October 2021 breakdown of state legislative party membership: 54.11% Republicans, 44.71% Democrats


54.11% of all state legislators are Republicans and 44.71% are Democrats, according to Ballotpedia’s October partisan count of the 7,383 state legislators.

Ballotpedia tallies the partisan balance of state legislatures at the end of every month. This refers to which political party holds the majority of seats in each chamber. Republicans control 61 chambers, while Democrats hold 37. The Alaska House of Representatives is the only chamber to be organized under a multipartisan, power-sharing coalition.

Nationally, the state legislatures include 1,957 state senators and 5,379 state representatives. Democrats hold 864 state Senate seats and 2,437 state House seats, a gain of three state Senate seats and a loss of one state House seat. Republicans hold 3,995 of the 7,383 total state legislative seats—1,086 state Senate seats (five fewer than September) and 2,909 state House seats (a decrease of three).

Independent or third-party legislators hold 40 seats, of which 33 are state House seats and seven are state Senate seats. There are 47 vacant seats.

Since our last partisan count, Democrats saw a net increase of two seats, while Republicans saw a net decrease of eight seats. 

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