2003 United States state legislative elections

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2003 United States state legislative elections
Flag of the United States.svg
  2002 November 7, 2003 2004  

8 legislative chambers in 4 states
 Majority partyMinority party
 
Party Republican Democratic
Chambers before53 [lower-alpha 1] 43 [lower-alpha 1]
Chambers after5344
Overall changeSteady2.svgIncrease2.svg 1

US2003stateupperhouses.svg
Map of upper house elections:
     Democrats gained control     Democrats retained control
     Republicans retained control
     No regularly-scheduled elections

US2003statelowerhouses.svg
Map of lower house elections:
     Democrats retained control
     Republicans retained control
     No regularly-scheduled elections

The 2003 United States state legislative elections were held on November 7, 2003, alongside other elections. Elections were held for 8 legislative chambers. [1] Both chambers of the Northern Mariana Islands legislature was up.

Contents

Partisan change only occurred in one chamber, as Democrats won control of the New Jersey Senate, which was previously tied. [2] However, Democrats did maintain control of the Mississippi Legislature, the Louisiana Legislature, and the New Jersey General Assembly. Republicans maintained control of the Virginia legislature, bringing a post-Civil War low for the Democratic Party. [3]

Summary table

Regularly-scheduled elections were held in 8 of the 99 state legislative chambers in the United States. Nationwide, regularly-scheduled elections were held for 578 of the 7,383 legislative seats. This table only covers regularly-scheduled elections; additional special elections took place concurrently with these regularly-scheduled elections.

StateUpper HouseLower House
Seats upTotal % upTermSeats upTotal % upTerm
Louisiana 393910041051051004
Mississippi 525210041221221004
New Jersey 40401002/4 [lower-alpha 2] 80801002
Virginia 404010041001001002

Election predictions

Ratings are designated as follows:

StateChamberLast
election
The Cook
Political Report
Oct. 4, 2002 [4]
Result
Louisiana Senate D 26–13Likely DD 24–15
House of Representatives R 74–31Solid DR 66–37–2
Mississippi Senate D 34–18Solid DD 29–23
House of Representatives D 86–33–3Solid DD 76-46
New Jersey Senate 20–20TossupD 22–18
General Assembly D 44–36Lean DD 47-33
Virginia Senate R 21–19Lean RR 24-16
House of Delegates R 64–34–2Solid RR 61–37–2

State summaries

Louisiana

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
PartyBeforeAfterChange
Democratic 2624Decrease2.svg 2
Republican 1315Increase2.svg 2
Total3939
Louisiana House of Representatives
PartyBeforeAfterChange
Democratic 7466Decrease2.svg 8
Republican 3137Increase2.svg 6
Independent 02Increase2.svg 2
Total105105

Mississippi

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
PartyBeforeAfterChange
Democratic 2929Steady2.svg
Republican 2323Steady2.svg
Total5252
Mississippi House of Representatives
PartyBeforeAfterChange
Democratic 8176Decrease2.svg 5
Republican 3846Increase2.svg 8
Independent 30Decrease2.svg 3
Total122122

New Jersey

All seats of the New Jersey Senate and the New Jersey General Assembly were up for election. In 2007, senators were elected to two-year terms in single-member districts, while Assembly members were elected to two-year terms in two-member districts. [5] Democrats retained control in of the lower house and won control of the upper house.

Senate
PartyBeforeAfterChange
Democratic 2022Increase2.svg 2
Republican 2018Decrease2.svg 2
Total4040
General Assembly
PartyBeforeAfterChange
Democratic 4447Increase2.svg 3
Republican 3633Decrease2.svg 3
Total8080

Virginia

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 both houses.

Senate of Virginia
PartyBeforeAfterChange
Democratic 1916Decrease2.svg 3
Republican 2124Increase2.svg 3
Total4040
Virginia House of Delegates
PartyBeforeAfterChange
Republican 6461Decrease2.svg 3
Democratic 3437Increase2.svg 3
Independent22Steady2.svg
Total100100

Territorial and federal district summaries

Northern Mariana Islands

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.

Senate
PartyBeforeAfterChange
Republican 52Decrease2.svg 3
Democratic 32Decrease2.svg 1
Total1010
House of Representatives
PartyBeforeAfterChange
Republican 167Decrease2.svg 9
Democratic 11Steady2.svg
Total1818

Notes

  1. 1 2 The Oregon Senate, North Carolina House of Representatives, and New Jersey Senate were tied prior to the election. Thus, they are not included in this total.
  2. The upper houses of Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Texas use a 2-4-4 term length system.

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References

  1. https://ballotpedia.org/State_legislative_elections,_2003
  2. "Official List, Candidate Returns for State Senate for November 2003 General Election" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 5, 2016. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  3. University of Virginia, Center for Politics. Virginia Votes 2003: Not much to remember, not much to forget. Archived 2015-07-20 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Jacobson, Louis (October 4, 2002). "2002 State Legislature Ratings" . The Cook Political Report : 149–150. Archived from the original on August 24, 2020 via Harvard Dataverse.
  5. "New Jersey Secretary of State". state.nj.us.