0	1	51	98	0	1	-10	+10	0
Nebraska^[83]	49	0	0	49	0	0	0	49	0	0	0	0
Nevada	63	42	21	0	0	38	25	0	0	-4	+4	0
New Hampshire	424	244	166	1	13	197	227	0	0	-47	+61	-1
New Mexico	112	72	40	0	0	71	40	1	0	-1	0	+1
New York	213	143	62	1	7	149	63	1	0	+6	+1	0
North Carolina	170	76	94	0	0	73	97	0	0	-3	+3	0
North Dakota	141	25	115	0	1	21	119	0	1	-4	+4	0
Ohio	132	47	85	0	0	43	89	0	0	-4	+4	0
Oklahoma	149	32	115	0	2	28	121	0	0	-4	+6	0
Oregon	90	56	34	0	0	54	36	0	0	-2	+2	0
Pennsylvania	253	114	137	1	1	111	141	1	0	-3	+4	0
Rhode Island	113	99	13	1	0	98	15	0	0	-1	+2	-1
South Carolina	170	64	105	0	1	59	111	0	0	-5	+6	0
South Dakota	105	16	89	0	0	11	94	0	0	-5	+5	0
Tennessee	132	31	101	0	0	32	100	0	0	+1	-1	0
Texas	181	79	102	0	0	80	101	0	0	+1	-1	0
Utah	104	22	82	0	0	23	81	0	0	+1	-1	0
Vermont	180	117	49	14	0	122	53	5	0	+5	+4	-9
Washington	147	86	61	0	0	86	61	0	0	0	0	0
West Virginia	134	54	79	1	0	35	99	0	0	-19	+20	-1
Wisconsin	132	47	81	0	4	50	82	0	0	+3	+1	0
Wyoming	90	12	76	1	1	9	79	2	0	-3	+3	+1
Total	6,439	2,986	3,320	83	50	2,872	3,495	69	3	-114	+175	-14

Change in state Senate partisan composition, 2020
	Before	After	Net
Democratic	724	724	0
Republican	893	905	+12
Other^[81]	54	50	-4
Vacant	10	2	-8
Total	1,681	1,681	-

State-specific data
State	Total seats	Pre-election				Post-election				Net change
State	Total seats	Dem.	Rep.	Oth.	Vac.	Dem.	Rep.	Oth.	Vac.	Dem.	Rep.	Oth.
Alaska	20	7	13	0	0	7	13	0	0	0	0	0
Arizona	30	13	17	0	0	14	16	0	0	+1	-1	0
Arkansas	35	9	26	0	0	7	28	0	0	-2	+2	0
California	40	28	11	0	1	30	9	0	1	+2	-2	0
Colorado	35	19	16	0	0	20	15	0	0	+1	-1	0
Connecticut	36	22	14	0	0	24	12	0	0	+2	-2	0
Delaware	21	12	9	0	0	14	7	0	0	+2	-2	0
Florida	40	17	23	0	0	16	24	0	0	-1	+1	0
Georgia	56	21	35	0	0	22	34	0	0	+1	-1	0
Hawaii	25	24	1	0	0	24	1	0	0	0	0	0
Idaho	35	7	28	0	0	7	28	0	0	0	0	0
Illinois	59	40	19	0	0	41	18	0	0	+1	-1	0
Indiana	50	10	40	0	0	11	39	0	0	+1	-1	0
Iowa	50	18	32	0	0	18	32	0	0	0	0	0
Kansas	40	11	29	0	0	11	29	0	0	0	0	0
Kentucky	38	10	28	0	0	8	30	0	0	-2	+2	0
Maine	35	21	14	0	0	22	13	0	0	+1	-1	0
Massachusetts	40	36	4	0	0	37	3	0	0	+1	-1	0
Minnesota	67	30	35	2	0	33	34	0	0	+3	-1	-2
Missouri	34	8	23	0	3	10	24	0	0	+2	+1	0
Montana	50	19	30	0	1	18	31	0	1	-1	+1	0
Nebraska^[84]	49	0	0	49	0	0	0	49	0	0	0	0
Nevada	21	13	8	0	0	12	9	0	0	-1	+1	0
New Hampshire	24	14	10	0	0	10	14	0	0	-4	+4	0
New Mexico	42	26	16	0	0	27	15	0	0	+1	-1	0
New York	63	40	20	0	3	43	20	0	0	+3	0	0
North Carolina	50	21	29	0	0	22	28	0	0	+1	-1	0
North Dakota	47	10	37	0	0	7	40	0	0	-3	+3	0
Ohio	33	9	24	0	0	8	25	0	0	-1	+1	0
Oklahoma	48	9	39	0	0	9	39	0	0	0	0	0
Oregon	30	18	12	0	0	17	13	0	0	-1	+1	0
Pennsylvania	50	21	28	1	0	21	28	1	0	0	0	0
Rhode Island	38	33	5	0	0	33	5	0	0	0	0	0
South Carolina	46	19	27	0	0	16	30	0	0	-3	+3	0
South Dakota	35	5	30	0	0	3	32	0	0	-2	+2	0
Tennessee	33	5	28	0	0	6	27	0	0	+1	-1	0
Texas	31	12	19	0	0	13	18	0	0	+1	-1	0
Utah	29	6	23	0	0	6	23	0	0	0	0	0
Vermont	30	22	6	2	0	23	7	0	0	+1	+1	-2
Washington	49	29	20	0	0	29	20	0	0	0	0	0
West Virginia	34	14	20	0	0	11	23	0	0	-3	+3	0
Wisconsin	33	13	18	0	2	12	21	0	0	-1	+3	0
Wyoming	30	3	27	0	0	2	28	0	0	-1	+1	0
Total	1,681	724	893	54	10	724	905	50	2	0	+12	-4

Change in state House partisan composition, 2020
	Before	After	Net
Democratic	2,262	2,148	-114
Republican	2,427	2,590	+163
Other	29	19	-10
Vacant	40	1	-39
Total	4,758	4,758	-

State-specific data
State	Total seats	Pre-election				Post-election				Net change
State	Total seats	Dem.	Rep.	Oth.	Vac.	Dem.	Rep.	Oth.	Vac.	Dem.	Rep.	Oth.
Alaska	40	15	22	2	1	15	21	4	0	0	-1	+2
Arizona	60	29	31	0	0	29	31	0	0	0	0	0
Arkansas	100	23	75	0	2	22	78	0	0	-1	+3	0
California	80	61	17	1	1	60	19	1	0	-1	+2	0
Colorado	65	41	24	0	0	41	24	0	0	0	0	0
Connecticut	151	91	60	0	0	97	54	0	0	+6	-6	0
Delaware	41	26	15	0	0	26	15	0	0	0	0	0
Florida	120	46	71	0	3	42	78	0	0	-4	+7	0
Georgia	180	72	106	1	1	77	103	0	0	+5	-3	-1
Hawaii	51	46	5	0	0	47	4	0	0	+1	-1	0
Idaho	70	14	56	0	0	12	58	0	0	-2	+2	0
Illinois	118	74	44	0	0	73	45	0	0	-1	+1	0
Indiana	100	33	67	0	0	29	71	0	0	-4	+4	0
Iowa	100	47	53	0	0	41	59	0	0	-6	+6	0
Kansas	125	41	84	0	0	39	86	0	0	-2	+2	0
Kentucky	100	37	62	0	1	25	75	0	0	-12	+13	0
Maine	151	87	55	7	2	80	67	4	0	-7	+12	-3
Massachusetts	160	127	31	1	1	129	30	1	0	+2	-1	0
Michigan^[85]	110	51	58	0	1	52	58	0	0	+1	0	0
Minnesota	134	75	59	0	0	70	64	0	0	-5	+5	0
Missouri	163	48	113	0	2	49	114	0	0	+1	+1	0
Montana	100	42	58	0	0	33	67	0	0	-9	+9	0
Nevada	42	29	13	0	0	26	16	0	0	-3	+3	0
New Hampshire	400	230	156	1	13	187	213	0	0	-43	+57	-1
New Mexico	70	46	24	0	0	44	25	1	0	-2	+1	+1
New York	150	103	42	1	4	106	43	1	0	+3	+1	0
North Carolina	120	55	65	0	0	51	69	0	0	-4	+4	0
North Dakota	94	15	78	0	1	14	79	0	1	-1	+1	0
Ohio	99	38	61	0	0	35	64	0	0	-3	+3	0
Oklahoma	101	23	76	0	2	19	82	0	0	-4	+6	0
Oregon	60	38	22	0	0	37	23	0	0	-1	+1	0
Pennsylvania	203	93	109	0	1	90	113	0	0	-3	+4	0
Rhode Island	75	66	8	1	0	65	10	0	0	-1	+2	-1
South Carolina	124	45	78	0	1	43	81	0	0	-2	+3	0
South Dakota	70	11	59	0	0	8	62	0	0	-3	+3	0
Tennessee	99	26	73	0	0	26	73	0	0	0	0	0
Texas	150	67	83	0	0	67	83	0	0	0	0	0
Utah	75	16	59	0	0	17	58	0	0	+1	-1	0
Vermont	150	95	43	12	0	99	46	5	0	+4	+3	-7
Washington	98	57	41	0	0	57	41	0	0	0	0	0
West Virginia	100	40	59	1	0	24	76	0	0	-16	+17	-1
Wisconsin	99	34	63	0	2	38	61	0	0	+4	-2	0
Wyoming	60	9	49	1	1	7	51	2	0	-2	+2	+1
Total	4,758	2,262	2,427	29	40	2,148	2,590	19	1	-114	+163	-100

Flipped seats

The map below contains a state-by-state breakdown of state legislative seats that changed party control in the November 2020 elections. Hover over a state to view how many seats each party flipped.

Battleground chambers

See also: State legislative battleground chambers, 2020

Of the 86 chambers that held regularly-scheduled elections in 2020, Ballotpedia identified 24 battleground chambers in 17 states. We anticipated that these chambers would be more competitive overall and had the potential to see major shifts in party control. Four of those chambers (the Arizona House of Representatives, Georgia State Senate, Georgia House of Representatives, and Nebraska State Senate) were not battleground chambers at any point in the preceding decade.

The columns in the chart below list the following:

Seats up in 2020: This was the number of seats that were up for election in 2020.
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 seats controlled by the majority party.
Last time party control changed: This was the election where the majority at the time of the 2020 elections took control of the chamber.

State legislative battleground chambers, 2020
Chamber	Seats up in 2020	Margin	Majority share of seats	Last time party control changed
Alaska House of Representatives*	All 40	R+7	55%	2018
Arizona State Senate	All 30	R+4	57%	2002
Arizona House of Representatives	All 60	R+2	52%	1966
Colorado State Senate	18 out of 35	D+3	54%	2018
Delaware State Senate	11 out of 21	D+3	57%	1974
Florida State Senate	20 out of 40	R+6	58%	1994
Georgia State Senate	All 56	R+14	63%	2002
Georgia House of Representatives	All 180	R+31	58%	2004
Iowa House of Representatives	All 100	R+6	53%	2016
Maine State Senate	All 35	D+7	60%	2018
Maine House of Representatives	All 151	D+31	58%	2012
Michigan House of Representatives	All 110	R+7	53%	2010
Minnesota State Senate	All 67	R+3	52%	2016
Minnesota House of Representatives	All 134	D+16	56%	2018
Nebraska State Senate	25 out of 49	R+12	61%	--^[86]
Nevada State Senate	10 out of 21	D+5	62%	2016
New Hampshire State Senate	All 24	D+4	58%	2018
New Hampshire House of Representatives	All 400	D+75	58%	2018
North Carolina State Senate	All 50	R+8	58%	2010
North Carolina House of Representatives	All 120	R+10	54%	2010
Pennsylvania State Senate	25 out of 50	R+7	56%	1994
Pennsylvania House of Representatives	All 203	R+17	54%	2010
Texas House of Representatives	All 150	R+16	55%	2002
West Virginia State Senate	17 out of 34	R+6	59%	2014

*The Alaska House was under a power sharing agreement, although Republicans held more seats.

Special elections

See also: State legislative special elections, 2020

In 2020, special elections for state legislative positions were held for the following reasons:

23 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
5 due to a resignation related to criminal charges^[87]
18 due to retirement
13 due to the death of the incumbent

Impact of special elections on partisan composition

The partisan breakdown for the special elections was as follows:

21 Democratic seats
38 Republican seats

Competitiveness in 2020 elections

See also: Annual State Legislative Competitiveness Report: Vol. 10, 2020

Incumbents not seeking re-election

See also: Open seats in the 2020 state legislative elections

Click [show] on the table header below for complete, state-by-state information on open seats and guaranteed newcomers.

Open state legislative seats, 2020
State	Chamber	Seats up	Open Democratic seats	% of seats up	Open Republican seats	% of seats up	Total open seats	% of open seats
Alaska
	Senate	10	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%
	House	40	1	2.5%	2	5.0%	3	7.5%
	Total	50	1	2.0%	2	4.0%	3	6.0%
Arizona^[88]
	Senate	30	2	6.7%	3	10.0%	5	16.7%
	House	60	3	5.0%	9	15.0%	12	20.0%
	Total	90	5	5.6%	12	13.3%	17	18.9%
Arkansas^[89]
	Senate	17	1	5.9%	0	0.0%	1	5.9%
	House	100	0	0.0%	9	9.0%	9	9.0%
	Total	117	1	0.9%	9	7.7%	10	8.5%
California^[90]
	Senate	20	5	25.0%	1	5.0%	6	30.0%
	House	80	6	7.5%	2	2.5%	8	10.0%
	Total	100	11	11.0%	3	3.0%	14	14.0%
Colorado^[91]
	Senate	18	3	16.7%	4	22.2%	7	38.9%
	House	65	7	10.8%	6	9.2%	13	20.0%
	Total	83	10	12.0%	10	12.0%	20	24.1%
Connecticut
	Senate	36	0	0.0%	1	2.8%	1	2.8%
	House	151	8	5.3%	7	4.6%	15	9.9%
	Total	187	8	4.3%	8	4.3%	16	8.6%
Delaware
	Senate	11	1	9.1%	0	0.0%	1	9.1%
	House	41	1	2.4%	0	0.0%	1	2.4%
	Total	52	2	3.8%	0	0.0%	2	3.8%
Florida^[92]
	Senate	20	3	15.0%	5	25.0%	8	40.0%
	House	120	16	13.3%	16	13.3%	32	26.7%
	Total	140	19	13.6%	21	15.0%	40	28.6%
Georgia
	Senate	56	2	3.6%	7	12.5%	9	16.1%
	House	180	5	2.8%	12	6.7%	17	9.4%
	Total	236	7	3.0%	19	8.1%	26	11.0%
Hawaii
	Senate	13	2	15.4%	0	0.0%	2	15.4%
	House	51	5	9.8%	1	2.0%	6	11.8%
	Total	64	7	10.9%	1	1.6%	8	12.5%
Idaho
	Senate	35	2	5.7%	4	11.4%	6	17.1%
	House	70	3	4.3%	9	12.9%	12	17.1%
	Total	105	5	4.8%	13	12.4%	18	17.1%
Illinois
	Senate	20	3	15.0%	3	15.0%	6	30.0%
	House	118	4	3.4%	6	5.1%	10	8.5%
	Total	138	7	5.1%	9	6.5%	15	11.6%
Indiana
	Senate	25	1	4.0%	1	4.0%	2	8.0%
	House	100	4	4.0%	4	4.0%	8	8.0%
	Total	125	5	4.0%	5	4.0%	10	8.0%
Iowa
	Senate	25	0	0.0%	7	28.0%	7	28.0%
	House	100	2	2.0%	8	8.0%	10	10.0%
	Total	125	2	1.6%	15	12.0%	17	13.6%
Kansas
	Senate	40	2	5.0%	2	5.0%	4	10.0%
	House	125	7	5.6%	12	9.6%	19	15.2%
	Total	165	9	5.5%	14	8.5%	23	13.9%
Kentucky
	Senate	19	2	10.5%	1	5.3%	3	15.8%
	House	100	8	8.0%	6	6.0%	14	14.0%
	Total	119	10	8.4%	7	5.9%	17	14.3%
Maine^[93]
	Senate	35	5	14.3%	2	5.7%	7	20.0%
	House	151	23	15.2%	7	4.6%	31	20.5%
	Total	186	28	15.1%	9	4.8%	38^[94]	20.4%
Massachusetts
	Senate	40	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%
	House	160	13	8.1%	2	1.3%	15	9.4%
	Total	200	13	6.5%	2	1.0%	15	7.5%
Michigan^[95]
	Senate	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
	House	110	13	11.8%	13	11.8%	26	23.6%
	Total	110	13	11.8%	13	11.8%	26	23.6%
Minnesota
	Senate	67	2	3.0%	2	3.0%	4	6.0%
	House	134	9	6.7%	6	4.5%	15	11.2%
	Total	201	11	5.5%	8	4.0%	19	9.5%
Missouri^[96]
	Senate	17	5	29.4%	6	35.3%	11	64.7%
	House	163	14	8.6%	32	19.6%	46	28.2%
	Total	180	19	10.6%	38	21.1%	57	31.7%
Montana^[97]
	Senate	25	6	24.0%	6	24.0%	12	48.0%
	House	100	14	14.0%	15	15.0%	29	29.0%
	Total	125	20	16.0%	21	16.8%	41	32.8%
Nebraska^[98]
	Senate	25	4	16.0%	1	4.0%	6	24.0%
	Total	25	4	16.0%	1	4.0%	6^[99]	24.0%
Nevada^[100]
	Senate	10	3	30.0%	0	0.0%	3	30.0%
	House	42	8	19.0%	2	4.8%	10	23.8%
	Total	52	11	21.2%	2	3.8%	13	25.0%
New Hampshire
	Senate	24	3	12.5%	0	0.0%	3	12.5%
	House	400	37	9.3%	42	10.5%	79	19.8%
	Total	424	40	9.4%	42	9.9%	82	19.3%
New Mexico
	Senate	42	1	2.4%	1	2.4%	2	4.8%
	House	70	6	8.6%	3	4.3%	9	12.9%
	Total	112	7	6.3%	4	3.6%	11	9.8%
New York
	Senate	63	2	3.2%	10	15.9%	12	19.0%
	House	150	11	7.3%	10	6.7%	21	14.0%
	Total	213	13	6.1%	20	9.4%	33	15.5%
North Carolina
	Senate	50	3	6.0%	7	14.0%	10	20.0%
	House	120	4	3.3%	13	10.8%	17	14.2%
	Total	170	7	4.1%	20	11.8%	27	15.9%
North Dakota
	Senate	23	0	0.0%	2	8.7%	2	8.7%
	House	46	1	2.2%	3	6.5%	4	8.7%
	Total	69	1	1.4%	5	7.2%	6	8.7%
Ohio^[101]
	Senate	16	0	0.0%	5	31.3%	5	31.3%
	House	99	5	5.1%	13	13.1%	18	18.2%
	Total	115	5	4.3%	18	15.7%	23	20.0%
Oklahoma^[102]
	Senate	24	0	0.0%	2	8.3%	2	8.3%
	House	101	3	3.0%	6	5.9%	9	8.9%
	Total	125	3	2.4%	8	6.4%	11	8.8%
Oregon
	Senate	15	3	20.0%	1	6.7%	4	26.7%
	House	60	8	13.3%	3	5.0%	11	18.3%
	Total	75	11	14.7%	4	5.3%	15	20.0%
Pennsylvania
	Senate	25	1	4.0%	1	4.0%	2	8.0%
	House	203	6	3.0%	11	5.4%	17	8.4%
	Total	228	7	3.1%	12	5.3%	19	8.3%
Rhode Island
	Senate	38	4	10.5%	0	0.0%	4	10.5%
	House	75	5	6.7%	0	0.0%	5	6.7%
	Total	113	9	8.0%	0	0.0%	9	8.0%
South Carolina
	Senate	46	1	2.2%	2	4.3%	3	6.5%
	House	124	3	2.4%	8	6.5%	11	8.9%
	Total	170	4	2.4%	10	5.9%	14	8.2%
South Dakota^[103]
	Senate	35	1	2.9%	11	31.4%	12	34.3%
	House	70	1	1.4%	15	21.4%	16	22.9%
	Total	105	2	1.9%	26	24.8%	28	26.7%
Tennessee
	Senate	16	0	0.0%	1	6.3%	1	6.3%
	House	99	0	0.0%	5	5.1%	5	5.1%
	Total	115	0	0.0%	6	5.2%	6	5.2%
Texas
	Senate	16	1	6.3%	0	0.0%	1	6.3%
	House	150	3	2.0%	7	4.7%	10	6.7%
	Total	166	4	2.4%	7	4.2%	11	6.6%
Utah
	Senate	15	0	0.0%	3	20.0%	3	20.0%
	House	75	3	4.0%	7	9.3%	10	13.3%
	Total	90	3	3.3%	10	11.1%	13	14.4%
Vermont
	Senate	30	2	6.7%	1	3.3%	3	10.0%
	House	150	13	8.7%	3	2.0%	19	12.7%
	Total	180	15	8.3%	4	2.2%	22^[104]	12.2%
Washington
	Senate	25	0	0.0%	3	12.0%	3	12.0%
	House	98	7	7.1%	6	6.1%	13	13.3%
	Total	123	7	5.7%	9	7.3%	16	13.0%
West Virginia
	Senate	17	3	17.6%	1	5.9%	4	23.5%
	House	100	11	11.0%	8	8.0%	20	20.0%
	Total	117	14	12.0%	9	7.7%	24^[105]	20.5%
Wisconsin
	Senate	16	4	25.0%	3	18.8%	7	43.8%
	House	99	7	7.1%	6	6.1%	13	13.1%
	Total	115	11	9.6%	9	7.8%	20	17.4%
Wyoming
	Senate	15	0	0.0%	4	26.7%	4	26.7%
	House	60	3	5.0%	8	13.3%	11	18.3%
	Total	75	3	4.0%	12	16.0%	15	20.0%
Overall total		5,875	394	6.7%	477	8.1%	877^[106]	15.0%

Competitiveness in primary elections

See also: 2020 primary election competitiveness in state and federal government

As the charts below show, there were 1,135 fewer primary candidates in 2020 than in 2018, reaching levels similar to 2016 and 2014. 2020 saw the lowest number of open seats, meaning more incumbents seeking re-election, compared to the previous three even-year elections. The number of incumbents facing primaries was roughly similar to 2016 and 2014, but less than 2018. There were fewer total primaries in 2020 compared to 2018 and 2016, but more than there were in 2014.

To read more about the competitiveness of state legislative primary elections in 2020, click here.

Incumbents in contested primaries

See also: State legislative incumbents in contested primaries, 2020

Click [show] on the table below to see details regarding incumbents in contested primaries in each state.

Incumbents in contested primaries, 2020^[107]^[108]
State	Chamber	Seats up	Democratic incumbents with primary challenges	% of Democratic incumbents seeking re-election	Republican incumbents with primary challenges	% of Republican incumbents seeking re-election	Total incumbents with primary challenges	% of total incumbents seeking re-election
Alaska
	State Senate	10	0	0.0%	6	85.7%	6	60.0%
	State House	40	3	21.4%	11	52.4%	14	37.8%
	Total	50	3	17.6%	17	60.7%	20	42.6%
Arizona
	State Senate	30	2	18.2%	5	35.7%	7	28.0%
	State House	60	11	42.3%	9	40.9%	20	41.7%
	Total	90	13	35.1%	14	38.9%	27	37.0%
Arkansas
	State Senate	17	1	33.3%	2	15.4%	3	18.8%
	State House	100	2	8.7%	6	9.0%	8	8.9%
	Total	117	3	11.5%	8	10.0%	11	10.4%
California
	State Senate	20	5	50.0%	4	100.0%	9	64.3%
	State House	80	20	36.4%	7	43.8%	28	38.9%
	Total	100	25	38.5%	11	55.0%	37	43.0%
Colorado
	State Senate	18	1	14.3%	1	25.0%	2	18.2%
	State House	65	2	5.9%	1	5.6%	3	5.8%
	Total	83	3	7.3%	2	9.1%	5	7.9%
Connecticut
	State Senate	36	1	4.5%	0	0.0%	1	2.9%
	State House	151	4	4.9%	1	1.9%	5	3.7%
	Total	187	5	4.8%	1	1.5%	6	3.6%
Delaware
	State Senate	11	2	40.0%	0	0.0%	2	20.0%
	State House	41	6	24.0%	0	0.0%	6	15.0%
	Total	52	8	26.7%	0	0.0%	8	16.0%
Florida
	State Senate	20	1	14.3%	0	0.0%	1	8.3%
	State House	120	7	22.6%	9	15.8%	16	18.2%
	Total	140	8	21.1%	9	14.5%	17	17.0%
Georgia
	State Senate	56	8	42.1%	5	17.9%	13	27.7%
	State House	180	20	28.6%	9	9.7%	29	17.8%
	Total	236	28	31.5%	14	11.6%	42	20.0%
Hawaii
	State Senate	13	3	30.0%	0	0.0%	3	27.3%
	State House	51	17	41.5%	0	0.0%	17	37.8%
	Total	64	20	39.2%	0	0.0%	20	35.7%
Idaho
	State Senate	35	0	0.0%	7	29.2%	7	24.1%
	State House	70	0	0.0%	21	44.7%	21	36.2%
	Total	105	0	0.0%	28	39.4%	28	32.2%
Illinois
	State Senate	20	5	35.7%	0	-	5	35.7%
	State House	118	13	18.3%	4	10.5%	17	15.6%
	Total	138	18	21.2%	4	10.5%	22	17.9%
Indiana
	State Senate	25	1	20.0%	4	22.2%	5	21.7%
	State House	100	5	17.2%	13	20.6%	18	19.6%
	Total	125	6	17.6%	17	21.0%	23	20.0%
Iowa
	State Senate	25	0	0.0%	1	8.3%	1	5.6%
	State House	100	4	8.9%	1	2.2%	5	5.6%
	Total	125	4	7.8%	2	3.5%	6	5.6%
Kansas
	State Senate	40	0	0.0%	10	37.0%	10	27.8%
	State House	125	3	8.8%	18	25.0%	21	19.8%
	Total	165	3	7.0%	28	28.3%	31	21.8%
Kentucky
	State Senate	19	0	0.0%	2	18.2%	2	12.5%
	State House	100	3	10.0%	8	14.3%	11	12.8%
	Total	119	3	8.6%	10	14.9%	13	12.7%
Maine
	State Senate	35	1	6.3%	2	16.7%	3	10.7%
	State House	151	3	4.5%	1	2.0%	4	3.3%
	Total	186	4	4.9%	3	4.9%	7	4.7%
Massachusetts
	State Senate	40	5	13.9%	0	0.0%	5	12.5%
	State House	160	17	14.8%	1	3.4%	18	12.4%
	Total	200	22	14.6%	1	3.0%	23	12.4%
Michigan
	State Senate	0	-	-	-	-	-	-
	State House	110	14	35.9%	10	22.2%	24	28.6%
	Total	110	14	35.9%	10	22.2%	24	28.6%
Minnesota
	State Senate	67	7	23.3%	2	6.1%	9	14.3%
	State House	134	4	6.2%	6	11.1%	10	8.4%
	Total	201	11	11.6%	8	9.2%	19	10.4%
Missouri
	State Senate	17	0	0.0%	1	25.0%	1	16.7%
	State House	163	9	26.5%	7	8.4%	16	13.7%
	Total	180	9	25.0%	8	9.2%	17	13.8%
Montana
	State Senate	25	0	0.0%	2	20.0%	2	15.4%
	State House	100	4	14.3%	17	39.5%	21	29.6%
	Total	125	4	12.9%	19	35.8%	23	27.4%
Nebraska
	State Senate	25	0	0.0%	2	16.7%	2	10.5%
	Total	25	0	0.0%	2	16.7%	2	10.5%
Nevada
	State Senate	10	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%
	State House	42	3	14.3%	4	36.4%	7	21.9%
	Total	52	3	12.0%	4	28.6%	7	17.9%
New Hampshire
	State Senate	24	0	0.0%	3	30.0%	3	14.3%
	State House	400	44	22.2%	59	47.2%	103	31.9%
	Total	424	44	21.1%	62	45.9%	106	30.8%
New Mexico
	State Senate	42	10	40.0%	3	20.0%	13	32.5%
	State House	70	7	17.5%	0	0.0%	7	11.5%
	Total	112	17	26.2%	3	8.3%	20	19.8%
New York
	State Senate	63	9	23.7%	0	0.0%	9	17.6%
	State House	150	25	26.6%	1	3.0%	26	20.3%
	Total	213	34	25.8%	1	2.2%	35	19.6%
North Carolina
	State Senate	50	1	5.6%	2	9.1%	3	7.5%
	State House	120	11	21.6%	10	18.9%	21	20.2%
	Total	170	12	17.4%	12	16.0%	24	16.7%
North Dakota
	State Senate	23	0	0.0%	1	5.9%	1	4.8%
	State House	46	0	0.0%	4	10.3%	4	9.5%
	Total	69	0	0.0%	5	8.9%	5	7.9%
Ohio
	State Senate	16	0	0.0%	1	11.1%	1	9.1%
	State House	99	8	24.2%	6	12.8%	14	17.5%
	Total	115	8	22.9%	7	12.5%	15	16.5%
Oklahoma
	State Senate	24	0	0.0%	7	35.0%	7	31.8%
	State House	101	3	14.3%	23	32.4%	26	28.3%
	Total	125	3	13.0%	30	33.0%	33	28.9%
Oregon
	State Senate	15	1	25.0%	1	14.3%	2	18.2%
	State House	60	3	10.0%	0	0.0%	3	6.1%
	Total	75	4	11.8%	1	3.8%	5	8.3%
Pennsylvania
	State Senate	25	3	33.3%	0	0.0%	3	13.0%
	State House	203	15	17.2%	10	10.1%	25	13.4%
	Total	228	18	18.8%	10	8.8%	28	13.4%
Rhode Island
	State Senate	38	10	34.5%	0	0.0%	10	29.4%
	State House	75	16	26.2%	0	0.0%	16	22.9%
	Total	113	26	28.9%	0	0.0%	26	25.0%
South Carolina
	State Senate	46	6	33.3%	7	28.0%	13	30.2%
	State House	124	8	19.5%	15	20.8%	23	20.4%
	Total	170	14	23.7%	22	22.7%	36	23.1%
South Dakota
	State Senate	35	0	0.0%	3	15.8%	3	13.0%
	State House	70	2	20.0%	20	46.5%	22	41.5%
	Total	105	2	14.3%	23	37.1%	25	32.9%
Tennessee
	State Senate	16	1	100.0%	3	21.4%	4	26.7%
	State House	99	9	36.0%	15	22.1%	24	25.5%
	Total	115	10	38.5%	18	22.0%	28	25.7%
Texas
	State Senate	16	2	33.3%	0	0.0%	2	13.3%
	State House	150	19	29.7%	11	14.5%	30	21.4%
	Total	166	21	30.0%	11	12.9%	32	20.6%
Utah
	State Senate	15	0	0.0%	4	40.0%	4	33.3%
	State House	75	0	0.0%	8	15.4%	8	12.3%
	Total	90	0	0.0%	12	19.4%	12	15.6%
Vermont
	State Senate	30	9	42.9%	0	0.0%	9	34.6%
	State House	150	13	15.3%	4	10.3%	17	13.1%
	Total	180	22	20.8%	4	9.1%	26	16.7%
Washington
	State Senate	25	2	16.7%	2	20.0%	4	18.2%
	State House	98	23	46.0%	11	31.4%	34	40.0%
	Total	123	25	40.3%	13	28.9%	38	35.5%
West Virginia
	State Senate	17	0	0.0%	7	70.0%	7	53.8%
	State House	100	14	46.7%	24	48.0%	38	47.5%
	Total	117	14	42.4%	31	51.7%	45	48.4%
Wisconsin
	State Senate	16	1	25.0%	0	0.0%	1	11.1%
	State House	99	4	13.8%	4	7.0%	8	9.3%
	Total	115	5	15.2%	4	6.5%	9	9.5%
Wyoming
	State Senate	15	0	0.0%	6	60.0%	6	54.5%
	State House	60	1	16.7%	24	57.1%	25	51.0%
	Total	75	1	14.3%	30	57.7%	31	51.7%
Overall total		5,875	497	20.6%	519	20.3%	1,017	20.4%

To read more about the incumbents in contested primaries in 2020, click here.

Seats without major party opposition

See also: Major party candidates with major party competition in the November 2020 state legislative elections

In 2020, 2,067 state legislative seats, 35.2% of all seats up for election, did not have major party competition. 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.

Click [show] on the table below to see details of seats up for election without major party competition in each state.

Seats without major party competition, 2020^[109]
State	Chamber	Seats up	Democratic seats	% of seats	Republican seats	% of seats	Total seats	% of seats
Alaska
	State Senate	10	1	10.0%	5	50.0%	6	60.0%
	State House	40	8	20.0%	11	27.5%	19	47.5%
	Total	50	9	18.0%	16	32.0%	25	50.0%
Arizona
	State Senate	30	3	10.0%	5	16.7%	8	26.7%
	State House	60	8	13.3%	16	26.7%	24	40.0%
	Total	90	11	12.2%	21	23.3%	32	35.6%
Arkansas
	State Senate	17	1	5.9%	8	47.1%	9	52.9%
	State House	100	15	15.0%	47	47.0%	62	62.0%
	Total	117	16	13.7%	55	47.0%	71	60.7%
California
	State Senate	20	3	15.0%	0	0.0%	3	15.0%
	State House	80	11	13.8%	2	2.5%	13	16.3%
	Total	100	14	14.0%	2	2.0%	16	16.0%
Colorado
	State Senate	18	2	11.1%	0	0.0%	2	11.1%
	State House	65	6	9.2%	2	3.1%	8	12.3%
	Total	83	8	9.6%	2	2.4%	10	12.0%
Connecticut
	State Senate	36	3	8.3%	1	2.8%	4	11.1%
	State House	151	24	15.9%	8	5.3%	32	21.1%
	Total	187	27	14.4%	9	4.8%	36	19.3%
Delaware
	State Senate	11	2	18.2%	2	18.2%	5	36.4%
	State House	41	15	36.6%	7	17.1%	22	53.7%
	Total	52	17	32.7%	9	17.3%	26	50.0%
Florida
	State Senate	20	3	15.0%	0	0.0%	3	15.0%
	State House	120	24	20.0%	1	0.8%	25	20.8%
	Total	140	27	19.3%	1	0.7%	28	20.0%
Georgia
	State Senate	56	13	23.2%	14	25.0%	27	48.2%
	State House	180	55	30.6%	38	21.1%	93	51.7%
	Total	236	68	28.8%	52	22.0%	120	50.8%
Hawaii
	State Senate	13	8	61.5%	0	0.0%	8	61.5%
	State House	51	23	45.1%	0	0.0%	23	45.1%
	Total	64	31	48.4%	0	0.0%	31	48.4%
Idaho
	State Senate	35	1	2.9%	19	54.3%	20	57.1%
	State House	70	3	4.3%	30	42.9%	33	47.1%
	Total	105	4	3.8%	49	46.7%	53	50.5%
Illinois
	State Senate	20	8	40.0%	3	15.0%	11	55.0%
	State House	118	53	44.9%	15	12.7%	68	57.6%
	Total	138	61	44.2%	18	13.0%	79	57.2%
Indiana
	State Senate	25	6	24.0%	5	20.0%	11	44.0%
	State House	100	19	19.0%	22	22.0%	41	41.0%
	Total	125	25	20.0%	27	21.6%	52	41.6%
Iowa
	State Senate	25	3	12.0%	5	20.0%	8	32.0%
	State House	100	21	21.0%	13	13.0%	34	34.0%
	Total	125	24	19.2%	18	14.4%	42	33.6%
Kansas
	State Senate	40	1	2.5%	10	25.0%	11	27.5%
	State House	125	11	8.8%	34	27.2%	45	36.0%
	Total	165	12	7.3%	44	26.7%	56	33.9%
Kentucky
	State Senate	19	5	26.3%	6	31.6%	11	57.9%
	State House	100	16	16.0%	24	24.0%	40	40.0%
	Total	119	21	17.6%	30	25.2%	51	42.9%
Maine
	State Senate	35	2	5.7%	0	0.0%	2	5.7%
	State House	151	26	17.2%	16	10.6%	42	27.8%
	Total	186	28	15.1%	16	8.6%	44	23.7%
Massachusetts
	State Senate	40	32	80.0%	2	5.0%	34	85.0%
	State House	160	109	68.1%	18	11.3%	127	79.4%
	Total	200	141	70.5%	20	10.0%	161	80.5%
Michigan
	State Senate	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
	State House	110	1	0.9%	0	0.0%	1	0.9%
	Total	110	1	0.9%	0	0.0%	1	0.9%
Minnesota
	State Senate	67	0	0.0%	2	3.0%	2	3.0%
	State House	134	4	3.0%	1	0.7%	5	3.7%
	Total	201	4	2.0%	3	1.5%	7	3.5%
Missouri
	State Senate	17	3	17.6%	4	23.5%	7	41.2%
	State House	163	31	19.0%	53	32.5%	84	51.5%
	Total	180	34	18.9%	57	31.7%	91	50.6%
Montana
	State Senate	25	1	4.0%	8	32.0%	9	36.0%
	State House	100	8	8.0%	28	28.0%	36	36.0%
	Total	125	9	7.2%	36	28.8%	45	36.0%
Nebraska^[110]
	State Senate	25	2	8.0%	7	28.0%	9	36.0%
	Total	25	2	8.0%	7	28.0%	9	36.0%
Nevada
	State Senate	10	3	30.0%	1	10.0%	4	40.0%
	State House	42	7	16.7%	7	16.7%	14	33.3%
	Total	52	10	19.2%	8	15.4%	18	34.6%
New Hampshire
	State Senate	24	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%
	State House	400	20	5.0%	6	1.5%	26	6.5%
	Total	424	20	4.7%	6	1.4%	26	6.1%
New Mexico
	State Senate	42	1	2.4%	8	19.0%	9	21.4%
	State House	70	9	12.9%	13	18.6%	22	31.4%
	Total	112	10	8.9%	20	17.9%	30	26.8%
New York
	State Senate	63	17	27.0%	5	7.9%	22	34.9%
	State House	150	44	29.3%	11	7.3%	55	36.7%
	Total	213	61	28.6%	16	7.5%	77	36.2%
North Carolina
	State Senate	50	1	2.0%	0	0.0%	1	2.0%
	State House	120	9	7.5%	4	3.3%	13	10.8%
	Total	170	10	5.9%	4	2.4%	14	8.2%
North Dakota
	State Senate	23	0	0.0%	7	30.4%	7	30.4%
	State House	46	2	4.3%	7	15.2%	9	19.6%
	Total	69	2	2.9%	14	20.3%	16	23.2%
Ohio
	State Senate	16	0	0.0%	0	0.0%	0	0.0%
	State House	99	6	6.1%	16	16.2%	22	22.2%
	Total	115	6	5.2%	16	13.9%	22	19.1%
Oklahoma
	State Senate	24	1	4.2%	11	45.8%	12	50.0%
	State House	101	6	5.9%	59	58.4%	65	64.4%
	Total	125	7	5.6%	70	56.0%	77	61.6%
Oregon
	State Senate	15	4	26.7%	0	0.0%	4	26.7%
	State House	60	7	11.7%	0	0.0%	7	11.7%
	Total	75	11	14.7%	0	0.0%	10	14.7%
Pennsylvania
	State Senate	25	5	20.0%	1	4.0%	6	24.0%
	State House	203	42	20.7%	41	20.2%	83	40.9%
	Total	228	47	20.6%	42	18.4%	89	39.0%
Rhode Island
	State Senate	38	22	57.9%	2	5.3%	24	63.2%
	State House	75	49	65.3%	4	5.3%	53	70.7%
	Total	113	71	62.8%	6	5.3%	77	68.1%
South Carolina
	State Senate	46	6	13.0%	9	19.6%	15	32.6%
	State House	124	24	19.4%	49	39.5%	73	58.9%
	Total	170	30	17.6%	58	34.1%	88	51.8%
South Dakota
	State Senate	35	0	0.0%	18	51.4%	18	51.4%
	State House	70	5	7.1%	27	38.6%	32	45.7%
	Total	105	5	4.8%	45	42.9%	50	46.7%
Tennessee
	State Senate	16	1	6.3%	6	37.5%	7	43.8%
	State House	99	20	20.2%	42	42.4%	62	62.6%
	Total	115	21	18.3%	48	41.7%	69	60.0%
Texas
	State Senate	16	2	12.5%	1	6.3%	3	18.8%
	State House	150	30	20.0%	26	17.3%	56	37.3%
	Total	166	32	19.3%	27	16.3%	59	35.5%
Utah
	State Senate	15	0	0.0%	8	53.3%	8	53.3%
	State House	75	2	2.7%	21	28.0%	23	30.7%
	Total	90	2	2.2%	29	32.2%	31	34.4%
Vermont
	State Senate	30	12	40.0%	3	10.0%	15	50.0%
	State House	150	54	36.0%	20	13.3%	74	49.3%
	Total	180	56	31.1%	23	12.8%	79	43.9%
Washington
	State Senate	25	2	8.0%	4	16.0%	6	24.0%
	State House	98	16	16.3%	8	8.2%	24	24.5%
	Total	123	18	14.6%	12	9.8%	30	24.4%
West Virginia
	State Senate	17	0	0.0%	3	17.6%	3	17.6%
	State House	100	4	4.0%	15	15.0%	19	19.0%
	Total	117	4	3.4%	18	15.4%	22	18.8%
Wisconsin
	State Senate	16	3	18.8%	2	12.5%	5	31.3%
	State House	99	7	7.1%	13	13.1%	20	20.2%
	Total	115	10	8.7%	15	13.0%	25	21.7%
Wyoming
	State Senate	15	0	0.0%	10	66.7%	10	66.7%
	State House	60	5	8.3%	39	65.0%	44	73.3%
	Total	75	5	6.7%	49	65.3%	54	72.0%
Overall total^[111]		5,875	1,032	17.6%	1,019	17.3%	2,051	34.9%

Historical competitiveness data

See also: Annual State Legislative Competitiveness Report: Vol. 8, 2018

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 tables detail the data collected from regularly scheduled state legislative elections between 2010 and 2019. They feature the total number of seats up for election, open seats, races that included only one major party candidate, term-limited incumbents, incumbents who faced primary challengers, and incumbents who were defeated. 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.

During even years, state legislative elections have had an average of 6,039 seats up for election. Of those seats, an average of 1,134 have been open, meaning an incumbent was not seeking re-election.

The following chart displays competitiveness-related data points for state legislative elections between 2010 and 2019. Hover your mouse over a bar to view the specific percentage value.

Competitiveness in state legislative elections (2010-2019)
Year	Total seats	Open seats	No major party challengers	Term limited incumbents	Primaries featuring incumbents	Incumbents defeated
Even-year elections
2018	6,073	1,181 (19.5%)	2,017 (33.2%)	271 (4.5%)	1,064 (17.5%)	469 (7.7%)
2016	5,923	1,040 (17.6%)	2,477 (41.2%)	253 (4.3%)	1,005 (17.0%)	358 (6.0%)
2014	6,057	1,030 (17.0%)	2,606 (43.0%)	223 (3.7%)	1,009 (16.7%)	397 (6.6%)
2012	6,015	1,277 (21.2%)	2,307 (38.4%)	255 (4.2%)	1,175 (19.5%)	488 (8.1%)
2010	6,125	1,140 (18.6%)	2,000 (32.7%)	375 (6.1%)	1,133 (18.5%)	614 (10.0%)
Odd-year elections
2019	538	103 (19.1%)	299 (55.6%)	47 (8.7%)	129 (24.0%)	17 (3.2%)
2017	220	20 (9.1%)	42 (19.1%)	0 (0.0%)	32 (14.6%)	14 (6.4%)
2015	538	75 (13.9%)	330 (61.3%)	21 (3.9%)	101 (18.8%)	27 (5.0%)
2013	220	15 (6.8%)	58 (26.4%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (6.8%)	6 (2.7%)
2011	578	105 (18.6%)	246 (42.6%)	16 (2.8%)	95 (16.4%)	28 (4.8%)

Partisan competitiveness

See also: Major party candidates with major party competition in the November 2018 state legislative elections

The following table provides more detailed information about partisan competitiveness in state legislative elections since 2010. During even years, the past five elections have had an average of 2,281 races where there is no major party opposition. This means that, on average, during even years, 37.8% of races feature only one major party.

Partisan competitiveness in state legislative elections (2010-2019)
Year	Total seats	No major party challengers	No major party challengers (%)
Even-year elections
2018	6,073	2,017	33.2%
2016	5,923	2,477	41.2%
2014	6,057	2,606	43.0%
2012	6,015	2,307	38.4%
2010	6,125	2,000	32.7%
Odd-year elections
2019	538	299	55.6%
2017	220	42	19.1%
2015	538	330	61.3%
2013	220	58	26.4%
2011	578	246	42.6%

Open seats overview

See also: Open seats in the 2018 state legislative elections

See also: Impact of term limits on state legislative elections in 2018

The table below provides more detailed information about open seats in state legislative elections since 2010. During even years, the past five elections have had an average of 1,134 open seats, meaning races where an incumbent was not seeking re-election. 15 state legislatures subject legislators to term limits. On average, during even years, 275 incumbent legislators cannot run for re-election due to term limits.

Open seats in state legislative elections (2010-2019)
Year	Total seats	Open seats	Open seats (%)	Term limited incumbents	Term limited incumbents (%)
Even-year elections
2018	6,073	1,181	19.5%	271	4.5%
2016	5,923	1,040	17.6%	253	4.3%
2014	6,057	1,030	17.0%	223	3.7%
2012	6,015	1,277	21.2%	255	4.2%
2010	6,125	1,140	18.6%	375	6.1%
Odd-year elections
2019	538	103	19.1%	47	8.7%
2017	220	20	9.1%	0	0.0%
2015	538	75	13.9%	21	3.9%
2013	220	15	6.8%	0	0.0%
2011	578	105	18.6%	16	2.8%

Incumbency competitiveness

See also: Incumbents defeated in 2018's state legislative elections

See also: 2018 primary election competitiveness in state legislative races

The chart below provides more detailed information about races where an incumbent was challenged in state legislative elections since 2010. During even years, the past five elections have had an average of 1,077 races where an incumbent was challenged by somebody in their own party in a primary election. On average, 141 incumbents have been defeated in even-year primaries and 324 defeated in general elections.

Competitiveness in state legislative elections (2010-2019)
Year	Total seats	Primaries featuring incumbents	Primaries featuring incumbents (%)	Incumbents defeated in primary election	Incumbents defeated in general election	Total incumbents defeated	Total incumbents defeated (%)
Even-year elections
2018	6,073	1,064	17.5%	147	322	469	7.7%
2016	5,923	1,005	17.0%	123	235	358	6.0%
2014	6,057	1,009	16.7%	131	266	397	6.6%
2012	6,015	1,175	19.5%	194	294	488	8.1%
2010	6,125	1,133	18.5%	112	502	614	10.0%
Odd-year elections
2019	538	129	24.0%	9	8	17	3.2%
2017	220	32	14.6%	0	14	14	6.4%
2015	538	101	18.8%	14	13	27	5.0%
2013	220	15	6.8%	2	4	6	2.7%
2011	578	95	16.4%	8	20	28	4.8%

Margins of victory

See also: Margin of victory analysis for the 2018 state legislative elections

Of the 5,679 state legislative districts in which elections were held in 2018, 4,798 held elections again in 2020. The average margin of victory across these districts in 2018 was smaller than the national average at 24.9%. Republicans won seats in 2,454 of these districts while Democrats won seats in 2,375.^[112] The average margin of victory in districts with a Democratic winner was 27.8%, while the average margin of victory for districts with a Republican winner was 24.5%.

Among chambers with districts up for election again in 2020, the smallest average margin of victory in 2018 was 7.7% in the South Dakota House of Representatives while the largest was 37.3% in the South Carolina House of Representatives. Among only districts with Democratic winners, the chamber with the smallest average margin of victory was the South Dakota House of Representatives at 1.9% while the largest was 55.2% in the New York State Assembly. Among Republican winners, the smallest average margin of victory was 4.5% in the Vermont State Senate and the largest was 40.2% in the Tennessee House of Representatives.

The following table lists all 55 state legislative chambers which held regularly-scheduled elections for the same seats in 2020 as in 2018. The number of districts with seats up in both years and the average margin of victory in 2018 is included for each chamber. Also included is the number of districts with Democratic and Republican winners and the average margins of victory for those districts.

2018 Margins of victory for state legislative seats up in 2018 and 2020
Chamber	Seats up	Average MoV	Seats won by a Democrat in 2018	Average Democratic MoV in 2018	Seats won by a Republican in 2018	Average Republican MoV in 2018
Alaska House of Representatives	40	21.2%	16	17.8%	23	25%
Arizona House of Representatives	30	10.1%	15	11.1%	16	8.7%
Arizona State Senate	30	22%	13	26.5%	17	17.6%
Arkansas House of Representatives	100	28.9%	24	27.1%	76	30.7%
Arkansas State Senate	18	31.1%	5	23.9%	13	38.4%
California State Assembly	80	26.5%	60	37.4%	20	15.7%
Colorado House of Representatives	65	26.3%	41	27.6%	24	25.1%
Connecticut House of Representatives	151	24.9%	92	33.9%	59	15.8%
Connecticut State Senate	36	17.8%	23	25.3%	13	10.2%
Delaware House of Representatives	41	28.3%	26	36.8%	15	19.7%
Florida House of Representatives	120	20%	47	20.6%	73	19.3%
Georgia House of Representatives	179	23.2%	75	16.7%	104	29.7%
Georgia State Senate	56	33.1%	21	38%	35	28.2%
Hawaii House of Representatives	51	33.2%	46	38.6%	5	27.8%
Idaho House of Representatives	70	26.4%	14	21.1%	56	31.7%
Idaho State Senate	35	31.3%	7	27.8%	28	34.8%
Illinois House of Representatives	118	18.5%	74	19.7%	44	17.2%
Indiana House of Representatives	100	22.8%	33	15.7%	67	29.9%
Iowa House of Representatives	100	23.1%	46	25%	54	21.1%
Kansas House of Representatives	125	21.6%	40	18.6%	85	24.5%
Kentucky House of Representatives	100	23.8%	39	22.8%	61	24.8%
Maine House of Representatives	151	16.1%	89	24.5%	57	17.6%
Maine State Senate	35	20.1%	21	22.7%	14	17.4%
Massachusetts House of Representatives	160	29.8%	127	31.8%	32	17.1%
Massachusetts State Senate	40	19.5%	34	26.8%	6	12.2%
Michigan House of Representatives	110	30.9%	52	40.8%	58	21%
Minnesota House of Representatives	134	27.1%	75	31.6%	59	22.7%
Missouri House of Representatives	163	35.8%	47	38.5%	116	33.1%
Montana House of Representatives	100	27.6%	42	22.5%	58	32.6%
Nevada State Assembly	42	21.5%	29	19.3%	13	23.6%
New Hampshire House of Representatives	204	8%	146	10.3%	78	4.6%
New Hampshire State Senate	24	13.9%	14	17.2%	10	10.6%
New Mexico House of Representatives	70	19.1%	46	19.3%	24	18.9%
New York State Assembly	150	33.5%	106	55.2%	43	22.3%
New York State Senate	63	31.5%	40	47%	23	16.1%
North Carolina House of Representatives	120	29.1%	55	32.4%	65	25.8%
North Carolina State Senate	50	27.3%	21	31.6%	29	23%
Ohio House of Representatives	99	29.8%	38	31%	61	28.7%
Oklahoma House of Representatives	101	18.5%	25	12.6%	76	24.5%
Oregon House of Representatives	60	27.4%	38	28%	22	26.8%
Pennsylvania House of Representatives	203	26.3%	93	27.9%	110	24.8%
Rhode Island House of Representatives	75	19.6%	66	25.6%	9	13.6%
Rhode Island State Senate	38	18.2%	33	28%	5	8.3%
South Carolina House of Representatives	124	37.3%	44	43.5%	80	31.2%
South Dakota House of Representatives	37	7.7%	10	1.9%	34	11.2%
South Dakota State Senate	35	18.9%	5	9.5%	30	28.3%
Tennessee House of Representatives	99	35.6%	26	31%	73	40.2%
Texas House of Representatives	150	33.4%	67	35.2%	83	31.6%
Utah House of Representatives	75	35.9%	16	33.2%	59	38.6%
Vermont House of Representatives	104	13%	72	12.8%	35	9.7%
Vermont State Senate	13	10.3%	11	14.5%	4	4.5%
Washington House of Representatives	98	25.2%	57	32.8%	41	17.7%
West Virginia House of Delegates	67	15.2%	28	9.1%	46	18.9%
Wisconsin State Assembly	99	28.1%	36	36.6%	63	19.6%
Wyoming House of Representatives	60	17.5%	9	15%	50	26.1%
Overall	4798	24.9%	2375	27.8%	2454	24.5%

Chambers that flipped in the last election

See also: State legislative elections, 2018

Eight of the 86 chambers up for election up for election in 2020 experienced a change in partisan control in the previous round of regularly-scheduled elections. This figure includes seven chambers last up for election in 2018 and one chamber last up for election in 2016.

State legislative chambers with elections in 2020 that flipped in the last election
Chamber	Previous election	Seats up	Pre-election partisan balance	Post-election partisan balance
Alaska House of Representatives	2018	40/40	22-18^[113]	21-19^[114]
Colorado State Senate	2018	17/35	18-16	19-16
Maine State Senate	2018	35/35	18-17	21-14
Minnesota State Senate	2016	67/67	38-28	34-33
Minnesota House of Representatives	2018	134/134	77-56	75-59
New Hampshire State Senate	2018	24/24	14-10	14-10
New Hampshire House of Representatives	2018	400/400	212-167	233-167
New York State Senate	2018	63/63	32-31^[115]	40-23

Impact of term limits

See also: Impact of term limits on state legislative elections in 2020

At the time of the Nov. 3 elections, fifteen states used term limits for state legislators. All of them had elections in 2020 except for Louisiana.

Term limits impacted 211 state legislators in 2020, a decrease from 253 in 2016, the previous presidential-year election cycle.
There were fewer term-limited legislators in 2020 than in any Ballotpedia had tracked since 2010.
By party, 122 Republicans, 82 Democrats, and seven third party or independent incumbents were term-limited.
The Missouri Senate and House of Representatives had the highest percentage of term-limited legislators in 2020. In the Missouri Senate, 47% of the incumbents up for election were term-limited, while 21% of the Missouri House were term-limited.

Term limits create open seats. This tends to draw more competitors than when an incumbent runs for re-election because incumbents in state legislative elections have a high re-election rate. For example, between 1972 and 2014, the state legislative incumbency win rate never fell below 90%, with the exception of 1974 when 88% of incumbents won re-election.

The table below shows 2020's term-limited legislators and gives a breakdown of the totals for each legislative chamber.

Senate

Term limits impacted 60 state senators in 13 state Senates: 21 Democrats, 33 Republicans, and six third party or independent senators. The Democratic Party was the majority party in four of the 13 term-limited state Senates with elections in 2020, while the Republican Party held the majority in nine.

In 2016, 67 state Senators in 13 states were term-limited: 29 Democrats, 26 Republicans, and 12 third party or independent senators. In 2012, 83 state Senators in 13 states were term-limited: 35 Democrats, 40 Republicans, and eight third party or independent senators.

House

Term limits impacted 151 state representatives in 13 state Houses: 61 Democrats, 89 Republicans, and one independent. The Democratic Party was the majority party in four of the 13 term-limited state Houses, while the Republican Party held the majority in nine.

In 2016, 186 state Representatives in 13 states were term-limited: 84 Democrats and 102 Republicans. In 2012, 172 state Representatives in 13 states were term-limited: 87 Democrats and 85 Republicans.

To read more about the effect of term limits on state legislative elections in 2020, click here.

Political context

The 2020 elections occurred in the aftermath of significant Democratic gains in the 2019 elections, 2018 elections, and 2017 elections. In the 2019 elections, Democrats flipped both chambers in the Virginia State Legislature..

Changes in chamber partisan control, 2010 to 2019

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.

As a result of the 2019 elections, Democrats gained control of two additional chambers.

From 2010 to 2019, there were 63 instances where a state legislative chamber changed partisan control. Of these 63 changes, 40 involved a chamber changing from Democratic to Republican control and 19 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.^[116]

From 2010 to 2019, 40 chambers switched control: 25 switched control once, 12 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.^[117]

Chamber changes in partisan control: 2010-2019
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^[118]^[119]	Alaska Senate	Colorado Senate	Alaska House	Washington Senate	Alaska House^[120]	Virginia Senate
Alabama House	Mississippi Senate^[121]^[122]	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^[123]	Colorado House	Nevada Senate	Minnesota Senate		Minnesota House
Iowa House		Maine Senate	Nevada House	Nevada Senate		New Hampshire House
Louisiana House^[124]^[125]		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^[126]
Minnesota House		Washington Senate
Montana House^[127]
New Hampshire Senate
New Hampshire House
New York Senate
North Carolina Senate
North Carolina House
Ohio House
Oregon House^[128]
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

Trifectas from 2010 to 2019

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: 2010-2020
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
Pre-2020 elections	15	21	14

Analysis of state elections

See also: Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2020

In November 2020, regular elections were held for 86 of 99 state legislative chambers, plus 11 gubernatorial offices, nine lieutenant gubernatorial offices, 10 attorney general offices, and seven secretary of state offices.

Election analysis

All state elections

Trifectas

State executive elections

State executive official elections without a Democratic or Republican candidate, 2020

State legislative elections

State ballot measures

Footnotes

↑ For the purpose of this analysis, Ballotpedia compared the partisan control of state legislative seats at the time of the election with the partisan control following the election.

States were included if both legislative chambers held regularly-scheduled elections in Nov. 2020. States excluded were:
* Alabama, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, Virginia, which did not hold any regularly-scheduled state legislative elections in 2020;
* Michigan, which did not hold regularly-scheduled state Senate elections in 2020; and,
* Nebraska, which only has one state legislative chamber.
↑ Both Democrats and Republicans had a net gain in both legislative chambers in two states: Missouri and Vermont.
↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "2020 Legislative Election Results: It’s Status Quo in the States," November 5, 2020
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 ^4.3 ^4.4 ^4.5 This state did not hold state legislative elections in 2020.
↑ Assm. Walter Mosley (D-N.Y.) was defeated in a primary election, but ran in the general election as a minor-party candidate. His primary defeat was not included when calculating both the total number of Democratic incumbents defeated in primaries and the win percentage.
↑ Utah Rep. Bradley Daw (R) is included in the overall total of 93 incumbents defeated, but not in the win percentage calculation because he was defeated in a convention rather than a primary.
↑ Daw was defeated in Utah's April 25 Republican convention
↑ Following the general election and before legislators were sworn in, Delzer was appointed to fill a vacancy in House District 8 meaning he remained an incumbent legislator. His primary defeat is still included here and recorded in Ballotpedia's analysis on incumbent defeats and turnover. Click here to learn more.
↑ Knopp died before the primary, but appeared on the primary election ballot.
↑ Mosley ran in the general election as a member of the Working Families Party and was defeated. His primary defeat was not included when calculating the total number of Democratic candidates defeated in primaries.
↑ Smith unofficially withdrew before the primary, but appeared on the primary election ballot.
↑ Stevenson died before the primary, but appeared on the primary election ballot.
↑ This figure includes Assm. Walter Mosley (D-N.Y.), Assm. Carmen Arroyo (D-N.Y.), Rep. John DeBerry Jr. (D-Tenn.), and Rep. Robin Chesnut-Tangerman (Vermont Progressive-Vt.).

Mosley was defeated in the Democratic primary, but ran in the general election as a Working Families Party candidate.

Arroyo and DeBerry were disqualified from their respective primaries, but ran in the general election as a minor party and independent candidate, respectively.

Chesnut-Tangerman was a member of the Vermont Progressive Party. He received the Vermont Progressive Party nomination again in 2020 as well as the Democratic nomination. Since he did not win, he was recorded as a minor party incumbent rather than a Democratic incumbent.
↑ Mosley was a Democratic member of the New York State Assembly. He was defeated in the district's Democratic primary and again the general election as a Working Families Party candidate.
↑ Arroyo was a Democratic member of the New York State Assembly. She was disqualified from the district's Democratic primary and lost in the general election as a Proven Leader Party candidate.
↑ DeBerry was a Democratic member of the Tennessee House of Representatives. He was disqualified from the district's Democratic primary and lost in the general election as an independent candidate.
↑ This figure does not include Assm. Walter Mosley (D-N.Y.). Mosley was defeated in the Democratic primary but ran in the general election as a minor party candidate. This defeat is recorded in the "Other" row as a general election defeat.
↑ This figure does not include Assm. Carmen Arroyo (D-N.Y.), Rep. John DeBerry Jr. (D-Tenn.), or Rep. Robin Chesnut-Tangerman (Vermont Progressive-Vt.). Arroyo and DeBerry were disqualified from their respective Democratic primaries. Both ran as minor party candidates in the general election and lost. Chesnut-Tangerman was a member of the Vermont Progressive Party. In 2020, he received the Democratic Party nomination in addition to the Vermont Progressive Party nomination. He was defeated in the general election. These defeats are recorded in the "Other" row as general election defeats.
↑ This figure includes Rep. Bradley Daw (R-Utah) who was defeated in a convention rather than a primary election.
↑ Twitter, "Alex Seitz-Wald," November 7, 2018
↑ Moncrief, G. & Squire, P. (2010). "State Legislatures Today: Politics Under the Domes". United States. Pearson Education. (184)
↑ JUSTIA US Law, "Alaska Statutes, Sec. 24.05.080," accessed November 1, 2021
↑ Alaska’s Constitution, "A Citizen’s Guide," accessed November 1, 2021
↑ Arizona Revised Statutes, "41-1101, Section B," accessed November 22, 2016
↑ Justia, "Arkansas Constitution Article 5 - Legislative Department Section 5 - Time of meeting," accessed October 26, 2021
↑ California Constitution, "Article 4, Section 2. (a)(3)," accessed November 1, 2021
↑ Colorado Secretary of State, "Colorado Constitution - Article 5, Section 7," accessed February 9, 2021
↑ Colorado Secretary of State, "Colorado Constitution - Article 4, Section 1," accessed February 9, 2021
↑ Colorado Secretary of State, "Colorado Constitution - Article 4, Section 3," accessed February 9, 2021
↑ Colorado LegiSource, "Surprise! The 2019 Legislative Session Convening a Week Earlier," September 20, 2018
↑ Connecticut Constitution, "Article Three, Section 10," accessed November 1, 2021
↑ Delaware Constitution, "Article II, Section 3," accessed November 1, 2021
↑ Delaware Constitution, "Article II, Section 4," accessed November 1, 2021
↑ Florida Constitution, "Article III, Section 15(d)," accessed November 22, 2016
↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Georgia Constitution - Article III, Section IV, Paragraph I," accessed February 12, 2021
↑ Legislative Reference Bureau, "Hawaii Constitution, Article III, Section 4," accessed November 1, 2021
↑ Idaho Constitution, "Article III, Section 3," accessed December 18, 2019
↑ Illinois Constitution, "Article 4, Section 5a," accessed November 1, 2021
↑ Indiana Constitution, "Article 4, Section 3," accessed November 1, 2021
↑ James Merritt (R) resigned from the Indiana State Senate effective November 4, 2020
↑ JUSTIA US Law, "Iowa Code, Section 39.8 - Term of office," accessed November 1, 2021
↑ Iowa Secretary of State, "Terms of Offices for Elected Officials," accessed November 1, 2021
↑ Iowa Constitution, "Article III, Legislative Department, Section 3," accessed November 1, 2021
↑ Kansas Constitution, "Article Two, Section 2", accessed February 9, 2021
↑ Kentucky Constitution, "Section 30," accessed February 10, 2021
↑ Maine Constitution, "Article IV. Part First., Section 2," accessed November 1, 2021
↑ Maine Constitution, "Article IV. Part Second., Section 5," accessed November 1, 2021
↑ Massachusetts Constitution, "Article LXXXII," accessed February 12, 2021
↑ Michigan Constitution, "Article XI, Section 2," accessed February 12, 2021
↑ Minnesota.gov, "Minnesota Statute 3.05," accessed February 12, 2021
↑ Minnesota.gov, "Minnesota Statute 3.011," accessed November 1, 2021
↑ Missouri Revisor of Statutes, "Article III Section 20. Regular sessions of assembly — quorum — compulsory attendance — public sessions — limitation on power to adjourn.," accessed November 1, 2021
↑ Montana State Legislature, "Montana Code Annotated 2021, 5-2-102. Term of office," accessed November 4, 2021
↑ Nebraska Constitution, "Article III-10," accessed November 4, 2021
↑ Nevada Constitution, "Article 4, Section 4," accessed November 1, 2021
↑ New Hampshire Constitution, "Part II, Article 3," accessed February 10, 2021
↑ New Mexico Constitution, "Article IV, Section 4, accessed November 1, 2021
↑ New York Senate, "New York Constitution, Article XIII, Section 4," accessed November 1, 2021
↑ North Carolina Constitution, "Article II, Section 9," accessed February 12, 2021
↑ North Dakota Constitution, "Article IV, Section 7," accessed February 12, 2021
↑ Ohio Constitution, "Article 2, Section 02," accessed November 1, 2021
↑ Ohio.gov, "A Guidebook for Ohio Legislators," accessed November 1, 2021
↑ Oklahoma State Courts Network, "Oklahoma Statutes Citationized 14 O.S. § 80.35.14," accessed November 2, 2021
↑ Oklahoma State Courts Network, "Oklahoma Statutes Citationized 14 O.S. § 141 ," accessed November 2, 2021
↑ Oregon Constitution, "Article IV, Section 4," accessed February 17, 2021
↑ Pennsylvania Constitution, "Article II, Section 2," accessed November 1, 2021
↑ Rhode Island Constitution, "Article VI, Section 3," accessed February 17, 2021
↑ South Carolina Constitution, "Article III, Section 10," accessed November 1, 2021
↑ South Dakota Constitution, "Article 3, Section 7," accessed November 20, 2012
↑ Tennessee Constitution, "Article II, Section 3," accessed November 1, 2021
↑ Texas Government Code, "Title 3., Subtitle A., Sec. 301.001," accessed February 17, 2021
↑ Texas Constitution, "Article 3. Legislative Department, Section 4," accessed November 4, 2021
↑ Utah Constitution, "Article VI, Section 3," accessed February 17, 2021
↑ Utah Constitution, "Article VI, Section 4," accessed February 17, 2021
↑ Vermont Constitution, "Chapter II, Section 46," accessed February 4, 2021
↑ Washington State Legislature, "RCW 44.04.021 Commencement of terms of office," accessed February 17, 2021
↑ West Virginia Constitution, "Article IV, Section 7," accessed February 9, 2021
↑ Wisconsin Statutes, "Chapter 13: Legislative Branch: 13.02 Regular sessions," accessed October 5, 2021
↑ Justia, "2020 Wyoming Statutes Title 22 - Elections Chapter 2 - General Provisions Section 22-2-107 - When Elected State and County Officers Assume Offices.," accessed November 4, 2021
↑ Six states—Alabama, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, and Virginia—did not hold regularly-scheduled elections for either chamber. Michigan did not hold regularly-scheduled state Senate elections.
↑ ^81.0 ^81.1 Nebraska's state Senate is nonpartisan and all 49 Senators are recorded in this row.
↑ Michigan's state Senate did not hold regularly-scheduled elections in 2020. Only partisan information from the state's House elections is shown here.
↑ Nebraska has a nonpartisan state Senate. All legislators are included here as "Other."
↑ Nebraska has a nonpartisan state Senate. All legislators are included here as "Other."
↑ Michigan's state Senate did not hold regularly-scheduled elections in 2020. Only partisan information from the state's House elections is shown here.
↑ Nebraska's state legislature is officially nonpartisan.
↑ Arkansas State Rep. Mickey Gates (R) was expelled by a vote of the House membership.
↑ Arizona utilizes term limits: 4 terms (8 years) in the House, 4 terms (8 years) in the Senate
↑ Arkansas utilizes term limits: 16 year cumulative total, in either chamber or both
↑ California utilizes term limits: 12 years cumulative total, in either chamber or both
↑ Colorado utilizes term limits: 4 terms (8 years) in the House, 2 terms (8 years) in the Senate
↑ Florida utilizes term limits: 4 terms (8 years) in the House, 2 terms (8 years) in the Senate
↑ Maine utilizes term limits: 4 terms (8 years) in the House, 4 terms (8 years) in the Senate
↑ In 2020, one seat in Maine was left open by a third party or independent candidate reflected in the totals shown here.
↑ Michigan utilizes term limits: 3 terms (6 years) in the House, 2 terms (8 years) in the Senate
↑ Missouri utilizes term limits: 4 terms (8 years) in the House, 2 terms (8 years) in the Senate
↑ Montana utilizes term limits: 4 terms (8 years) in the House, 2 terms (8 years) in the Senate
↑ Nebraska utilizes term limits: 2 terms (8 years) in the Senate
↑ In 2020, one seat in Nebraska was left open by a third party or independent candidate reflected in the totals shown here.
↑ Nevada utilizes term limits: 6 terms (12 years) in the House, 3 terms (12 years) in the Senate
↑ Ohio utilizes term limits: 4 terms (8 years) in the House, 2 terms (8 years) in the Senate
↑ Oklahoma utilizes term limits: 12 years cumulative total, in either chamber or both
↑ South Dakota utilizes term limits: 4 terms (8 years) in the House, 4 terms (8 years) in the Senate
↑ In 2020, three seats in Vermont were left open by third party or independent candidates reflected in the totals shown here.
↑ In 2020, one seat in West Virginia was left open by a third party or independent candidate reflected in the totals shown here.
↑ In 2020, six seats were left open by third party or independent candidates reflected in the totals shown here.
↑ Six states did not hold any regularly-scheduled state legislative elections in 2020. Those states were Alabama, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia.
↑ One independent incumbent in the California Assembly had a primary challenge. That number is included in the total number of incumbents with primaries in both California and in the overall total.
↑ Six states did not hold any regularly-scheduled state legislative elections in 2020. Those states were Alabama, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia.
↑ Nebraska has an officially nonpartisan Senate. The party data collected here came from Ballotpedia research into the party registration of candidates, endorsements from major political parties, and reports from local media.
↑ Total does not include the four seats where an independent or third party candidate faced no major party competition: Alaska (1), New Mexico (1), Vermont (2)
↑ Some of these districts were multimember districts where a Democrat and a Republican won.
↑ Heading into the election, Democrats had an effective 22-18 majority. There were 21 Republicans, 17 Democrats, and two independents. Three Republicans sided with the 17 Democrats and two independents to form a majority coalition.
↑ The new majority in the Alaska House consisted of all 15 Democrats, both independents, and four out of 23 Republicans.
↑ At the time of the election, the New York State Senate was under a majority coalition consisting of all 31 Republicans and one Democrat.
↑ The Washington Post, "Virginia Republicans snatched control of the state Senate, ended budget-Medicaid impasse," June 9, 2014
↑ 2015 and 2013 are not included because no chambers flipped those years.
↑ 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.
↑ Fox News, "GOP Candidate Wins Lousiana [sic] Senate Special Election, Shifting Majority," February 20, 2011
↑ Chamber went from being controlled by a Democratic-led bipartisan coalition to being led by a coalition with power split between the parties.
↑ 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.
↑ The Washington Post, "Southern Democrats in dire straits; 2011 looms large," January 11, 2011
↑ 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.
↑ 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.
↑ Nola.com, "Louisiana Republicans take first House majority since Reconstruction with latest party switch," December 17, 2010
↑ In this election, the Oregon House changed from a 30-30 tie to a 34-26 Democratic advantage.
↑ This chamber went from a 50-50 tie to a 68-32 Republican advantage in the 2010 elections.
↑ This chamber went from a 36-24 Democratic advantage to a 30-30 tie in the 2010 elections.

[1] For the purpose of this analysis, Ballotpedia compared the partisan control of state legislative seats at the time of the election with the partisan control following the election.

States were included if both legislative chambers held regularly-scheduled elections in Nov. 2020. States excluded were:
* Alabama, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, Virginia, which did not hold any regularly-scheduled state legislative elections in 2020;
* Michigan, which did not hold regularly-scheduled state Senate elections in 2020; and,
* Nebraska, which only has one state legislative chamber.

[2] Both Democrats and Republicans had a net gain in both legislative chambers in two states: Missouri and Vermont.

[3] National Conference of State Legislatures, "2020 Legislative Election Results: It’s Status Quo in the States," November 5, 2020

[na-4] 4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 ^4.3 ^4.4 ^4.5 This state did not hold state legislative elections in 2020.

[5] Assm. Walter Mosley (D-N.Y.) was defeated in a primary election, but ran in the general election as a minor-party candidate. His primary defeat was not included when calculating both the total number of Democratic incumbents defeated in primaries and the win percentage.

[6] Utah Rep. Bradley Daw (R) is included in the overall total of 93 incumbents defeated, but not in the win percentage calculation because he was defeated in a convention rather than a primary.

[7] Daw was defeated in Utah's April 25 Republican convention

[8] Following the general election and before legislators were sworn in, Delzer was appointed to fill a vacancy in House District 8 meaning he remained an incumbent legislator. His primary defeat is still included here and recorded in Ballotpedia's analysis on incumbent defeats and turnover. Click here to learn more.

[9] Knopp died before the primary, but appeared on the primary election ballot.

[10] Mosley ran in the general election as a member of the Working Families Party and was defeated. His primary defeat was not included when calculating the total number of Democratic candidates defeated in primaries.

[11] Smith unofficially withdrew before the primary, but appeared on the primary election ballot.

[12] Stevenson died before the primary, but appeared on the primary election ballot.

[13] This figure includes Assm. Walter Mosley (D-N.Y.), Assm. Carmen Arroyo (D-N.Y.), Rep. John DeBerry Jr. (D-Tenn.), and Rep. Robin Chesnut-Tangerman (Vermont Progressive-Vt.).

Mosley was defeated in the Democratic primary, but ran in the general election as a Working Families Party candidate.

Arroyo and DeBerry were disqualified from their respective primaries, but ran in the general election as a minor party and independent candidate, respectively.

Chesnut-Tangerman was a member of the Vermont Progressive Party. He received the Vermont Progressive Party nomination again in 2020 as well as the Democratic nomination. Since he did not win, he was recorded as a minor party incumbent rather than a Democratic incumbent.

[14] Mosley was a Democratic member of the New York State Assembly. He was defeated in the district's Democratic primary and again the general election as a Working Families Party candidate.

[15] Arroyo was a Democratic member of the New York State Assembly. She was disqualified from the district's Democratic primary and lost in the general election as a Proven Leader Party candidate.

[16] DeBerry was a Democratic member of the Tennessee House of Representatives. He was disqualified from the district's Democratic primary and lost in the general election as an independent candidate.

[17] This figure does not include Assm. Walter Mosley (D-N.Y.). Mosley was defeated in the Democratic primary but ran in the general election as a minor party candidate. This defeat is recorded in the "Other" row as a general election defeat.

[18] This figure does not include Assm. Carmen Arroyo (D-N.Y.), Rep. John DeBerry Jr. (D-Tenn.), or Rep. Robin Chesnut-Tangerman (Vermont Progressive-Vt.). Arroyo and DeBerry were disqualified from their respective Democratic primaries. Both ran as minor party candidates in the general election and lost. Chesnut-Tangerman was a member of the Vermont Progressive Party. In 2020, he received the Democratic Party nomination in addition to the Vermont Progressive Party nomination. He was defeated in the general election. These defeats are recorded in the "Other" row as general election defeats.

[19] This figure includes Rep. Bradley Daw (R-Utah) who was defeated in a convention rather than a primary election.

[20] Twitter, "Alex Seitz-Wald," November 7, 2018

[21] Moncrief, G. & Squire, P. (2010). "State Legislatures Today: Politics Under the Domes". United States. Pearson Education. (184)

[22] JUSTIA US Law, "Alaska Statutes, Sec. 24.05.080," accessed November 1, 2021

[23] Alaska’s Constitution, "A Citizen’s Guide," accessed November 1, 2021

[24] Arizona Revised Statutes, "41-1101, Section B," accessed November 22, 2016

[25] Justia, "Arkansas Constitution Article 5 - Legislative Department Section 5 - Time of meeting," accessed October 26, 2021

[26] California Constitution, "Article 4, Section 2. (a)(3)," accessed November 1, 2021

[27] Colorado Secretary of State, "Colorado Constitution - Article 5, Section 7," accessed February 9, 2021

[28] Colorado Secretary of State, "Colorado Constitution - Article 4, Section 1," accessed February 9, 2021

[29] Colorado Secretary of State, "Colorado Constitution - Article 4, Section 3," accessed February 9, 2021

[30] Colorado LegiSource, "Surprise! The 2019 Legislative Session Convening a Week Earlier," September 20, 2018

[31] Connecticut Constitution, "Article Three, Section 10," accessed November 1, 2021

[32] Delaware Constitution, "Article II, Section 3," accessed November 1, 2021

[33] Delaware Constitution, "Article II, Section 4," accessed November 1, 2021

[34] Florida Constitution, "Article III, Section 15(d)," accessed November 22, 2016

[35] Georgia Secretary of State, "Georgia Constitution - Article III, Section IV, Paragraph I," accessed February 12, 2021

[36] Legislative Reference Bureau, "Hawaii Constitution, Article III, Section 4," accessed November 1, 2021

[37] Idaho Constitution, "Article III, Section 3," accessed December 18, 2019

[38] Illinois Constitution, "Article 4, Section 5a," accessed November 1, 2021

[39] Indiana Constitution, "Article 4, Section 3," accessed November 1, 2021

[40] James Merritt (R) resigned from the Indiana State Senate effective November 4, 2020

[41] JUSTIA US Law, "Iowa Code, Section 39.8 - Term of office," accessed November 1, 2021

[42] Iowa Secretary of State, "Terms of Offices for Elected Officials," accessed November 1, 2021

[43] Iowa Constitution, "Article III, Legislative Department, Section 3," accessed November 1, 2021

[44] Kansas Constitution, "Article Two, Section 2", accessed February 9, 2021

[45] Kentucky Constitution, "Section 30," accessed February 10, 2021

[46] Maine Constitution, "Article IV. Part First., Section 2," accessed November 1, 2021

[47] Maine Constitution, "Article IV. Part Second., Section 5," accessed November 1, 2021

[48] Massachusetts Constitution, "Article LXXXII," accessed February 12, 2021

[49] Michigan Constitution, "Article XI, Section 2," accessed February 12, 2021

[50] Minnesota.gov, "Minnesota Statute 3.05," accessed February 12, 2021

[51] Minnesota.gov, "Minnesota Statute 3.011," accessed November 1, 2021

[52] Missouri Revisor of Statutes, "Article III Section 20. Regular sessions of assembly — quorum — compulsory attendance — public sessions — limitation on power to adjourn.," accessed November 1, 2021

[53] Montana State Legislature, "Montana Code Annotated 2021, 5-2-102. Term of office," accessed November 4, 2021

[54] Nebraska Constitution, "Article III-10," accessed November 4, 2021

[55] Nevada Constitution, "Article 4, Section 4," accessed November 1, 2021

[56] New Hampshire Constitution, "Part II, Article 3," accessed February 10, 2021

[57] New Mexico Constitution, "Article IV, Section 4, accessed November 1, 2021

[58] New York Senate, "New York Constitution, Article XIII, Section 4," accessed November 1, 2021

[59] North Carolina Constitution, "Article II, Section 9," accessed February 12, 2021

[60] North Dakota Constitution, "Article IV, Section 7," accessed February 12, 2021

[61] Ohio Constitution, "Article 2, Section 02," accessed November 1, 2021

[62] Ohio.gov, "A Guidebook for Ohio Legislators," accessed November 1, 2021

[63] Oklahoma State Courts Network, "Oklahoma Statutes Citationized 14 O.S. § 80.35.14," accessed November 2, 2021

[64] Oklahoma State Courts Network, "Oklahoma Statutes Citationized 14 O.S. § 141 ," accessed November 2, 2021

[65] Oregon Constitution, "Article IV, Section 4," accessed February 17, 2021

[66] Pennsylvania Constitution, "Article II, Section 2," accessed November 1, 2021

[67] Rhode Island Constitution, "Article VI, Section 3," accessed February 17, 2021

[68] South Carolina Constitution, "Article III, Section 10," accessed November 1, 2021

[69] South Dakota Constitution, "Article 3, Section 7," accessed November 20, 2012

[70] Tennessee Constitution, "Article II, Section 3," accessed November 1, 2021

[71] Texas Government Code, "Title 3., Subtitle A., Sec. 301.001," accessed February 17, 2021

[72] Texas Constitution, "Article 3. Legislative Department, Section 4," accessed November 4, 2021

[73] Utah Constitution, "Article VI, Section 3," accessed February 17, 2021

[74] Utah Constitution, "Article VI, Section 4," accessed February 17, 2021

[75] Vermont Constitution, "Chapter II, Section 46," accessed February 4, 2021

[76] Washington State Legislature, "RCW 44.04.021 Commencement of terms of office," accessed February 17, 2021

[77] West Virginia Constitution, "Article IV, Section 7," accessed February 9, 2021

[78] Wisconsin Statutes, "Chapter 13: Legislative Branch: 13.02 Regular sessions," accessed October 5, 2021

[79] Justia, "2020 Wyoming Statutes Title 22 - Elections Chapter 2 - General Provisions Section 22-2-107 - When Elected State and County Officers Assume Offices.," accessed November 4, 2021

[80] Six states—Alabama, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, and Virginia—did not hold regularly-scheduled elections for either chamber. Michigan did not hold regularly-scheduled state Senate elections.

[ne-81] 81.0 ^81.1 Nebraska's state Senate is nonpartisan and all 49 Senators are recorded in this row.

[82] Michigan's state Senate did not hold regularly-scheduled elections in 2020. Only partisan information from the state's House elections is shown here.

[83] Nebraska has a nonpartisan state Senate. All legislators are included here as "Other."

[84] Nebraska has a nonpartisan state Senate. All legislators are included here as "Other."

[85] Michigan's state Senate did not hold regularly-scheduled elections in 2020. Only partisan information from the state's House elections is shown here.

[86] Nebraska's state legislature is officially nonpartisan.

[87] Arkansas State Rep. Mickey Gates (R) was expelled by a vote of the House membership.

[88] Arizona utilizes term limits: 4 terms (8 years) in the House, 4 terms (8 years) in the Senate

[89] Arkansas utilizes term limits: 16 year cumulative total, in either chamber or both

[90] California utilizes term limits: 12 years cumulative total, in either chamber or both

[91] Colorado utilizes term limits: 4 terms (8 years) in the House, 2 terms (8 years) in the Senate

[92] Florida utilizes term limits: 4 terms (8 years) in the House, 2 terms (8 years) in the Senate

[93] Maine utilizes term limits: 4 terms (8 years) in the House, 4 terms (8 years) in the Senate

[94] In 2020, one seat in Maine was left open by a third party or independent candidate reflected in the totals shown here.

[95] Michigan utilizes term limits: 3 terms (6 years) in the House, 2 terms (8 years) in the Senate

[96] Missouri utilizes term limits: 4 terms (8 years) in the House, 2 terms (8 years) in the Senate

[97] Montana utilizes term limits: 4 terms (8 years) in the House, 2 terms (8 years) in the Senate

[98] Nebraska utilizes term limits: 2 terms (8 years) in the Senate

[99] In 2020, one seat in Nebraska was left open by a third party or independent candidate reflected in the totals shown here.

[100] Nevada utilizes term limits: 6 terms (12 years) in the House, 3 terms (12 years) in the Senate

[101] Ohio utilizes term limits: 4 terms (8 years) in the House, 2 terms (8 years) in the Senate

[102] Oklahoma utilizes term limits: 12 years cumulative total, in either chamber or both

[103] South Dakota utilizes term limits: 4 terms (8 years) in the House, 4 terms (8 years) in the Senate

[104] In 2020, three seats in Vermont were left open by third party or independent candidates reflected in the totals shown here.

[105] In 2020, one seat in West Virginia was left open by a third party or independent candidate reflected in the totals shown here.

[106] In 2020, six seats were left open by third party or independent candidates reflected in the totals shown here.

[107] Six states did not hold any regularly-scheduled state legislative elections in 2020. Those states were Alabama, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia.

[108] One independent incumbent in the California Assembly had a primary challenge. That number is included in the total number of incumbents with primaries in both California and in the overall total.

[109] Six states did not hold any regularly-scheduled state legislative elections in 2020. Those states were Alabama, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia.

[110] Nebraska has an officially nonpartisan Senate. The party data collected here came from Ballotpedia research into the party registration of candidates, endorsements from major political parties, and reports from local media.

[111] Total does not include the four seats where an independent or third party candidate faced no major party competition: Alaska (1), New Mexico (1), Vermont (2)

[112] Some of these districts were multimember districts where a Democrat and a Republican won.

[113] Heading into the election, Democrats had an effective 22-18 majority. There were 21 Republicans, 17 Democrats, and two independents. Three Republicans sided with the 17 Democrats and two independents to form a majority coalition.

[114] The new majority in the Alaska House consisted of all 15 Democrats, both independents, and four out of 23 Republicans.

[115] At the time of the election, the New York State Senate was under a majority coalition consisting of all 31 Republicans and one Democrat.

[116] The Washington Post, "Virginia Republicans snatched control of the state Senate, ended budget-Medicaid impasse," June 9, 2014

[117] 2015 and 2013 are not included because no chambers flipped those years.

[118] 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.

[119] Fox News, "GOP Candidate Wins Lousiana [sic] Senate Special Election, Shifting Majority," February 20, 2011

[120] Chamber went from being controlled by a Democratic-led bipartisan coalition to being led by a coalition with power split between the parties.

[121] 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.

[122] The Washington Post, "Southern Democrats in dire straits; 2011 looms large," January 11, 2011

[123] 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.

[124] 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.

[125] Nola.com, "Louisiana Republicans take first House majority since Reconstruction with latest party switch," December 17, 2010

[126] In this election, the Oregon House changed from a 30-30 tie to a 34-26 Democratic advantage.

[127] This chamber went from a 50-50 tie to a 68-32 Republican advantage in the 2010 elections.

[128] This chamber went from a 36-24 Democratic advantage to a 30-30 tie in the 2010 elections.

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State legislative elections, 2020

Partisan balance

States where one party gained seats in both chambers

Election results, 2020: State legislative chambers that changed party control

Margin of victory

Incumbents defeated in 2020 elections

Incumbents defeated in primary elections

Incumbents defeated in general elections

Historical overview of incumbent losses

Overall

Partisan analysis

Trifectas

Vulnerable trifectas in 2020

Election results, 2020: Veto-proof majorities

Veto-proof majorities and opposing-party governors

Elections by state

Alabama

Alaska

Arizona

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Change in seats

Flipped seats

Battleground chambers

Special elections

Impact of special elections on partisan composition

Competitiveness in 2020 elections

Incumbents not seeking re-election

Competitiveness in primary elections

Incumbents in contested primaries

Seats without major party opposition

Historical competitiveness data

Partisan competitiveness

Open seats overview

Incumbency competitiveness