Understanding primaries – State primary laws and types, explained
State laws governing primaries can be confusing. In some states, political parties control their primaries, including whether to hold a primary at all. Elsewhere, primaries are mandatory.
Looking at laws governing who may participate in a primary, we classify states into one of five categories:
- Open: State law says that anyone can vote in this primary, regardless of partisan affiliation. There are no affiliation requirements before or after the primary.
- Closed: State law says a voter must be affiliated with a political party to participate in its primary. Note: In some states with closed primaries, it may still be possible for a voter to affiliate or change affiliation on the day of the primary.
- Semi-closed: State law says that voters who are not affiliated with a political party may participate in the partisan primary of their choice while retaining their status as an unaffiliated voter.
- Top-two or variation: State law says that all registered voters vote in the same primary, and all candidates are listed on the same ballot.
- Party discretion: State law permits parties to choose participation rules for their primaries.
Thirty-nine states require major parties to hold an open, closed, semi-closed, or top-two style primary for most congressional and state offices. Eleven states permit parties to choose between at least two possible primary types for most primaries.
All 18 uncontested state legislative incumbents this year are Democrats
Of the 168 incumbents running for re-election on Nov. 4, 18—all Democrats—do not have general election challengers. That means 10.7% of the state legislative incumbents running this year in New Jersey and Virginia are guaranteed re-election.
The number of incumbents in uncontested general elections affects the overall competitiveness of an election cycle. More uncontested general elections can indicate less competitiveness because voters have fewer opportunities to elect a non-incumbent to office. A smaller number indicates more of those opportunities.
The percentage of incumbents in uncontested general elections—10.7%—is the second-lowest percentage since 2011.
Massachusetts Attorney General approves 44 initiatives to gather signatures for the 2026 and 2028 ballots
On Sept. 3, the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General announced that 44 separate initiative petitions were approved to begin gathering signatures.
The attorney general’s approval to gather signatures does not indicate support for the initiatives or guarantee that the initiative will be placed on the ballot. Instead, it means that the attorney general has found that the initiatives do not violate the Massachusetts Constitution, do not address more than one subject, and do not address any restricted subjects.
The 44 approved initiatives address 28 unique topics, the most common being land use and development policy, utility policy, salaries of government officials, open meetings and public information, and income taxes.
Nine state legislatures are in session, one in special session
As of Sept. 8, according to the 2025 MultiState Insider Resource, eight state legislatures are in regular session for this year, and one state is in special session. Oregon’s special session began on Aug. 29.
The National Conference of State Legislatures keeps a tally of special legislative sessions throughout the year. So far this year, 12 states have convened 16 special sessions. In 2024, 16 states met for a total of 24 special sessions. In 2023, 25 states met for a total of 35 special sessions.
