On Nov. 3, elections are happening in nine states for public service commissions. Gubernatorial elections are happening in 30 other states where the governor appoints members to their state’s commission, and state legislative elections are happening in one state — South Carolina — where the Legislature appoints members.

All 50 states have public service commissions that serve as the chief regulators of utilities, including energy, telecommunications, and water. Voters elect commissioners in 10 states, and governors or legislators appoint commissioners in 40 states.

Republicans have majorities on all nine commissions whose members are up for election this year. Overall, Republicans control 10 commissions, Democrats control one, and 39 are nonpartisan.

Battlegrounds

We identified elections for two commissions as battlegrounds this year.

Arizona: Five candidates are running for two seats on the Arizona Corporation Commission. The top two vote getters will win the seats, regardless of party. Two incumbents are running, Nick Myers (R) and Kevin Thompson (R). Myers did not advance from the primary, with Ralph Heap (R) getting the second-place spot. Jonathan Hill (D) and Clara Pratte (D) are running on the Democratic side. The commission is currently 5-0 Republican. If Democrats win both elections, it would narrow the majority to 3-2, with the possibility of control changing in 2028. A Democrat last won a seat in 2020.

Georgia: Two seats are up for election. Incumbent Peter Hubbard (D) and Fitz Johnson (R) are running in District 3, a rematch of 2025. Shelia Edwards (D) and Josh Tolbert (R) are running in District 5. In 2025, Democrats defeated two Republican incumbents, giving the commission a 3-2 Republican majority.

Key trends to watch

• Partisan control: In Georgia, if the commission switched from Republican-controlled to Democratic-controlled, it would join Illinois as the nation's only Democratic-aligned commission. Arizona could also see its composition set up a battle for the majority in 2028.
• Incumbent turnover: Incumbent commissioners lost primaries in Arizona and Alabama, and one incumbent in Montana won a primary by less than 1,000 votes. At least one incumbent is up in five states.

Recent election history

In 2025, Democrats won two seats in Georgia. In other states, there has been little change in terms of partisan control. The last time a commission changed partisan control was in Mississippi in 2019.