2011 United States state legislative elections

For related races, see 2011 United States elections.

2011 United States state legislative elections

←  2010 November 8, 2011 2012  →
8 legislative chambers 4 states
Majority party Minority party Third party   Party Republican Democratic Coalition Chambers before 60 [a] 37 [b] 1 [c] Chambers after 62 35 1 [c] Overall change 2 2
Map of upper house elections:      Democrats retained control      Republicans gained control     Republicans retained control      No regularly-scheduled elections
Map of lower house elections:      Democrats retained control      Republicans gained control     Republicans retained control      No regularly-scheduled elections

The 2011 United States state legislative elections were held on November 8, 2011. Eight legislative chambers in four states held regularly scheduled elections. These off-year elections coincided with other state and local elections, including gubernatorial elections in four states. ^[1]

These were the first elections to be affected by redistricting after the 2010 census. ^[2] Additionally, the first wave of recall elections occurred in the Wisconsin Senate; while Republicans lost seats, they maintained a narrow majority. A second wave would occur in 2012.

Republicans flipped control of the Virginia Senate, thereby establishing a trifecta. In Mississippi, Republicans won the state House for the first time since 1876. After having gained control of the Mississippi Senate in February 2011 in the year due to party switching, ^[3] Republicans retained control of the chamber in the November election. Republicans thus obtained a trifecta in the state for the first time since 1876 as a result.

In Louisiana, Republicans gained control of the State House in December 2010 when a state representative switched parties, ^[4] and control of the State Senate by winning a February 2011 special election, ^[5] thus giving Republicans control of both chambers and a trifecta for the first time in the state since 1873.

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

Election predictions

Several sites and individuals publish predictions of competitive chambers. These predictions look at factors such as the strength of the party, the strength of the candidates, and the partisan leanings of the state. The predictions assign ratings to each chambers, with the rating indicating the predicted advantage that a party has in winning that election.

Most election predictors use:

• "Tossup": No advantage
• "Lean": Slight advantage
• "Likely": Significant, but surmountable, advantage
• "Safe": Near-certain chance of victory

State	Chamber	Before election [e]	Ballotpedia Oct. 2011 [6]	Result
Louisiana	Senate	R 22–17	Likely R	R 24–15
	House of Representatives	R 57–46–2	Safe R	R 58–45–2
Mississippi	Senate	R 27–25	Lean R	R 31–21
	House of Representatives	D 68–54	Lean R (flip)	R 64–58
New Jersey	Senate	D 24–16	Lean D	D 24–16
	General Assembly	D 47–33	Lean D	D 48–32
Virginia	Senate	D 22–18	Lean R (flip)	R 20–20
	House of Delegates	R 59–39–2	Safe R	R 67–32–1

State summaries

Louisiana

Main articles: 2011 Louisiana Senate election and 2011 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. Republicans flipped both chambers through party switching and special elections in the past year, and then retained majority control in both chambers in the 2011 elections.

Louisiana State Senate

Party		Before	After	Change
	Republican	22	24	2
	Democratic	17	15	2
Total		39	39

Louisiana House of Representatives

Party		Before	After	Change
	Republican	57	58	1
	Democratic	46	45	1
	Independent	2	2
Total		105	105

Mississippi

Main articles: 2011 Mississippi Senate election and 2011 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. Republicans won a majority in the lower house. They had previously won a majority in the upper house through party switching and special elections earlier in the year, and then retained a majority in the general election.

Mississippi State Senate

Party		Before	After	Change
	Republican	27	31	4
	Democratic	25	21	4
Total		52	52

Mississippi House of Representatives

Party		Before	After	Change
	Republican	54	64	10
	Democratic	68	58	10
Total		122	122

New Jersey

Main articles: 2011 New Jersey Senate election and 2011 New Jersey General Assembly election

All seats of the New Jersey Senate and the New Jersey General Assembly were up for election. In 2011, senators were elected to two-year terms in single-member districts, while Assembly members were elected to two-year terms in two-member districts. ^[7] Democrats retained majority control in both chambers.

Senate

Party		Before	After	Change
	Democratic	24	24
	Republican	16	16
Total		40	40

General Assembly

Party		Before	After	Change
	Democratic	47	48	1
	Republican	33	32	1
Total		80	80

Virginia

Main articles: 2011 Virginia Senate election and 2011 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 won control of the upper chamber because the Republican lieutenant governor broke the ties in the now-evenly split body.

Senate of Virginia

Party		Before	After	Change
	Republican	18	20	2
	Democratic	22	20	2
Total		40	40

Virginia House of Delegates

Party		Before	After	Change
	Republican	59	67	8
	Independent	2	1	1
	Democratic	39	32	7
Total		100	100

Recall elections

Wisconsin

Main article: 2011 Wisconsin Senate recall elections

A wave of recall elections were held in Wisconsin Senate as a part of the public fallout of the passage of Act 10, a law which significantly limited public employee collective bargaining. Republican senators were targeted for their support of the bill, while Democratic senators were targeted for leaving the state to deprive the chamber of a quorum to delay the bill's passage. ^[8] Democrats retained all of their Senators, while two of the six Republicans were defeated, for a net gain of two seats for the Democrats.

District		Incumbent			This race
Chamber	No.	Member	Party	First elected	Result	Vote
Senate	02	Robert Cowles	Republican	1987 (special)	Incumbent retained August 9, 2011. Republican hold.	▌Y Robert Cowles (Rep.) 57% ▌ Nancy J. Nusbaum (Dem.) 43%
Senate	08	Alberta Darling	Republican	1990	Incumbent retained August 9, 2011. Republican hold.	▌Y Alberta Darling (Rep.) 54% ▌ Sandy Pasch (Dem.) 46%
Senate	10	Sheila Harsdorf	Republican	2000	Incumbent retained August 9, 2011. Republican hold.	▌Y Sheila Harsdorf (Rep.) 58% ▌ Shelly Moore (Dem.) 42%
Senate	12	Jim Holperin	Democratic	2008	Incumbent retained August 16, 2011. Democratic hold.	▌Y Jim Holperin (Dem.) 55% ▌ Kim Simac (Rep.) 45%
Senate	14	Luther Olsen	Republican	2004	Incumbent retained August 9, 2011. Republican hold.	▌Y Luther Olsen (Rep.) 52% ▌ Fred Clark (Dem.) 48%
Senate	18	Randy Hopper	Republican	2008	Incumbent recalled August 9, 2011. Democratic gain.	▌Y Jessica King (Dem.) 51% ▌ Randy Hopper (Rep.) 49%
Senate	22	Robert Wirch	Democratic	1996	Incumbent retained August 16, 2011. Democratic hold.	▌Y Robert Wirch (Dem.) 57% ▌ Jonathan Steitz (Rep.) 43%
Senate	30	Dave Hansen	Democratic	2000	Incumbent retained July 19, 2011. Democratic hold.	▌Y Dave Hansen (Dem.) 67% ▌ David VanderLeest (Rep.) 33%
Senate	32	Dan Kapanke	Republican	2004	Incumbent recalled August 9, 2011. Democratic gain.	▌Y Jennifer Shilling (Dem.) 55% ▌ Dan Kapanke (Rep.) 45%

See also

• 2011 United States gubernatorial elections

Notes

1. Republicans took control of the Mississippi State Senate, the Louisiana House of Representatives, and the Louisiana State Senate through party switching and special elections earlier in the year.
2. The Oregon House of Representatives was tied in the 2011-2013 session; the chamber is not counted towards the total here.
3. 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.
4. The upper houses of Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Texas use a 2-4-4 term length system.
5. Many states up for election in 2011 had experienced heavy party switching in the year prior, which flipped control of both chambers of the Louisiana legislature and the Mississippi Senate.

References

1. "State legislative elections, 2011". Ballotpedia . Retrieved December 26, 2022.
2. "State legislative elections, 2011". Ballotpedia . Retrieved December 26, 2022.
3. "Sen. Ezell Lee Qualifies As A Republican « Majority In Mississippi". February 21, 2011. Archived from the original on February 21, 2011. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
4. "Political switch gives GOP control of Louisiana House". www.kplctv.com. December 18, 2010. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
5. Freddoso, David (February 21, 2011). "Special election gives GOP complete control of Louisiana state government - Washington Examiner" . Retrieved July 6, 2024.
6. "Projected outcomes of state legislative elections, 2011". Ballotpedia. Retrieved February 24, 2025.
7. "New Jersey Secretary of State". state.nj.us.
8. Tom Tolan (April 26, 2011). "At least 9 Wisconsin state senators face recall". National Public Radio. Retrieved May 23, 2011.