2019 United States state legislative elections

Last updated

2019 United States state legislative elections
Flag of the United States.svg
  2018 November 5, 2019 2020  

7 legislative chambers
4 states
 Majority partyMinority partyThird party
 
Party Republican Democratic Coalition
Chambers before61371 [a]
Chambers after59391 [a]
Overall changeDecrease2.svg 2Increase2.svg 2Steady2.svg

US2019stateupperhouses.svg
Map of upper house elections:
     Democrats gained control
     Republicans retained control
     Special elections held

US2019statelowerhouses.svg
Map of lower house elections:
     Democrats gained control     Democrats retained control
     Republicans retained control
     Special elections held

The 2019 United States state legislative elections were held on November 5, 2019. 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]

Contents

Democrats gained majorities of both houses of the Virginia General Assembly, giving them complete control of the legislature for the first time since 2000, and the first trifecta since 1994. [2]

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.

StateUpper HouseLower House
Seats upTotal% upTermSeats upTotal% upTerm
Louisiana 393910041051051004
Mississippi 525210041221221004
New Jersey 04002/4 [b] 80801002
Virginia 404010041001001002

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 (reflected in part by the state's Cook Partisan Voting Index rating). 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:

State PVI [3] ChamberLast
election
Sabato
October 31,
2019
[4]
Result
Louisiana R+11 Senate R 25-14 Safe RR 27-12
House of Representatives R 61-39-5 Safe RR 68-35-2
Mississippi R+9 Senate R 33-19 Safe RR 36–16
House of Representatives R 74-44-2 Safe RR 75-46-1
New Jersey D+7
General Assembly D 54-26 Safe DD 52-28
Virginia D+1 Senate R 21-19 Lean D (flip)D 21-19
House of Delegates R 51-49 Lean D (flip)D 55-45

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. Republicans retained majority control in both chambers.

House of Representatives results Louisiana State House 2019.png
House of Representatives results
Louisiana State Senate
PartyLeaderBeforeAfterChange
Republican John Alario 2527Increase2.svg 2
Democratic Troy Carter 1412Decrease2.svg 2
Total3939
Louisiana House of Representatives
PartyLeaderBeforeAfterChange
Republican Taylor Barras 6168Increase2.svg 7
Democratic Robert Johnson 3935Decrease2.svg 4
Independent 52Decrease2.svg 3
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. Republicans retained majority control in both chambers.

House of Representatives results Mississippi State House 2019.png
House of Representatives results
Mississippi State Senate
PartyLeaderBeforeAfterChange
Republican Gray Tollison 3336Increase2.svg 3
Democratic Derrick Simmons 1916Decrease2.svg 3
Total5252
Mississippi House of Representatives
PartyLeaderBeforeAfterChange
Republican Philip Gunn 7475Increase2.svg 1
Democratic David Baria 4446Increase2.svg 2
Independent 21Decrease2.svg 1
Total122122

New Jersey

All seats of the New Jersey General Assembly were up for election to two-year terms in coterminous two-member districts. The New Jersey Senate did not hold regularly scheduled elections. Democrats maintained majority control in the lower house.

General Assembly results New Jersey Assembly 2019.png
General Assembly results
New Jersey General Assembly
PartyLeaderBeforeAfterChange
Democratic Craig Coughlin 5452Decrease2.svg 2
Republican Jon Bramnick 2628Increase2.svg 2
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 serve terms of two years. Democrats gained control of both legislative chambers, establishing the first Democratic trifecta in Virginia since 1994.

VA2019StateSenate.svg
Senate results
Virginia House of Delegates election map by party changes, 2019.svg
House of Delegates results
Senate of Virginia
PartyLeaderBeforeAfterChange
Democratic Dick Saslaw 1921Increase2.svg 2
Republican Tommy Norment 2119Decrease2.svg 2
Total4040
Virginia House of Delegates
PartyLeaderBeforeAfterChange
Democratic Eileen Filler-Corn 4955Increase2.svg 6
Republican Kirk Cox 5145Decrease2.svg 6
Total100100

Special elections

Various states held special elections for legislative districts throughout the year. [5] Overall, Republicans flipped five seats, Democrats flipped two, and one independent was elected.

Alabama

Two special elections were held for the Alabama Legislature in 2019.

Arkansas

One special election was held for the Arkansas General Assembly in 2019.

California

Three special elections were held for the California State Legislature in 2019.

Connecticut

Seven special elections were held for the Connecticut General Assembly in 2019. Republicans flipped two seats previously held by Democrats.

Florida

Two special elections were held for the Florida Legislature in 2019.

Georgia

Five special elections were held for the Georgia General Assembly in 2019.

Iowa

Two special elections were held for the Iowa General Assembly in 2019.

Kentucky

Three special elections were held for the Kentucky General Assembly in 2019. Republicans flipped one seat previously held by a Democrat.

Louisiana

Seven special elections were held for the Louisiana State Legislature in 2019. An independent was elected in one seat previously held by a Republican.

Maine

Three special elections were held for the Maine Legislature in 2019.

Minnesota

Two special elections were held for the Minnesota Legislature in 2019. Republicans flipped one seat previously held by a Democrat.

Mississippi

Three special elections were held for the Mississippi Legislature in 2019.

Missouri

Six special elections were held for the Missouri General Assembly in 2019. Democrats flipped one seat previously held by a Republican.

New Hampshire

One special election was held for the New Hampshire General Court in 2019.

New Jersey

One special election was held for the New Jersey Legislature in 2019. Republicans flipped one seat previously held by a Democrat.

New York

One special election was held for the New York State Legislature in 2019.

Pennsylvania

Seven special elections were held for the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 2019. Democrats flipped one seat previously held by a Republican.

Rhode Island

One special election was held for the Rhode Island General Assembly in 2019.

South Carolina

Four special elections were held for the South Carolina General Assembly in 2019.

Tennessee

Three special elections were held for the Tennessee General Assembly in 2019.

Texas

Three special elections were held for the Texas Legislature in 2019.

Virginia

Two special elections were held for the Virginia General Assembly in 2019.

Washington

Two special elections were held for the Washington State Legislature in 2019.

Wisconsin

One special election was held for the Wisconsin Legislature in 2019.

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 The Alaska House of Representatives is controlled by a coalition of Democrats, Republicans, and independents. The minority caucus consists of Republicans who are not part of the majority coalition.
  2. 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, 2019". Ballotpedia . Retrieved December 29, 2021.
  2. "Virginia Democrats take control of state legislature for first time in over two decades". NBC News. New York City, New York. Associated Press. November 5, 2019. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
  3. "2016 State PVI Changes – Decision Desk HQ". decisiondeskhq.com. December 15, 2017. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
  4. "Election 2019 Mega-Preview: Political Conformity Seeks Further Confirmation". October 31, 2019. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
  5. "State legislative special elections, 2019". Ballotpedia . Retrieved December 29, 2021.
  6. WSFA Staff. "AL leaders react to death of state Rep. Dimitri Polizos". www.wsfa.com.
  7. "Governor sets special election for House seat vacated by lawmaker who resigned to work with Little Rock mayor". Associated Press . May 30, 2019. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  8. 1 2 "Governor Sets Special Elections for 2 Vacant Senate Seats". Associated Press . Sacramento, California: U.S. News & World Report. January 15, 2019. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  9. Altimari, Dave (March 10, 2019). "Exum, Margolis to face off in special election for 19th District seat" . Hartford Courant . West Hartford, Connecticut . Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  10. "Governor Sets Feb. 26 for Special Elections In 5 Districts". Associated Press . WVIT. January 11, 2019.
  11. Lockhart, Brian (March 16, 2019) [March 15, 2019]. "Bridgeport state Rep. Ezequiel Santiago dies at 45". New Haven Register . Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  12. 1 2 "Special elections set for House members who joined Ron DeSantis administration". Florida Politics. January 25, 2019. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  13. "JUDGE RULES IN GASAWAY'S FAVOR, ORDERS A THIRD SPECIAL ELECTION FOR HD 28". WNEG . February 1, 2019. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  14. Nelms, Ben (June 26, 2019). "Stover resigns House seat". The Citizen. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  15. Nelson, Thomas (March 24, 2019) [February 16, 2019]. "Sen. Jeff Danielson resigns for new, undisclosed job" . The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier . Cedar Falls, Iowa . Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  16. Shane Vander Hart (June 21, 2019). "Special Election to Replace Heddens in Iowa House District 46 Set". Caffeinated Thoughts. Des Moines, Iowa . Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  17. Kenny, Tom (January 8, 2019). "Special Election date set to fill vacant state senate seat". WTVQ-DT . Frankfort, Kentucky . Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  18. "Special Statehouse Election in NKY Will Take Place Nov. 5". The River City News. August 13, 2019. Archived from the original on August 3, 2020. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  19. Hilburn, Greg (September 26, 2018). "Rep. Shadoin to resign House seat". News Star. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
  20. Leader, Barbara (November 7, 2018). "Hunter wins 4th Judicial District Judge seat". News Star. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
  21. 1 2 Minton, James (December 5, 2018). "Kenny Havard starts his new job as West Feliciana Parish president Monday". The Advocate. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
  22. Lear, Alex (March 26, 2019). "Cancer forces Cumberland state Rep. Denno to resign". The Forecaster. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  23. Shepherd, Michael (February 1, 2019) [January 31, 2019]. "Democrat from Bath to give up Maine House seat". Bangor Daily News . Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  24. 1 2 3 Gates, Jimmie E. (January 8, 2019). "March 12 set for special elections to replace 3 House members". Mississippi Clarion Ledger. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  25. "Kansas City lawmaker resigns amid sexual harassment allegations". Associated Press . Jefferson City, Missouri: KSMO-TV. April 30, 2019. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  26. 1 2 Erickson, Kurt (August 1, 2019). "Special election date set to fill House seats held by Franks, Walker". St. Louis Post-Dispatch . Jefferson City, Missouri . Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  27. "House budget chairman Scott Fitzpatrick appointed as next Missouri treasurer". Associated Press . Jefferson City, Missouri: KTVI. December 19, 2018. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  28. 1 2 Murphy, Jan (March 9, 2019) [March 8, 2019]. "Special election dates set to fill two open seats in the Pennsylvania Senate". PennLive . Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  29. Cole, John. "SD37: Iovino and Raja Balance Moderate Message with Turning Out the Base". PoliticsPA. Pittsburgh.
  30. Strub, Chelsea (October 21, 2018). "Hundreds Attend Viewing for Rep. Sid Michaels Kavulich". WNEP-TV . Taylor, Pennsylvania . Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  31. Scolforo, Mark (October 31, 2018). "State Rep. Vanessa Lowery Brown convicted of bribery". The Philadelphia Tribune . Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  32. White, Tim; Nesi, Ted (December 4, 2018). "Rep.-elect apologizes for faking campaign invoice". WPRI-TV . Warren, Rhode Island . Retrieved December 29, 2021.
  33. "Special Election Set For Greenville SC Senate Seat". FITSNews. November 12, 2018. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
  34. "Upstate lawmaker announces retirement". WSPA-TV . December 10, 2018. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
  35. Samuels, Alex (December 15, 2018). "State Rep. Joe Pickett to resign from Texas House after nearly 24 years in office". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
  36. Scherer, Jasper (January 29, 2019). "Morales, Noriega head to runoff in House District 145 special election" . Houston Chronicle. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
  37. "State Sen. Kevin Ranker steps down from leadership in Olympia amid investigation". seattletimes.com. January 9, 2019. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
  38. Torres, Ricardo (February 14, 2019). "Gov. Evers calls special election for Barca's seat". Racine Journal Times . Madison, Wisconsin . Retrieved December 30, 2021.