Author: Nathan Maxwell
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Missouri joins group of states where congressional district boundaries could change before the 2026 elections
Missouri joins a group of five states that may have new congressional maps before the 2026 elections. A new Missouri congressional map awaits Gov. Mike Kehoe’s (R) signature after it received final legislative approval on Sept. 12. Texas approved redrawn congressional districts in August. California voters will decide in a Nov. 4, 2025, special election…
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New Missouri congressional map awaits governor’s signature, referendum effort underway
Missouri is expected to become the second state to officially redraw its congressional district boundaries ahead of the 2026 elections. A bill that aims to net one additional Republican U.S. House seat awaits Gov. Mike Kehoe’s signature after the legislature gave it final approval on Sept. 12. The new map would draw the state’s 5th…
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All 18 uncontested state legislative incumbents in 2025 are Democrats
All 18 state legislative incumbents who do not have general election challengers this November are Democrats. There are 168 incumbents running for re-election. That means 10.7% of the state legislative incumbents running this year in New Jersey and Virginia are guaranteed re-election. Ballotpedia uses the number and percentage of incumbents in uncontested general elections to…
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Democrats are running for every state legislative seat this year, Republicans running for 88%
Democrats are running for every state legislative seat up for election in 2025, and Republicans are running for 88% of them. That means 12% of seats this year are guaranteed to Democrats due to a lack of Republican competition in those races, and none are guaranteed to Republicans due to a lack of Democratic competition.…
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Texas enacted a new congressional map for the 2026 U.S. House elections
Texas enacted new congressional district boundaries on Aug. 29, 2025, the first state among many that are considering map redraws ahead of the 2026 U.S. House elections. Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed the new map into law in a video posted to X, saying, “I’m about to sign the law that creates the One Big…
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Eleven candidates are running in the Republican special primary for Tennessee's 7th Congressional District
The Republican special primary election for Tennessee's 7th Congressional District will be held on October 7, 2025. The general election will be held on December 2, 2025. The special election will fill the vacancy Mark Green (R) left when he resigned on July 20, 2025, to take a job in the private sector. WPLN News'…
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Utah ordered to redraw congressional districts ahead of the 2026 elections
Utah joined a growing number of states where congressional district boundaries may change before the 2026 elections. A federal district court judge struck down Utah’s congressional map on Aug. 25, 2025, ruling that the Utah State Legislature violated voters’ right to reform their government when it overrode voters’ chosen redistricting rules. The judge gave the…
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Above average share of state legislative incumbents saw primary contests this year
Thirty-eight state legislative incumbents faced contested primaries in 2025, representing 22% of all incumbents who filed for re-election. While that was two fewer than the 40 contested incumbents in 2021, it was larger by percentage than each of the three previous odd-year cycles following presidential elections. Twelve percent were contested in 2013, 16% in 2017,…
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Fewest open state legislative seats since 2011
There are eight open seats in this year’s state legislative elections, four percent of all 180 seats up for election. That is the lowest by percentage of any odd-year cycle since 2011. An open seat is where no incumbent filed to run, meaning it is guaranteed to be won by a newcomer. Ballotpedia uses the…
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Sixteen percent of possible state legislative primaries were contested in 2025
There were 46 contested state legislative primaries in 2025. That was 16% of the 280 possible primaries between the New Jersey General Assembly and the Virginia House of Delegates, the only two state legislative chambers with elections this year. The total number of contested primaries in 2025—46—was two more and a 5% increase from 2021.…