1999 United States state legislative elections

For related races, see 1999 United States elections.

1999 United States state legislative elections

← 1998 November 2, 1999 2000  →
8 legislative chambers in 4 states
Majority party Minority party   Party Democratic Republican Chambers before 50 [a] [b] 47 [a] [b] Chambers after 49 [a] [c] 48 [a] [c] Overall change 1 1
Map of upper house elections:      Democrats retained control      Republicans retained control      Split body formed      No regularly-scheduled elections
Map of lower house elections:      Democrats retained control      Republicans gained control     Republicans retained control      No regularly-scheduled elections

The 1999 United States state legislative elections were held on November 2, 1999, alongside other elections. Elections were held for 7 legislative chambers in four states. Both chambers of the Northern Mariana Islands legislature were up. ^[1]

Democrats maintained control of the Mississippi and Louisiana legislatures, while Republicans maintained control of the lower house in New Jersey and the upper house in Virginia. Republicans had won a 1997 special election to claim a 21-19 majority in the Virginia Senate after Democrat Charles L. Waddell resigned his seat. ^{[2] [3]} Republicans maintained this majority in 1999, which gave them their first-ever elected majority in history. Republicans flipped the Virginia House of Delegates, which was previously tied, resulting in the first-ever Republican majority.

Additionally, in the summer of 1999, a Democratic senator died in the New Hampshire Senate and was succeeded by a Republican in a special election, switching that chamber from Democratic control to tied. ^[4]

Summary table

Regularly scheduled elections were held in 7 of the 99 state legislative chambers in the United States. Nationwide, regularly scheduled elections were held for 538 of the 7,383 legislative seats. This table only covers regularly scheduled elections; additional special elections took place concurrently with these regularly scheduled elections.

State	Upper House				Lower House
	Seats up	Total	% up	Term	Seats up	Total	% up	Term
Louisiana	39	39	100	4	105	105	100	4
Mississippi	52	52	100	4	122	122	100	4
New Jersey	0	40	0	2/4 [d]	80	80	100	2
Virginia	40	40	100	4	100	100	100	2

State summaries

Louisiana

Main articles: 1999 Louisiana Senate election and 1999 Louisiana House of Representatives election

All seats of the Louisiana State Senate and the Louisiana House of Representatives were up for election to four-year terms in single-member districts. Democrats maintained control of both chambers.

Louisiana State Senate

Party		Before	After	Change
	Democratic	26	26
	Republican	13	13
Total		39	39

Louisiana House of Representatives

Party		Before	After	Change
	Democratic	78	74	4
	Republican	27	31	4
Total		105	105

Mississippi

Main articles: 1999 Mississippi Senate election and 1999 Mississippi House of Representatives election

All seats of the Mississippi State Senate and the Mississippi House of Representatives were up for election to four-year terms in single-member districts. Democrats maintained control of both houses.

Mississippi State Senate

Party		Before	After	Change
	Democratic	34	34
	Republican	18	18
Total		52	52

Mississippi House of Representatives

Party		Before	After	Change
	Democratic	86	86
	Republican	33	33
	Independent	3	3
Total		122	122

New Jersey

Main article: 1999 New Jersey General Assembly election

All seats of the New Jersey General Assembly were up for election. Assembly members were elected to two-year terms in two-member districts. ^[5] Republicans retained control.

General Assembly

Party		Before	After	Change
	Democratic	32	35	3
	Republican	48	45	3
Total		80	80

Virginia

Main articles: 1999 Virginia Senate election and 1999 Virginia House of Delegates election

All seats of the Senate of Virginia and the Virginia House of Delegates were up for election in single-member districts. Senators were elected to four-year terms, while delegates served terms of two years. Republicans maintained control of the Senate and flipped the House of Delegates, which was previously tied.

Senate of Virginia

Party		Before	After	Change
	Democratic	19	19
	Republican	21	21
Total		40	40

Virginia House of Delegates

Party		Before	After	Change
	Republican	49	52	3
	Independent	1 [e]	1
	Democratic	50	47	3
Total		100	100

Territorial and federal district summaries

Northern Mariana Islands

Main article: 1999 Northern Mariana Islands general election

All seats of the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives and half of the Northern Mariana Islands Senate are up for election. Senators are elected to four-year terms, and Representatives are elected to two-year terms. Republicans maintained control of both houses.

Senate

Party		Before	After	Change
	Republican	8	6	2
	Democratic	1	2	1
	Independent	0	1	1
Total		9	9

House of Representatives

Party		Before	After	Change
	Republican	13	11	2
	Democratic	5	6	1
	Independent	0	1	1
Total		18	18

Notes

1. The Washington House of Representatives was controlled by a power-sharing agreement between Democrats and Republicans. Thus, it is not counted in this total.
2. The Virginia Senate was split. Thus, it is not included in the prior total.
3. The New Hampshire Senate became evenly-split due to a special election. Thus, it is not included in the prior total.
4. The upper houses of Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Texas use a 2-4-4 term length system.
5. Independent Lacey Putney sided with the Republicans, deadlocking the chamber.

References

1. https://ballotpedia.org/State_legislative_elections,_1999
2. "Virginia State Legislature". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 29, 2021.
3. Southern Politics in the 1990s. LSU Press. ISBN   978-0-8071-4181-6.
4. Jimenez, Ralph (December 9, 1999), With Election Defeat, N.H. Democrats Lose Majority in Senate, Boston, Massachusetts: Boston Globe, p. B.19
5. "New Jersey Secretary of State". state.nj.us.