How close races in 2020 might affect state legislative elections in 2022
To better understand this year’s state legislative elections, we took a look back at 2020. In 2020, the average margin of victory in state legislative elections was 27 percentage points, meaning most winning candidates won by a fairly large margin.
But for 928 seats, 16% of those up for election, the margins were less than 10 percentage points, making them some of the most competitive of the cycle. Democrats won 444 of those seats and Republicans won 484.
Click below to read more of this analysis.
131 statewide measures certified for this year’s ballot
As of Aug. 30, 131 statewide measures had been certified for the ballot in 37 states. That’s 29 less than the average number certified at this point in other even-numbered years from 2010 to 2020.
Five new measures were certified for the ballot last week:
- Arizona Campaign Finance Sources Disclosure Initiative
- Colorado Dedicate Revenues to Fund Housing Projects Initiative
- Colorado Alcohol Delivery Service Initiative
- Colorado Grocery and Convenience Store Wine Sales Initiative
- Colorado Retail Liquor Store Licenses Initiative
Signatures have been submitted and are pending verification for six initiatives:
- Oklahoma State Question 820, Marijuana Legalization Initiative
- Nebraska Minimum Wage Increase Initiative
- Nebraska Photo Voter Identification Initiative
- Michigan Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative
- Michigan Right to Voting Policies Amendment
- Massachusetts Driver’s License Requirements Referendum
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Smart political talk finally has a home—Ballotpedia’s new weekly podcast, “On the Ballot”
Ballotpedia’s new podcast—“On the Ballot”—is now available for you to listen to on Spotify and other major streaming platforms. New episodes are posted every Thursday afternoon. Each week, host Victoria Rose will sit down with Ballotpedia writers and researchers to discuss the latest political news, explore exclusive Ballotpedia research, and much more.