Author: Nathan Maxwell
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Record number of candidates and contested primaries in the 2026 Texas state legislative elections
Texas has 465 major party candidates running for state legislative office, the most of any election cycle since 2010. Of the 465 total candidates, 238 are Democrats, up 20% from 199 in 2024. There are 227 Republican candidates, up 7% from 212 in 2024. Texas also has 103 contested state legislative primaries this year, an…
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Share of Illinois state legislative incumbents in contested primaries lowest since 2016
In 2026, 12.7% of the state legislative incumbents running for election in Illinois will face primary contests, down from 14.4% in 2024 and the lowest percentage since 2016, when 11.8% of incumbents faced primaries. In total, 18 incumbents face contested primaries across the Illinois House and Senate. The average number of incumbents contested each election…
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Arkansas to see fewest state legislative incumbent primaries since 2014
Nine Arkansas state legislative incumbents face primary contests this year, the fewest since eight incumbents ran in contested 2014 primaries. All nine of the contested incumbents are Republicans. Three are state senators and six are state representatives. This is the first year without any Democratic incumbents in contested primaries in the state since Ballotpedia began…
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Fewest open state legislative seats in North Carolina since 2010
Ten seats are open in North Carolina’s state legislative elections this year, meaning no incumbents filed. That is the fewest open seats since 2010 and means newcomers could represent as little as 6% of the legislature next year. The average number of open seats each cycle from 2010 to 2024 was 24. Thirty-nine incumbents face…
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Indiana Senate votes against new all-Republican congressional map
On Dec. 11, 2025, the Indiana Senate voted 31-19 against a new congressional map that would have shifted the state’s two Democratic U.S. House districts toward Republicans ahead of the 2026 elections. Twenty-one Republicans joined the chamber’s 10 Democrats in voting against the bill. The vote against redistricting came despite pressure from the White House…
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Georgia House seat is the eighth to change partisan control in state legislative special elections this year
Georgia Democrat Eric Gisler won the special election for state House District 121, gaining partisan control of the seat from Republicans. According to CNN’s Ethan Cohen, President Donald Trump (R) won the district by a 12-point margin in the 2024 presidential election. Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin said, “Fresh off the resounding victories in…
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Incumbent Tim Keller defeated Darren White in the general election runoff for mayor of Albuquerque
Incumbent Mayor Tim Keller defeated Darren White to win the nonpartisan election for mayor of Albuquerque, New Mexico, in a Dec. 9, 2025, runoff. Keller earned 58.4% of the vote, and White earned 41.6% in the runoff. The two candidates advanced to the runoff after Keller earned 36.6% of the vote in the general election,…
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Partisan control shifted 10 percentage points toward Democrats in the 2025 state legislative elections
As a result of the Nov. 4, 2025, elections, the partisan composition of the 180 state legislative seats up for election changed by 10 percentage points. That is compared to a one percentage point shift following the 2023 elections. Democrats had a net gain of 18 seats, representing 10% of the 180 seats, and Republicans…
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Seventeen Republican incumbents lost in the 2025 state legislative general elections
Seventeen incumbents—all Republicans—lost in the 2025 state legislative elections in New Jersey and Virginia. That’s the most general election incumbent defeats in an odd year since 21 were defeated in 2011. Twelve Republican incumbents lost re-election in Virginia, where Democrats expanded their majority by 13 seats, going from 51 to 64 seats in the 100-member…
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Matt Van Epps (R) won the special election for Tennessee's 7th Congressional District
Matt Van Epps (R) won the special election for Tennessee's 7th Congressional District on December 2, 2025. Van Epps received 53.8% of the vote to Aftyn Behn's (D) 45.2%. Van Epps, Behn, and four independent candidates ran in the election. The special election filled the vacancy created when the former incumbent, Rep. Mark Green (R),…