In the 37 states that have held primaries so far this year, 136 state legislative incumbents—3.4% of all incumbents seeking re-election—have lost. That’s less than at this point in 2022, when 174, or 4.6%, of incumbents had lost in primaries. Four of the 136 defeated incumbents were legislative leaders: three Republican state senators and one…
New Hampshire has 52 contested state legislative primaries on September 10, the fewest since Ballotpedia started tracking in 2010. The 52 contested primaries are 11.5% of all possible state legislative primaries. Ballotpedia defines a contested primary as one with more candidates than nominations available. There are 18 contested Democratic primaries and 34 contested Republican primaries.…
Alaska has two contested top-four state legislative primaries on August 20, 2024. This is the second state legislative primary since Alaska voters approved a ballot measure to establish a top-four primary system in 2020. Under the system, the top four vote-getters in the primary, regardless of partisan affiliation, advance to the general election. The state’s…
New Mexico has 42 contested state legislative primaries this year, the highest number since Ballotpedia started tracking that figure in 2014. There are 213 total candidates running in New Mexico’s state legislative primaries this year, 26 fewer than in 2020. New Mexico’s 42 Senate seats are up for election every four years, while the 70…
So far this year, 12 state legislative incumbents — one Democrat and 11 Republicans — have lost to primary challengers. Across the four states that have held primaries, 2.6% of incumbents running for re-election have lost, which is less than at this point in 2022 (3.6%). These totals include data from elections in both legislative…
Twenty-six Kentucky state legislative incumbents face primary challenges this year, representing 26% of all incumbents running for re-election. This is the second-highest number and percentage of contested incumbents since 2014. Of the 26 incumbents in contested primaries, six are Democrats and 20 are Republicans. Kentucky has 44 contested state legislative primaries this year, a 23%…
Primaries for state legislative incumbents in states with trifectas have become more competitive since 2016. A trifecta happens when one political party holds the governorship and majorities in both chambers of the state legislature. In 2016, the percentage of state legislative incumbents facing a primary challenger was 20.6%. In 2018, it was 21.9%, and in…
There are 44 contested state legislative primaries coming up on Aug. 8 in the Mississippi House, a decade-low for the chamber, down one from the previous low in 2019. While the total number of contested primaries is down, the number of contested Republican primaries is at a decade-high. This year, 30 state legislative races have…