Thirty states are holding elections for attorney general this year. Of those, Democrats currently control 16 offices and Republicans 14.

Nationally, there are 27 Republican attorneys general and 22 Democratic attorneys general. Hawaii Gov. Josh Green (D) appointed Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez, whose office is officially nonpartisan.

This means Democrats would need to gain four offices to have more attorneys general than Republicans nationally. Republicans cannot lose more than two offices.

Democrats are defending four offices in states that President Donald Trump won in the 2024 presidential election. Republicans aren’t defending any offices in states that Kamala Harris won in the 2024 presidential election.

The attorney general serves as the state's chief legal officer. The attorney general is responsible for enforcing state law and advising the state government on legal matters. In many states, attorneys general play a large role in the law enforcement process.

Battlegrounds:

Ballotpedia identified four states’ attorney general elections as battlegrounds.

Arizona: Incumbent Kris Mayes (D) and Warren Petersen (R) are running. Mayes was elected in 2022, 49.9%–49.9%. Mayes and Perterson have both completed Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection survey, click here (Mayes) and here (Peterson) to read their responses.

Iowa: Incumbent Brenna Bird (R) and Nate Willems (D) are running. Bird is the first Republican to serve as Iowa’s attorney general since 1979. In 2022, Bird defeated then-incumbent Tom Miller (D) 50.8% to 49.1%.

Nevada: Nicole Cannizzaro (D) and Adriana Guzmán Fralick (R) are running. Incumbent Aaron Ford (D) is term-limited and running for governor. In 2022, Ford defeated Sigal Chattah (R) 52.3% to 44.4%.

Wisconsin: Incumbent Josh Kaul (D) and Eric Toney (R) are running. This is a rematch of the 2022 election, when Kaul defeated Toney 50.6% to 49.3%. Kaul and Toney have both completed Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection survey. Click here (Kaul) and here (Toney) to read their responses.

Key Trends to watch:

• Triplex Control: Attorneys general play a role in determining triplex control. Nationally, there are 24 Republican triplexes, 21 Democratic triplexes, and 5 divided governments where neither party holds triplex control.
• Open offices: Ten attorney general offices are open, up from nine in 2022 and down from 12 in 2018. Six attorneys general are term-limited this year, three were term-limited in 2022, and five were term-limited in 2018.

Recent election history:

In 2022, the last time this set of offices was up for election, three offices changed party hands.

Republicans gained the state attorney general's office in Iowa where Brenna Bird (R) defeated incumbent Tom Miller (D). Democrats gained the state attorney general's offices in Arizona and Vermont. In Arizona, Kris Mayes (D) defeated Abraham Hamadeh (R) in the open race to succeed Mark Brnovich (R) in Arizona. In Vermont, Charity Clark (D) defeated Michael Tagliavia (R) to succeed Susanne Young (R).