Ballotpedia:Battlegrounds

From Ballotpedia
BP-Initials-UPDATED.png
How does Ballotpedia...
...define candidacy?
...define incumbency?
...order candidate lists?
...choose battlegrounds?
...cover primaries?
...cover endorsements?
...cover campaign finance?
...cover polls?
...cover recall efforts?
...call an election?
...cover recounts?
...handle postponements?

Battlegrounds are elections that Ballotpedia expects to have a meaningful effect on the balance of power in governments or to be particularly competitive or compelling. These races receive additional coverage and emphasis on Ballotpedia. This page explains how we definebattlegrounds andlists those we have identified since 2017.

Factors for determining thecompetitiveness of a race include the following:

  • Electoral history of the jurisdiction (be it a school district, city, congressional district, or state)
  • Whether it is an open-seat race (if the incumbent is not seeking re-election)
  • If a notable challenger enters a race
  • Race ratings (for U.S. House, U.S. Senate, and gubernatorial elections)
  • Polling results

Many factors in addition to and beyond competitiveness may make a race particularlycompelling ormeaningful to the balance of power in governments. These include the following:

  • For primary elections, whether the race features significant intra-party conflict
  • Whether the result may have an effect on redistricting
  • Whether the result stands to influencetrifecta ortriplex status for state-level races (state executives and state legislatures)
  • If the election occurs alongside anoteworthy event, such as changes to district lines or campaign finance laws
  • Whether the race stands to influence which faction or party controls a city council, school board, mayorship, state executive office, state legislature, chamber of Congress, or other governing body/office
  • If the race has attracted significant levels ofsatellite spending or endorsements frominfluencers

How we choose battleground elections

Ballotpedia conducts regular reviews of federal and state elections to look for primaries and general elections that meet our criteria as battlegrounds. A review of federal and state executive elections is conducted after each state's filing deadline passes. Our staff also conduct weekly reviews of races nominated for battleground coverage by readers and staffers. Finally, Ballotpedia conducts a regular review of its list of battlegrounds to consider whether any races no longer meet our criteria.

Due to the number of individual state legislative races ongoing in any given year, Ballotpedia takes a different approach when identifying state legislative battlegrounds. Rather than identifying individual battleground races, Ballotpedia identifies state legislative chambers that meet our overall battleground criteria, then designates individual races ongoing in those chambers asbattleground districts. For primaries, we look for intraparty conflict which follows a common theme across the chamber, whether it might be disagreements over leadership roles, power-sharing agreements, or ongoing disputes on policy within a caucus. For general elections, we look for chambers that have the potential to change partisan control and for those where the majority party has a chance to gain or lose asupermajority.

Battleground elections covered by Ballotpedia

This section lists battleground elections Ballotpedia has covered since 2017. To suggest a race we should include as a battleground,email us.

2026

In 2026, Ballotpedia is covering174 battleground primaries and general elections. This figure includes117 battleground elections for federal office,52 state-level battlegrounds, and4 municipal battlegrounds.

Federal battlegrounds

State battlegrounds

Local battlegrounds

2025

In 2025, Ballotpedia covered59 battleground primaries and general elections. This figure includes6 battleground elections for federal office,15 state-level battlegrounds, and34 municipal battlegrounds.

Federal battlegrounds

State battlegrounds

Local battlegrounds

2024

In 2024, Ballotpedia covered226 battleground primaries and general elections. This figure includes138 battleground elections for federal office,61 state-level battlegrounds, and19 municipal battlegrounds.

Federal battlegrounds

State battlegrounds

Local battlegrounds

2023

In 2023, Ballotpedia covered51 battleground primaries and general elections. This figure includes2 battleground elections for federal office,22 state-level battlegrounds, and13 municipal battleground.

State battlegrounds

Local battlegrounds

Federal battlegrounds

2022

In 2022, Ballotpedia covered227 battleground primaries and general elections. This figure includes124 battleground elections for federal office,94 state-level battlegrounds, and2 municipal battleground.

2021

In 2021, Ballotpedia covered70 battleground primaries and general elections. This figure includes12 state-level battlegrounds,44 municipal battlegrounds, and12 battleground elections for federal office.

State battlegrounds

Local battlegrounds

Federal battlegrounds

2020

In 2020, Ballotpedia covered271 battleground primaries and general elections. This figure includes194 battleground elections for federal office,62 state-level battlegrounds, and7 municipal battlegrounds.

See the following pages for in-depth coverage by battleground type:

2019

See also:Battleground elections, 2019

In 2019, Ballotpedia covered56 battleground elections. This figure includes18 state-level battlegrounds,30 local government battlegrounds, and6 battleground special elections for federal office.

State battlegrounds

Local battlegrounds

Federal special election battlegrounds

2018

See also:Battleground elections, 2018

In 2018, Ballotpedia covered382 battleground elections. This number includes215 federal elections,151 state-level elections, and16 local elections. See our2018 battlegrounds hub for a full list of battleground elections in 2018.

2017

In 2017, Ballotpedia covered23 battleground elections. This number includesfive state-level elections,13 local elections, andfive special federal elections.

Click [show] to view a list of state-level battleground elections in 2017. 
Click [show] to view a list of local battleground elections in 2017. 
Click [show] to view a list of federal battleground special elections in 2017. 

See also

v • e
Ballotpedia policy explainers
Candidates and officeholders
Election coverage
How we choose battleground elections •How we cover primaries •How we order candidate lists •How we cover polls •How we cover endorsements •How we cover campaign finance and satellite spending •How we decide when to update vote totals on and after election night •How we decide when to call an election •How we decide when to cover a recall effort •How we cover election lawsuits and recounts •How we write ballot measure article titles •How we write original summaries of ballot measures •How we cover endorsements in support of or opposition to ballot measures •How we cover media editorial endorsements in support of or opposition to ballot measures •How we cover ballot measure campaign finance •How we calculate initiative signature petition costs •The Ballotpedia Power Index •How we handle court-ordered postponements of election dates and candidate filing deadlines
Scope, editorial approach, and other policies
Ballotpedia's overall scope •Elections editorial approach •Federal government editorial approach •State government editorial approach •Local government editorial approach •Influencers editorial approach •Fact check editorial approach •Public Policy editorial approach •Editorial policy •Writing about key campaign messages •Writing about reports and analyses •Story selection for the Daily Presidential News Briefing •Story selection for presidential election news events •Editorial independence policy •By-district vs. at-large election boundaries •Partnership with Transparency USA •Criminal behavior and scandal policy •Ad policy •Privacy policy •MyVote privacy policy •Plagiarism policy •Image use policy •Copyright policy •Error correction policy •Content accuracy policy •Generative AI policy •Neutral point of view policy •Categories of bias •General disclaimer
Ballotpedia
Editorial Content
Josh Altic, Director of Content •Daniel Anderson, Associate Director of Elections & Data •Cory Eucalitto, Associate Director of Features •Ryan Byrne, Managing Editor of Ballot Measures •Mandy McConnell, Managing Editor of News •Doug Kronaizl, Managing Editor of Local Expansion •Abbey Smith, Managing Editor of Elections •Janie Valentine, Managing Editor of Law •Joel Williams, Managing Editor of Events •Joseph Greaney, Managing Editor of Policy •Andrew Bahl •Jaclyn Beran •Marielle Bricker •Joseph Brusgard •Emma Burlingame •Kelly Coyle •Jon Dunn •Victoria Edwards •Thomas Ellis •Nicole Fisher •Thomas Grobben •Brianna Hosea •Molly Kehoe •Tyler King •Glorie Martinez •Norm Leahy, Senior Editor •Nathan Maxwell •Jimmy McAllister •Brandon McCauley •Andrew McNair •Ellie Mikus •Mackenzie Murphy •Kaley Platek •Samantha Post •Adam Powell •Annelise Reinwald •Spencer Richardson •Victoria Rose •Briana Ryan •Myj Saintyl •Maddy Salucka •Emma Soukup •Alexis Thacker •Mina Vogel •Samuel Wonacott •Trenton Woodcox