Election results, 2023: State legislatures

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Elections by state

Eight of the country's 99 state legislative chambers held regularly-scheduled elections in 2023. Elections in those eight chambers represented 578 of the country's 7,386 state legislative seats (7.8%). This was the most seats up for election in an odd-numbered year since 2011.

General elections in Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia took place on November 7, 2023. General elections in Louisiana took place on November 18, 2023.

  • Democrats gained one state legislative chamber by winning partisan control of the Virginia House of Delegates. Democrats maintained control of the state Senate. Virginia's trifecta status remained divided.
  • Republicans were guaranteed simple majorities in both Mississippi's House and Senate and Louisiana's House and Senate due to the number of districts where candidates from only one political party ran.
  • Democrats maintained partisan control of both chambers of the New Jersey state legislature.

As a result, nationally, Republicans were the majority in 56 chambers, down from 57 before the election. Democrats were the majority in 41, up from 40. (The Alaska House and Senate were organized under multipartisan, power-sharing coalitions.)

Highlights:

  • Heading into the election, Democrats controlled three of the chambers holding elections, while Republicans controlled five.
  • Republicans were guaranteed simple majorities in both Mississippi's House and Senate and Louisiana's House and Senate.
  • Ballotpedia identified the Virginia House (Republican-controlled) and Senate (Democratic-controlled) as battlegrounds with majorities at stake.
  • 138 seats were open (23.9%), the largest number and percentage since 2011.
  • 115 incumbents faced contested primaries (26.0%), the second-largest number and percentage since 2011.
  • 259 seats were contested by both major parties (44.8%), the second-largest number since 2011.


    • In 2021, three state legislative chambers — the New Jersey Senate, the New Jersey General Assembly, and the Virginia House — held elections. The Virginia House changed from Democratic to Republican control, while Democrats maintained control in New Jersey. Seven state legislative chambers — the Louisiana House, the Louisiana Senate, the Mississippi House, the Mississippi Senate, the New Jersey General Assembly, the Virginia House, and the Virginia Senate — held elections in 2019. The Virginia House and Senate changed from Republican to Democratic control, while Democrats maintained control in New Jersey and Republicans in Louisiana and Mississippi.

    Regarding state legislative seats, specifically, partisan composition of the 578 seats up for election changed by two percentage points.[1]

    • Democrats had a net gain of six seats, representing 1.0% of the 578 seats.
    • Republicans had a net loss of three seats, representing 0.5% of the 578 seats.
    • Independents and minor party officeholders had a net loss of three seats, representing 0.5% of the 578 seats.

    States also held special state legislative elections in 2023 to fill vacant seats.

    On this page, you will find:


    Offices on the ballot in 2023

    In 2023, there were eight state legislative chambers — five Republican and three Democratic — on the ballot. The table below highlights the partisan balance of those eight chambers before and after the election.

    State legislative elections, 2023
    State Seats up Pre-election control Post-election control
    Louisiana House: 105
    Senate: 39    		 Ends.png Republican
    Ends.png Republican    		 Ends.png Republican
    Ends.png Republican
    Mississippi House: 122
    Senate: 52    		 Ends.png Republican
    Ends.png Republican    		 Ends.png Republican
    Ends.png Republican
    New Jersey House: 80
    Senate: 40    		 Electiondot.png Democratic
    Electiondot.png Democratic    		 Electiondot.png Democratic
    Electiondot.png Democratic
    Virginia House: 100
    Senate: 40    		 Ends.png Republican
    Electiondot.png Democratic    		 Electiondot.png Democratic
    Electiondot.png Democratic

    Partisan balance of all state legislatures

    Heading into the 2023 elections, Republicans held a majority in 57 chambers and Democrats held the majority in 40 chambers. Two chambers (Alaska House and Alaska Senate) were organized under multipartisan, power-sharing coalitions.

    State legislative chambers partisan breakdown
    Party As of the 2023 elections After the 2023 elections
         Democratic Party 40 41
         Republican Party 57 56
         Coalitions 2 2
         Uncalled chambers
    —
    0
    Total 99 99


    The map below shows the pre-election and post-election partisan control for each chamber. Click the blue links above the color key to switch the view between pre-election and post-election partisan control.

    Show more

    Change to Democrats:

    • Republican to Democrat: 50
    • Independent to Democrat: two

    Change to Republicans:

    • Democrat to Republican: 46
    • Independent to Republican: one

    Map of changed seats

    The map below contains a state-by-state breakdown of state legislative seats that changed party control in the 2023 state legislative elections. States shown in gray did not hold regularly-scheduled state legislative elections. Hover over a state to view how many seats changed party control in each party.

    Trifectas from 2010 to 2022

    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.

    This chart shows the number of trifectas each party held heading into elections from 2010 to 2022, and the number of trifectas following the 2022 elections.

    Trifectas by year: 2010-2022
    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


    Analysis of state elections, 2023

    See also: Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2023

    State legislative elections

    State Houses-Tile image.png
    See also: State legislative elections, 2023

    Eight of the country's 99 state legislative chambers held regularly-scheduled elections in 2023. Elections in those eight chambers represented 578 of the country's 7,386 state legislative seats (7.8%). This was the most seats up for election in an odd-numbered year since 2011.

    General elections in Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia took place on November 7, 2023. General elections in Louisiana took place on November 18, 2023.

    • Democrats gained one state legislative chamber by winning partisan control of the Virginia House of Delegates. Democrats maintained control of the state Senate. Virginia's trifecta status remained divided.
    • Republicans were guaranteed simple majorities in both Mississippi's House and Senate and Louisiana's House and Senate due to the number of districts where candidates from only one political party ran.
    • Democrats maintained partisan control of both chambers of the New Jersey state legislature.

    Analysis


    State executive elections

    State-capitol-utah.jpg
    See also: State executive official elections, 2023


    Analysis

    State judicial elections

    Gavel-square.png
    See also: State judicial elections, 2023

    A total of 15 state appellate court seats were up for election in 2023. This includes:

    • 2 supreme court seats
    • 13 intermediate appellate court seats.

    The number of state supreme court and intermediate court elections is subject to change if judges retire or are appointed.

    Ballotpedia provided coverage of supreme court and intermediate appellate court elections, as well as local trial court elections for judges within the 100 largest cities in the United States as measured by population.

    Analysis

    See also

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ These figures treat vacant seats as of November 7 as belonging to the party that most recently held control.
    2. ↑ These figures treat vacant seats as of November 7 as belonging to the party that most recently held control.
    3. ↑ These figures treat vacant seats as of November 7 as belonging to the party that most recently held control.
    4. ↑ 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.
    5. ↑ Louisiana Constitution, "Article 3, Section 5," accessed February 10, 2021
    6. ↑ Louisiana Constitution, "Article 4, Section 3," accessed February 10, 2021
    7. ↑ Mississippi Constitution, "Article 4, Section 36," accessed November 1, 2021
    8. ↑ New Jersey Constitution, "Article IV, Section II (2.)," accessed February 10, 2021
    9. ↑ Virginia Legislative Information System, "Code of Virginia - § 24.2-214. Election and term of Senators." accessed January 6, 2022
    10. ↑ Virginia Legislative Information System, "Code of Virginia - § 24.2-215. Election and term of members of the House of Delegates." accessed January 6, 2022
    11. ↑ Twitter, "Henry Olsen," November 7, 2023
    12. ↑ Twitter, "Political Election Projections," November 7, 2023
    13. ↑ Twitter, "Dave Wasserman," November 7, 2023
    14. ↑ The Washington Post, "Virginia Republicans snatched control of the state Senate, ended budget-Medicaid impasse," June 9, 2014
    15. ↑ 2015 and 2013 are not included because no chambers changed those years.
    16. ↑ 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.
    17. ↑ Fox News, "GOP Candidate Wins Lousiana [sic] Senate Special Election, Shifting Majority," February 20, 2011
    18. ↑ Chamber went from being controlled by a Democratic-led bipartisan coalition to being led by a coalition with power split between the parties.
    19. ↑ Chamber went from a Republican majority to a bipartisan governing coalition.
    20. ↑ 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.
    21. ↑ The Washington Post, "Southern Democrats in dire straits; 2011 looms large," January 11, 2011
    22. ↑ 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.
    23. ↑ Democrats won a majority of seats, but did not have a majority when the legislative session began due to vacancies created during the interim.
    24. ↑ 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.
    25. ↑ Nola.com, "Louisiana Republicans take first House majority since Reconstruction with latest party switch," December 17, 2010
    26. ↑ In this election, the Oregon House changed from a 30-30 tie to a 34-26 Democratic advantage.
    27. ↑ This chamber went from a 50-50 tie to a 68-32 Republican advantage in the 2010 elections.
    28. ↑ This chamber went from a 36-24 Democratic advantage to a 30-30 tie in the 2010 elections.
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