Throughout January, Ballotpedia covered 25 elections in seven states, 24% of which were uncontested.
That’s down from December when 44% of the 123 covered elections were uncontested but comparable to last January when 30% of the 23 covered elections were uncontested
Ballotpedia defines an uncontested election as one where the number of candidates running is less than or equal to the number of seats up for election. This analysis does not account for write-in candidates.
We covered the most elections in South Carolina, where three of 10 (30%) were uncontested. Legislative races were the most-covered office type, with two of 11 (15%) uncontested.
January’s rate of uncontested elections was less than the 64% average rate identified between 2018 and 2024.
For comparison, since 2018, each year has had more uncontested than contested elections except for one, in 2021, when 50.4% of the elections Ballotpedia covered were contested.
Click on the link below to learn more about uncontested elections nationwide last month.