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Impact of term limits on state representative elections in 2010
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Elections of state representatives in 13 states with state legislative term limits took place on November 2, 2010. The 13 states where state legislative elections are impacted by term limits are close to 30% of the 45 states where state legislative elections of lower house members took place in 2010.
15 states have state legislative term limits, but Louisiana is not holding a state house election in 2010 and Nebraska does not have a lower house.
In the 13 states, 254 state representatives were ineligible to run for re-election in November because of term limit laws in their state.
This includes:
- 128 incumbent Democratic state representatives
- 124 incumbent Republican state representatives
- 2 nonpartisan state representatives.
The 254 state representatives who are termed-out represent 20% of the 1,263 total seats up for election in November in the 13 term-limited states with elections in November 2010.
Differential impact on parties
Going into the November 2010 election, the Democratic Party is the majority party in 7 of the 13 state houses with term limits. The Republican Party is the majority party in 5 of the term-limited state houses. One state -- Montana -- is equal with 50 Republicans and 50 Democrats.
- In 6 states, the term limits axe falls more heavily on incumbent Republicans: Arizona, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma and South Dakota. In 5 of these states, the current majority party is also the Republican Party. The Montana House is currently evenly split at 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans.
- In 6 states, the term limits axe falls more heavily on incumbent Democrats: Arkansas, California, Colorado, Michigan, Nevada and Ohio. In all 6 of these states, the current majority party is also the Democratic Party.
- In 1 state, the axe falls equally on both parties (Maine).
Overview chart
Note: The figures in Column 5 ("Seats impacted by term limits") only reflects current members of state houses who are unable to run for re-election to their state's house in 2010 because of term limits. In some cases, including cases in California and Florida, state representatives who would have been unable to run for re-election in November resigned earlier in the year or were appointed to other positions. Representatives who resigned, and are not current members of their state houses, are not counted in these figures.
| Houses with limits | Majority party | Seats in house | Up for election in 2010 | Seats impacted by term limits | Party with most losses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona: (House), (2010 elections) | 60 | 60 | 5 |
||
| Arkansas: (House), (2010 elections) | 100 | 100 | 28 |
||
| California: (Assembly), (2010 elections) | 80 | 80 | 11 |
||
| Colorado: (House), (2010 elections) | 65 | 65 | 7 |
||
| Florida: (House), (2010 elections) | 120 | 120 | 3 |
||
| Maine: (House), (2010 elections) | 153 | 153 | 9 |
||
| Michigan: (House), (2010 elections) | 110 | 110 | 21 |
||
| Missouri: (House), (2010 elections) | 163 | 163 | 18 |
||
| Montana: (House), (2010 elections) | 100 | 100 | 6 |
||
| Nevada: (House), (2010 elections) | 42 | 42 | 9 |
||
| Ohio: (House), (2010 elections) | 99 | 99 | 9 |
||
| Oklahoma: (House), (2010 elections) | 101 | 101 | 1 |
||
| South Dakota: (House), (2010 elections) | 70 | 70 | 1 |
||
| Totals: | (7) |
1,263 | 1,263 | 128 |
6 |
States
Arizona
All of Arizona's 60 state representative seats are up for election on November 2. Arizona representatives serve two-year terms with a four-term/eight-year limit that was imposed by Proposition 107 in 1992. Arizona's term limits apply to parts of terms and not just full terms.
In the 2010 state house elections, 13 representatives who were first elected in 2002 (five Democratic state representatives and eight GOP state representatives) cannot run for re-election.
In addition to the 13 Arizona state representatives who left office because of Arizona's term limits, 10 state senators also left.
Democrats (5):
Republicans (8):
- Ray Barnes
- Steven B. Yarbrough
- Warde Nichols
- Lucy Mason
- Tom Boone
- Bill Konopnicki
- Andy Biggs
- Michele Reagan
Arkansas
The Arkansas House of Representatives has been a term-limited state house since Arkansas voters approved the Arkansas Term Limits Initiative in 1992 as an initiated constitutional amendment.
There are 100 Arkansas State Representatives. In 2010, 34 of them who are current members were ineligible to run again in November.
In addition to the 34 state representatives who left office because of term limits, 13 Arkansas state senators were also termed-out.
Arkansas state representatives whose seats are up for election in 2010 but who are unable to run because of the state's term limits are:
Democrats (28):
- Steve Harrelson
- Bruce Maloch
- Willie Hardy
- John Lowery Jr. (Arkansas)
- Gregg Reep
- Allen Maxwell
- David Rainey (Arkansas)
- Stephanie Flowers (Arkansas)
- Rick Saunders
- Mike Burris
- Dawn Creekmore
- Wilhelmina Lewellen
- Pam Adcock
- Robbie Wills
- David Dunn (Arkansas)
- Nancy Blount (Arkansas)
- Otis Davis
- Nathan George
- Eddie Cooper
- George Overbey, Jr.
- J.R. Rogers
- Ray Kidd
- David Cook (Arkansas)
- Curren Everett
- Monty Davenport
- Lindsley Smith
- Bill Abernathy
- John Wells (Arkansas)
Republicans (6):
California
The California State Assembly has been a term-limited state house since California voters approved Proposition 140 in 1990. Under the terms of Proposition 140, the members of the state assembly can serve no more than three 2-year terms in the state assembly. This is a lifetime limit, as is the case in five other states with state legislative term limits.
There are 80 members in the state assembly, and 17 of them (21%) termed-out in 2010.
In addition to the 17 California state representatives who left office because of term limits, 8 California state senators were also termed-out.
California state representatives whose seats are up for election in 2010 but who are unable to run because of the state's term limits are:
Democrats (11):
Republicans (5):
Independents (1):
Colorado
The Colorado House of Representatives has been a term-limited state house since Colorado voters approved Issue 5 in 1990. The affirmative vote by Colorado's electorate in Issue 5 altered Section 3 of Article V on the Colorado Constitution to say that Colorado State Representatives could serve no more than four 2-year terms in office.
There are 65 representatives in the Colorado house. 8 of them, or 12%, can't run in 2010 because of term limits.
In addition to the 8 Colorado state representatives who left office because of term limits, 3 Colorado state senators were also termed-out.
Colorado state representatives whose seats are up for election in 2010 but who are unable to run because of the state's term limits are:
Democrats (7):
Republicans (1):
Florida
The Florida House of Representatives has been a term-limited state house since Florida voters approved Amendment 9 in 1992. Amendment 9 altered Article VI, section 4 of the Florida Constitution to impose a maximum of four 2-year terms on Florida State Representatives.
There are 120 representatives in the Florida House of Representatives. 23 of them, or 19%, are termed-out in 2010.
In addition to the 23 Florida state representatives who left office because of term limits, 7 Florida state senators were also termed-out.
Florida state representatives whose seats are up for election in 2010 but who are unable to run because of the state's term limits are:
Democrats (3):
Republicans (20):
Maine
The Maine House of Representatives has been a term-limited state house since Maine voters approved Question 1 in 1993. Under this law, state representatives can serve no more than four consecutive 2-year terms. The Maine State Legislature tried, unsuccessfully, in 2007 to get the state's voters to extend the number of years they could consecutively serve in office by putting the Maine Term Limits Extension act on the ballot. Voters overwhelmingly (67-33%) rejected it.
There are 153 state representatives in Maine. 20 of them, or 13%, are termed out in 2010.
In addition to the 20 Maine state representatives who left office because of term limits, 4 Maine state senators were also termed-out.
Maine state representatives whose seats are up for election in 2010 but who are unable to run because of the state's term limits are:
Democrats (9):
Republicans (10):
Independents (1):
Michigan
The Michigan House of Representatives has been a term-limited state house since Michigan voters approved Proposal B in 1992. Proposal B created Section 54 of Article IV of the Michigan Constitution. It says that state representatives are limited to 3 two-year terms. As with five other states, this is a lifetime limit.
34 of Michigan's 110 representatives, or 31%, are termed-out in 2010.
In addition to the 34 Michigan state representatives who left office because of term limits, 29 Michigan state senators were also termed-out.
Michigan state representative whose seats are up for election in 2010 but who are unable to run because of the state's term limits are:
Democrats (21):
Republicans (16):
Missouri
The Missouri House of Representatives has been a term-limited state house since Missouri voters approved Amendment 12 in 1992. Amendment 12 created Section 8 of Article III of the Missouri Constitution, limiting members of the state house to 4 2-year terms. As with five other states, this is a lifetime limit. (Section 8 was later amended by Amendment 3 in 2002 so that it does not apply to partial terms.)
There are 52 state representatives terming out in 2010, or 32% of the 163 members of the chamber.
In addition to the 52 Missouri state representatives who left office because of term limits, l0 Missouri state senators were also termed-out.
Missouri state representatives whose seats are up for election in 2010 but who are unable to run because of the state's term limits are:
Democrats (18):
Republicans (34):
- Jim Guest
- Joe Smith (Missouri)
- Cynthia Davis (Missouri)
- Steve Hobbs, Missouri Representative
- Therese Sander
- Robert Schaaf
- Jason Brown (Missouri)
- Bryan Pratt
- Doug Ervin
- Gary Dusenberg
- Allen Icet
- Walter Bivins, Jr.
- Brian Nieves
- Mike Sutherland (Missouri)
- Charles Schlottach
- Mark Bruns (Missouri)
- Bill Deeken
- Tom Self
- Larry Wilson (Missouri)
- Ed Emery (Missouri)
- Bryan Stevenson
- Ronald Richard (Missouri)
- Kevin Wilson (Missouri)
- Marilyn Ruestman
- James Viebrock
- Maynard Wallace
- Mike Cunningham
- Mike Dethrow
- Gayle Kingery
- Robert Wayne Cooper
- Scott Lipke
- Brian Munzlinger
- Bob Dixon
Montana
The Montana House of Representatives has been a term-limited state house since Montana voters approved CI-64 in 1992. C-64 created Section 8 of Article IV of the Montana Constitution, which says that Montana State Representatives cannot serve 8 or more years in any 16-year period.
There are 100 Montana State Representatives.
In addition to the 15 Montana state representatives who left office because of term limits, 15 Montana state senators were also termed-out.
Montana state representatives whose seats are up for election in 2010 but who are unable to run because of the state's term limits are:
Democrats (6):
Republicans (9):
Nevada
- See also: Nevada State Assembly elections, 2010
2010 is the first year that some Nevada State Representatives were ineligible to run for office because of the term limits law first passed in 1994.
Nevada voters approved Question 9A in 1996. Question 9A was a second vote on a term limits amendment first approved in 1994. Alone among the states with ballot initiatives, Nevada voters must approve a proposed constitutional amendment twice before it goes into the Nevada Constitution. The 1994 and 1996 votes cumulatively led to Paragraph 2 of Section 3 of Article 4 of the Nevada Constitution, which says, "No person may be elected or appointed as a member of the Assembly who has served in that Office, or at the expiration of his current term if he is so serving will have served, 12 years or more, from any district of this State."
10 Nevada State Representatives are termed-out in 2010. This is 24% of the state's 42 state representatives.
In addition to the 10 Nevada state representatives who left office because of term limits, 5 Nevada state senators were also termed-out.
Nevada state representatives whose seats are up for election in 2010 but who are unable to run because of the state's term limits are:
Democrats (9):
Republicans (1):
Ohio
The Ohio House of Representatives has been a term-limited state house since Ohio voters approved Ballot Issue 4, an initiated constitutional amendment, in 1992. This amendment became part of Section 2 of Article II of the Ohio Constitution and limits the amount of time that an Ohio State Representative can stay in office to four 2-year terms, saying, "No person shall hold the office of State Representative for a period longer than four successive terms of two years. Terms shall be considered successive unless separated by a period of four or more years."
13 of Ohio's representatives are limited out in 2010; this represents 13% of Ohio's 99 state representatives.
In addition to the 13 Ohio state representatives who left office because of term limits, 7 Ohio state senators were also termed-out.
Ohio state representatives whose seats are up for election in 2010 but who are unable to run because of the state's term limits are:
Democrats (9):
Republicans (4):
Oklahoma
The Oklahoma House of Representatives has been a term-limited house of representatives since Oklahoma voters approved State Question 632 in 1990, as an initiated constitutional amendment. This amendment became part of Section 17A of Article V of the Oklahoma Constitution and limits the amount of time that an Oklahoma State Representative can serve to a cumulative total of 12 years in either or both chambers of the Oklahoma State Legislature.
In addition to the 4 Oklahoma state representatives who left office because of term limits, 6 Oklahoma state senators were also termed-out.
Oklahoma state representatives whose seats are up for election in 2010 but who are unable to run because of the state's term limits are:
Democrats (1):
Republicans (3):
South Dakota
The South Dakota House of Representatives has been a term-limited house of representatives since South Dakota voters approved Ballot Issue A in 1992, an initiated constitutional amendment. This amendment became part of Section 6 of Article III of the South Dakota Constitution and limits the amount of time that a South Dakota Representative can stay in office to no more than four consecutive 2-year terms.
The South Dakota State Legislature has tried on more than one occasion, each time unsuccessfully, to persuade the state's voters to repeal term limits. The most recent such failed attempt was when Amendment J lost in 2008 by 75-25%.
In addition to the 8 South Dakota state representatives who left office because of term limits, 4 South Dakota state senators were also termed-out.
South Dakota state representatives whose seats are up for election in 2010 but who are unable to run because of the state's term limits are:
Democrats (1):
Republicans (7):
Footnotes
