Author: Joel Williams

  • Recognized Endorsement Contributors-endorsed candidates won 94% of Aug. 11 elections across five states

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    Endorsements are one of the ways voters learn who candidates are and what they stand for. They can be particularly useful for voters in two types of elections: in partisan primaries, when voters may find it difficult to discern differences between candidates with the same party affiliation, and in nonpartisan local elections, when party labels…

  • A look at the nearly 3,000 endorsements issued in Aug. 4 elections and how they affected those primaries

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    Endorsements are one of the ways voters learn who candidates are and what they stand for. They can be particularly useful for voters in two types of elections: in partisan primaries, when voters may find it difficult to discern differences between candidates with the same party affiliation, and in nonpartisan local elections, when party labels…

  • Endorsed candidates won 88% of races in California's June 2 primaries, Ballotpedia data shows

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    Endorsements are one of the ways voters learn who candidates are and what they stand for — especially in down-ballot races where little other information is available. Ballotpedia tracks endorsements from organizations we call Recognized Endorsement Contributors (RECs): groups ranging from labor unions and advocacy organizations to newspaper editorial boards that publicly support candidates and…

  • Candidates endorsed by RECs won 88% of primary races across five states in June 2 elections

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    Endorsements are one of the ways voters learn who candidates are and what they stand for — especially in down-ballot races where little other information is available. Ballotpedia tracks endorsements from organizations we call Recognized Endorsement Contributors (RECs): groups ranging from labor unions and advocacy organizations to newspaper editorial boards that publicly support candidates and…

  • A look at six Recognized Endorsement Contributors in Texas' March 3 primaries - who are they, and who did they endorse?

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    Endorsements are one of the ways voters learn who candidates are and what they stand for — especially in down-ballot races where little other information is available. Ballotpedia tracks endorsements from organizations we call Recognized Endorsement Contributors (RECs): groups ranging from labor unions and advocacy organizations to newspaper editorial boards that publicly support candidates and…

  • Democrats defending 14 U.S. House districts won by Trump in 2024; Republicans defending 9 won by Harris

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    In the 2026 U.S. House elections, there will be 23 districts where the incumbent's party and the party of the president who carried the district in the most recent presidential election do not match. There are 14 such districts currently represented by a Democrat and won by Donald Trump (R), and nine such districts represented…

  • Last year, there were 34 elections decided by 10 votes or fewer across the United States

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    Image of several stickers with the words "I voted"

    Thirty-four elections nationwide were decided by 10 votes or fewer between Sept. 2024 and Sept. 2025. Democrats won 11 of these elections, Republicans won five, and nonpartisan or minor party candidates won 18. Twenty-two of those were decided by 5 votes or fewer. This year, the race decided by 10 or fewer votes with the…

  • 303 state legislative incumbents lost re-election campaigns in 2024

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    There were 5,807 state legislative seats up for election on November 5, 2024, in 44 states. Across those elections, 303 incumbents lost their re-election bids: 134 in general elections and 169 in primaries. This was the second even-year election in a row that primary defeats outnumbered those in general elections. Across primary elections in 2024,…

  • More state supreme court incumbents lost in 2024 elections than any year since at least 2008

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    In 2024, 82 state supreme court seats were up for election. Incumbents ran for re-election in 70 races (85%). Incumbents won re-election in 62 races and lost in eight others. This figure marked the highest total number of losses in a single year since in 2008, and tied 2008 for the lowest total percentage of…

  • Last year, there were 66 elections decided by 10 votes or fewer across the United States

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    Sixty-six elections nationwide were decided by 10 votes or fewer between Sept. 2023 and Sept. 2024. Thirty-five of those were decided by 5 votes or fewer. Democrats won 21 of these elections, Republicans won 30, and nonpartisan or minor party candidates won 15. This year, the race decided by 10 or fewer votes with the…