Sixty-eight state legislators ran for a different office in 2021 than the one to which they were elected. Of those 68 officials, 23 (34%) won election to a new position. In 2019, 69 state legislators who sought a different office. Thirty-two (46%) were successful in their elections. New York had the most legislators seeking another…
Between Dec. 29 and Jan. 5, officials in at least seven states either proposed, advanced, or enacted new redistricting maps. Proposed Florida: The Senate Redistricting Committee released eight new maps—four of congressional districts and four of Senate districts—on Jan. 5 ahead of the start of the regularly-scheduled legislative session on Jan. 11. The Florida Constitution…
In 2021, Ballotpedia identified 39 irregular state executive official office changes—the most since we started tracking these changes in 2012. An irregular office change is when an officeholder leaves office before their term ends. Of the 39 who resigned, 19 were nonpartisan, 11 were Democratic, and nine were Republican. One notable change in 2021 was…
On Jan. 6, 2022, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) signed a new state Senate map into law, which will take effect for New Mexico’s 2022 legislative elections. The New Mexico State Senate voted 25-13 to approve the map on Dec. 16, 2021, and the New Mexico House of Representatives approved the map 38-22…
In 2022, 36 states are holding elections for two or more top-ballot statewide offices—U.S. Senate, governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and secretary of state. Twenty-six states are holding elections for both U.S. Senate and governor—the top state executive position. Overall: 16 states are holding elections for all five top-level statewide offices. 11 states are holding…
The Connecticut Supreme Court appointed Nathaniel Persily, a Stanford University law professor, as a special master to assist it in the congressional redistricting process on Dec. 23, 2021. On Dec. 28, the court rejected a request from the Republican members of the Connecticut Reapportionment Commission asking the court to select a different special master or…
There were 171 state legislative vacancies across 43 states in 2021, according to a Ballotpedia analysis. As of Jan. 6, 2022, 129 of those vacancies have been filled. One hundred and twenty-four (124) vacancies occurred in state Houses and 47 occurred in state Senates. Ninety (90) of the vacant seats were originally held by Democrats…
Three of the nation’s 99 state legislative chambers held regularly-scheduled elections for 220 seats on Nov. 2, 2021. In races where more than one candidate ran in the election, the average margin of victory was 23.6%. The margin of victory is the difference between the share of votes cast for the winning candidate and the…
At the start of 2022, 36.5 percent (120 million) of Americans lived in a state with a Democratic trifecta, while 41.8 percent (137 million) lived in a state with a Republican trifecta. The other 71 million Americans lived in a state with a divided government. A state government trifecta is a term to describe single-party…