State legislative elections, 2026

2026 State; Legislative Elections
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In the 50 states, there are 99 state legislative chambers altogether. Across 46 states, 88 of those chambers are holding regular legislative elections in 2026. The general election for state legislative races is on November 3, 2026.

States will also hold special state legislative elections in 2026 to fill vacant seats.

In the U.S. Territories, five legislative chambers are holding regularly scheduled elections in 2026. Elections will be held for the American Samoa House of Representatives, the Guam Legislature, the Northern Mariana Islands Senate and House of Representatives, and the U.S. Virgin Islands Legislature.

Explore Ballotpedia's coverage of these elections:

Partisan balance
The partisan balance of state legislatures
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Battlegrounds
Information on battleground elections
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On the ballot
A list of elections on the ballot
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Pre-election analysis
Analysis published before the election
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Important dates and deadlines
A list of important dates and deadlines for the 2026 election cycle
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Partisan balance

As of September 10th, 2025, Republicans controlled 55.5% of all state legislative seats nationally, while Democrats held 43.68%. Republicans held a majority in 57 chambers, and Democrats held the majority in 39 chambers. Two chambers (Alaska House and Alaska Senate) were organized under multipartisan, power-sharing coalitions. One chamber (Minnesota House of Representatives) was split evenly between both parties.

Partisan balance of all 7,386 state legislative seats
Legislative chamber			Other	Vacant
State senates	834	1,122	5	12
State houses	2,392	2,977	20	24
Total:	3,226	4,099	25	36

Battlegrounds

Click the tabs below to view detailed information regarding battleground districts in the 2026 state legislative elections. In this section, you will find:

A list of districts targeted by each political party

Targeted chambers

DLCC targets

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee announced they would target the following chambers in the 2026 elections:^[1]

On the ballot

Click the tabs below to view information about the elections this year. In this section, you will find:

A list of states holding elections
Information about special elections
Ballotpedia's Sample Ballot Lookup Tool

Elections by state

Special elections

What's on your ballot?

The table below highlights each state holding legislative elections in 2026. To learn more about elections in a particular chamber, click the link in the chamber column.

State legislative elections, 2026
State	Chamber	Republican	Democratic	Other	Vacancies	Total
Alabama	House	72	29	0	4	105
Alabama	Senate	27	8	0	0	35
Alaska	House	21	14	5	0	40
Alaska	Senate	6	4	0	0	10
Arizona	House	33	27	0	0	60
Arizona	Senate	17	13	0	0	30
Arkansas	House	81	19	0	0	100
Arkansas	Senate	13	4	0	0	17
California	House	20	60	0	0	80
California	Senate	6	14	0	0	20
Colorado	House	21	43	0	1	65
Colorado	Senate	7	11	0	0	18
Connecticut	House	49	102	0	0	151
Connecticut	Senate	11	25	0	0	36
Delaware	House	14	27	0	0	41
Delaware	Senate	3	8	0	0	11
Florida	House	87	32	0	1	120
Florida	Senate	13	6	0	1	20
Georgia	House	100	79	0	1	180
Georgia	Senate	32	23	0	1	56
Hawaii	House	9	42	0	0	51
Hawaii	Senate	1	12	0	0	13
Idaho	House	61	9	0	0	70
Idaho	Senate	29	6	0	0	35
Illinois	House	40	78	0	0	118
Illinois	Senate	16	23	0	0	39
Indiana	House	70	30	0	0	100
Indiana	Senate	22	3	0	0	25
Iowa	House	67	33	0	0	100
Iowa	Senate	14	10	0	1	25
Kansas	House	87	37	0	1	125
Kentucky	House	80	20	0	0	100
Kentucky	Senate	18	1	0	0	19
Maine	House	73	76	2	0	151
Maine	Senate	15	20	0	0	35
Maryland	House	39	102	0	0	141
Maryland	Senate	13	34	0	0	47
Massachusetts	House	25	134	1	0	160
Massachusetts	Senate	5	35	0	0	40
Michigan	House	58	52	0	0	110
Michigan	Senate	18	19	0	1	38
Minnesota	House	67	66	0	1	134
Minnesota	Senate	32	33	0	2	67
Missouri	House	108	52	0	3	163
Missouri	Senate	14	3	0	0	17
Montana	House	58	42	0	0	100
Montana	Senate	16	9	0	0	25
Nebraska	Senate	17	6	1	0	24
Nevada	House	15	27	0	0	42
Nevada	Senate	4	7	0	0	11
New Hampshire	House	219	177	1	3	400
New Hampshire	Senate	16	8	0	0	24
New Mexico	House	26	44	0	0	70
New York	House	47	102	0	1	150
New York	Senate	22	41	0	0	63
North Carolina	House	71	49	0	0	120
North Carolina	Senate	30	20	0	0	50
North Dakota	House	39	6	0	1	46
North Dakota	Senate	21	3	0	0	24
Ohio	House	65	33	0	1	99
Ohio	Senate	11	6	0	0	17
Oklahoma	House	81	20	0	0	101
Oklahoma	Senate	18	6	0	0	24
Oregon	House	23	37	0	0	60
Oregon	Senate	4	11	0	0	15
Pennsylvania	House	101	102	0	0	203
Pennsylvania	Senate	12	13	0	0	25
Rhode Island	House	10	64	1	0	75
Rhode Island	Senate	4	34	0	0	38
South Carolina	House	86	36	0	2	124
South Dakota	House	63	6	0	1	70
South Dakota	Senate	32	3	0	0	35
Tennessee	House	75	24	0	0	99
Tennessee	Senate	13	4	0	0	17
Texas	House	88	62	0	0	150
Texas	Senate	11	4	0	1	16
Utah	House	61	14	0	0	75
Utah	Senate	10	4	1	0	15
Vermont	House	56	86	7	1	150
Vermont	Senate	13	16	1	0	30
Washington	House	39	59	0	0	98
Washington	Senate	7	17	0	0	24
West Virginia	House	91	9	0	0	100
West Virginia	Senate	32	2	0	0	34
Wisconsin	House	54	45	0	0	99
Wisconsin	Senate	12	5	0	0	17
Wyoming	House	56	6	0	0	62
Wyoming	Senate	14	2	0	0	16

Pre-election analysis

Click the tabs below to view detailed analysis from before the election. In this section, you will find:

Historical data related to competitiveness
Information about state government trifectas
Chambers that changed partisan control from 2010 to 2024
Trifecta status from 2010 to 2024

Historical competitiveness data

Trifectas

Changes in chamber partisan control, 2010 to 2024

Trifectas from 2010 to 2024

See also: Annual State Legislative Competitiveness Report: Vol. 14, 2024

Ballotpedia began examining the competitiveness of every state legislative race in the country in 2010. Three factors are used in this analysis: seats where the incumbent did not run for re-election, incumbents who ran in contested primaries, and seats contested by both major parties.

The following table details competitiveness data collected from regularly scheduled state legislative elections between 2010 and 2023. Odd-year elections are shown grouped together first followed by even-year elections.

Competitiveness in state legislative elections (2010-2023)
Year	Total seats	Open seats		No major party competition		Incs. running	Incs. in contested primaries
Year	Total seats	#	%	#	%	Incs. running	#	%
Odd-year elections
2023	578	138	23.9%	319	55.2%	443	115	26.0%
2021	220	13	5.9%	9	4.1%	137	24	17.5%
2019	538	105	19.5%	301	55.9%	433	125	28.9%
2017	220	20	9.1%	45	20.5%	200	32	16.0%
2015	538	79	14.7%	332	61.7%	460	107	23.3%
2013	220	15	6.8%	61	27.7%	205	24	11.7%
2011	578	98	17.0%	312	54.0%	485	104	21.4%
Even-year elections
2022	6,278	1,492	23.8%	2,560	40.8%	4,852	1,299	26.8%
2020	5,875	876	14.9%	2,044	34.8%	4,999	1,006	20.1%
2018	6,065	1,194	19.7%	2,045	33.7%	4,874	1,082	22.2%
2016	5,916	1,032	17.4%	2,508	42.4%	4,887	985	20.2%
2014	6,051	1,019	16.8%	2,663	44.0%	5,041	983	19.5%
2012	6,013	1,314	21.9%	2,384	39.6%	4,790	1,117	23.3%
2010	6,127	1,143	18.7%	2,142	35.0%	4,984	995	20.0%

See also: Partisan composition of state legislatures

From 2010 to 2024, 41 chambers switched control: 21 switched control once, 14 switched control twice, four switched control four times, and two—the Minnesota House of Representatives and New Hampshire House of Representatives—switched control five times. During that same time, there were 58 chambers that did not switch control.

Before the 2010 elections, Democrats controlled 60 of the country's 99 state legislative chambers, Republicans controlled 37, and neither party controlled the remaining two chambers. After the 2024 elections, Democrats controlled 39 chambers and Republicans controlled 57. Multipartisan majorities controlled the Alaska Senate and House, and the Minnesota House was tied.

Most changes in partisan control came from 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 section 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.^[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: 2010-2024
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
2020	37	61	1
2021	36	62	1
2022	40	57	2
2023	41	56	2
2024	39	57	3

The chart below shows the number of state legislative chambers that changed party control in each election from 1992 to 2024.

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. Democrats picked up six trifectas in the 2018 elections, and Republicans lost four trifectas. Following the 2021 elections, the Democratic trifecta in Virginia became a split government after Republicans gained control of the state House and governorship. After the 2023 elections, the divided government in Louisiana became a Republican trifecta when Jeff Landry (R) won election as governor. After the 2024 elections, Republicans maintained their trifectas, and two Democratic trifectas became divided governments.

This chart shows the number of trifectas each party held heading into elections from 2010 to 2024, and the number of trifectas following the 2024 elections.

Trifectas by year: 2010-2024
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
Pre-2020 elections	15	21	14
Pre-2021 elections	15	23	12
Pre-2022 elections	14	23	13
Post-2022 elections	17	22	11
Pre-2023 elections	17	22	11
Post-2023 elections	17	23	10
Pre-2024 elections	17	23	10
Post-2024 elections	15	23	12

Election coverage by office

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Footnotes

↑ NBC News, "Democrats unveil state legislative map for the next election cycle, with eyes on opposing Trump's agenda and redistricting," February 11, 2025
↑ 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 changed those years.
↑ Chamber went from a Democratic majority to a 67-67 tie.
↑ Chamber went from a Republican majority to a bipartisan governing coalition.
↑ Democrats won a majority of seats, but did not have a majority when the legislative session began due to vacancies created during the interim.
↑ Chamber went from being controlled by a Democratic-led bipartisan coalition to being led by a coalition with power split between the parties.
↑ In this election, the Oregon House changed from a 30-30 tie to a 34-26 Democratic advantage.
↑ 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.
↑ 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.
↑ 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.
↑ 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] NBC News, "Democrats unveil state legislative map for the next election cycle, with eyes on opposing Trump's agenda and redistricting," February 11, 2025

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

[3] 2015 and 2013 are not included because no chambers changed those years.

[4] Chamber went from a Democratic majority to a 67-67 tie.

[5] Chamber went from a Republican majority to a bipartisan governing coalition.

[6] Democrats won a majority of seats, but did not have a majority when the legislative session began due to vacancies created during the interim.

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

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

[9] 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.

[10] 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.

[11] 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.

[12] 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.

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

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

[1]

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2026 State Legislative Elections
2027 » « 2025

2026 elections
Choose a state below:

State legislative elections, 2026

Contents

Partisan balance

Battlegrounds

DLCC targets

On the ballot

Pre-election analysis

Election coverage by office

See also

Footnotes

Information about voting

2025 Elections

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