2007 United States state legislative elections

For related races, see 2007 United States elections.

2007 United States state legislative elections

←  2006 November 6, 2007 2008  →
8 legislative chambers 4 states
Majority party Minority party Third party   Party Democratic Republican Coalition Chambers before 56 42 [a] 1 [b] Chambers after 58 39 [c] 1 [b] Overall change 2 3
Map of upper house elections:      Democrats gained control     Democrats retained control      No regularly-scheduled elections
Map of lower house elections:      Democrats retained control      Republicans retained control      No regularly-scheduled elections

Elections to state legislatures were held on November 6, 2007. Seven legislative chambers in four states held regularly scheduled elections. These off-year elections coincided with other state and local elections, including gubernatorial elections in three states. ^[1] Both chambers of the Northern Mariana Islands were up as well.

Democrats held control of both chambers of the New Jersey and Louisiana legislatures, and held control of the Mississippi House of Representatives. Meanwhile, Republicans held control of the Virginia House of Delegates. Meanwhile, Democrats gained control of the Virginia Senate and the Mississippi Senate, however, Democrats had only lost control of the latter chamber at the beginning of the year when Senators James Walley and Tommy Gollott switched parties from Democratic to Republican. Thus, Republicans briefly controlled the chamber for the first time since 1876. ^[2]

Additionally, Republicans lost control of the Tennessee Senate when Republican Senator Michael R. Williams became an Independent and the chamber became evenly divided with no one party in control. ^[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.

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	40	40	100	2/4 [d]	80	80	100	2
Virginia	40	40	100	4	100	100	100	2

State summaries

Louisiana

Main articles: 2007 Louisiana Senate election and 2007 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	24	23	1
	Republican	15	16	1
Total		39	39

Louisiana House of Representatives

Party		Before	After	Change
	Democratic	66	53	13
	Republican	37	50	13
	Independent	2	2
Total		105	105

Mississippi

Main articles: 2007 Mississippi Senate election and 2007 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 the lower house, and they regained control of the upper house, which they had lost due to party switching earlier in the year.

Mississippi State Senate

Party		Before	After	Change
	Democratic	25	27	2
	Republican	27	25	2
Total		52	52

Mississippi House of Representatives

Party		Before	After	Change
	Democratic	75	75
	Republican	47	47
Total		122	122

New Jersey

Main articles: 2007 New Jersey Senate election and 2007 New Jersey General Assembly election

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. ^[4] Democrats retained majority control in both chambers.

Senate

Party		Before	After	Change
	Democratic	22	23	1
	Republican	18	17	1
Total		40	40

General Assembly

Party		Before	After	Change
	Democratic	50	48	2
	Republican	30	32	2
Total		80	80

Virginia

Main articles: 2007 Virginia Senate election and 2007 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 serve terms of two years. Republicans maintained control of the lower chamber and but lost control of the upper chamber to the Democrats.

Senate of Virginia

Party		Before	After	Change
	Democratic	16	21	5
	Republican	24	19	5
Total		40	40

Virginia House of Delegates

Party		Before	After	Change
	Republican	57	54	3
	Independent	2	2	1
		1
	Democratic	40	44	4
Total		100	100

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.

House of Representatives

Party		Before	After	Change
	Republican	7	12	5
	Coalition	11	8	3
Total			20	20

Senate

Party		Before	After	Change
	Republican	3	3
	Coalition	6	6
Total			10	10

See also

• 2007 United States gubernatorial elections

Notes

1. Following the defection of two Senators to the Republican party, Republicans took control of the Mississippi Senate in early 2007.
2. The Alaska Senate was controlled by a coalition of Democrats and Republicans. The minority caucus consists of Republicans who were not part of the majority coalition.
3. Following the defection of Senator Micheal R. Williams from the Republican party, no party controlled the Tennessee Senate. Thus the chamber is not included in the total here.
4. The upper houses of Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Texas use a 2-4-4 term length system.

References

1. "State legislative elections, 2007". Ballotpedia . Retrieved February 7, 2023.
2. Nash, Jere; Taggart, Andy (April 9, 2007). "Can Republicans retain Senate, gain House in 2007?". The Mississippi Business Journal. 29 (15): 6. ProQuest   206586858.
3. Whitehouse, Ken. "Tennessee Republicans win slim majority in State House". Nashville Post. Retrieved February 7, 2023.
4. "New Jersey Secretary of State". state.nj.us.