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2011 State Legislative Elections
Election Results
Results analysis •Incumbents who lost •Open seats winners •New winners
Redistricting and the 2011 elections •Partisan balance •List of candidates •Voter turnout •Competitiveness analysis •Impact of Term Limits
States
Louisiana(S),(H) •Mississippi(S),(H) • New Jersey(S),(GA) •Virginia(S),(H)
Other 2011 Election coverage
Primary elections •Statewide elections, 2011 •State legislative special elections, 2011 •State Senate elections •State House elections •Gubernatorial elections, 2011 •2011 ballot measures

See also:State legislative elections results, 2011

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In2010, elections were record-setting asRepublicans picked up more than 660 seats with sweeping victories throughout the country. There were 6,125 seats contested in 2010. In2011, 578 state legislative seats were up for regularly scheduled elections (Louisiana held elections for 25 undecided races on November 19, 2011). This was in addition toat least 90 special elections to fill vacancies that took place in 2011.

In the 50 states, there are99 state legislative chambers altogether, and 8 of the 99 chambers held state legislative elections inNovember 2011.

Those eight chambers that held elections are the state senates and houses in the following states:

• Louisiana
• Mississippi
• New Jersey
• Virginia

There were 171 of the country's 1,971 state senate seats up for election in November 2011, and 407 of the country's 5,413 state house seats were up for election. Altogether, 578 of the country's 7,384 state legislative seats were up for election in the off-election year.

Because Louisiana follows a unique elections schedule, three states held elections on the main 2011 date of November 8. A total of434 seats were up for election inMississippi,New Jersey andVirginia that night.

Before the election, Democrats held 287 of the 578 seats while Republicans controlled 285 seats. Republicans came out with 299 state legislative seats compared to the 250 seats Democrats won in the four states that held elections in 2011.

Partisan control

Pre-election

Heading into the 2011 elections, each political party controlled four chambers with November elections.

Partisan Balance of Chambers with 2011 Elections
	Pre-election			Post-election
Legislative chamber
State senates	2	2	0	1	2	1
State houses	2	2	0	1	3	0
Totals:	4	4	0	2	5	1

Partisan Balance of All 99 Chambers Before and After 2011 Elections
	Pre-election				Post-election
Legislative chamber
State senates	19	29	1	1	18	29	2	1
State houses	18	30	1	0	17	31	1	0
Totals:	37	59	2	1	35	60	3	1

Of the 578 seats that were up for election, there were:

• 287 Democratic legislators
• 285 Republican legislators
• 4 Independent legislators

Thus,49.7% of the seats were held by Democrats and,49.3% by Republicans.

Overall, in the 50 states, Democrats controlled 37 chambers while Republicans were the majority in 59 chambers before the election. There were two chambers tied (Alaska State Senate andOregon House of Representatives and one chamber that is nonpartisan (Nebraska State Senate).

Post-election

After the election, Republicans gained control of54.3% of the seats while Democrats controlled 45.4%.

Democrats controlled 35 total chambers while Republicans were the majority in 60 chambers. There were three tied chambers with the addition of theVirginia State Senate.

All 50 states

Voter turnout

In non-typical election years, voter turnout is lower than the usual presidential or mid-term elections. In October 2011, polls in the states that held elections in 2011 revealed a similar pattern emerging.^[1]

• In Louisiana, voter turnout in the October 22 primary was expected to be about 40 percent. Early voting turnout was higher than expected, which raised expectations from 30 percent to 40 percent.^[2]
• In New Jersey, a Monmouth University/NJ Press Media Poll found that only about 50 percent of voters were aware that all 120 legislative seats are up for election in 2011. Meanwhile, the same poll found that 33 percent of voters approved of theLegislature while 45 percent disapproved—22 percent had no opinion. According to Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, the voters' unhappiness was unlikely to make a difference at the polls because most incumbents did not havecompetitive races.^[3]
• According to a Christopher Newport University/Richmond Times-Dispatch poll on October 17, 2011, more than 70 percent of voters said they are paying little to no attention to the elections—despite all 140 legislative seats being up for election. In Virginia, there are 79 seats with only one major party candidate running.^[4]
• On the other hand, some speculation inMississippi was that voter turnout would be unusually high, in part because of a combination of contentiousballot measures and bothgubernatorial and legislative elections. Roy Nicholson, Mississippi Tea Party Chairman, said he expected to see "tremendous voter turnout"—in part because both theSenate andHouse were close races for party control.^[5]

Competitiveness analysis

2011 Competitiveness Overview
Primary competition (state comparison)
Incumbents with no challenges at all in 2011 Incumbents defeated •Victorious challengers • Primary competitiveness
Major party challengers (state comparison)
List of candidates with no competition
Open seats (state comparisons)
Impact of term limits on # of open seats Long-serving senators •Long-serving reps
Chart Comparing 2011 Results
Chart Comparing 2011 Results •Comparisons Between Years
Competitiveness Index •Absolute Index
2011 State Legislative Elections
Competitiveness Studies from Other Years
2007 •2009 •2010 •2012 •2013 •2014

See also:2011 state legislative elections analyzed using a Competitiveness Index

Anoverview of the degree of competitiveness of the 2011 state legislative elections was conducted that examinedthree competitiveness factors:

• Incumbents with no primary challenger in the 2011 state legislative elections

95 incumbents faced a primary challenger in 2011.

378 incumbents (79.9%) running for re-election in 2011 had no primary challenger.

Since 473 incumbents ran for re-election in 2011, that means thatonly 20.1% of incumbents faced a primary challenger.

• Major party candidates with major party competition in the November 2011 state legislative elections

Less than 1% of all legislators are represented by third parties. Thus, major parties are virtually guaranteed of winning election.

246 major party candidates (42.6%) have no major party challenger in 2011.

• Open seats in the 2011 state legislative elections

In 473 (81.8%) of the 578 seats up for election, the incumbent ran for re-election.

In 105 (18.2%) of the 578 seats up for election, the incumbent did not run for re-election.

16 incumbents, in Louisiana, did not run because they were not allowed to, due tostate legislative term limits in their state.

Alternatively, of the 578 legislative seats up for election in 2011, 562 incumbents could, legally, have run again.

Of those 562 seats, 92 incumbents, or 16.4%, who could have run again in 2011 chose not to.

After adjusting for term limited state legislators,83.6% of the incumbents who were legally able to run again in 2011 chose to run again.

According to ourelectoral competitiveness metric, the competitiveness ranking (from most to least) of the four states that held 2011 elections was as follows:

1. New Hampshire
2. Michigan
3. Arizona
4. Nevada

We arrived at these overall rankings by adding up the individual ranks fromopen seats,primary opposition, andmajor party general election challenge and then dividing by three.

Impact of Term Limits

Main article:Impact of term limits on state legislative elections in 2011

Louisiana was the only state withterm limits that held an election in 2011.

There were sixstate senators termed-out in 2011, making up 15.4% of the39 state senate seats up for election in 2011.

There were tenstate representatives termed-out in 2011, making up 9.5% of the105 state representative seats up for election in 2011.

These 15 state legislators termed-out in 2011 made up 10.4% of the total legislative seats up for election in Louisiana.

State Senators

In 2011,Democrats lost more seats in the state senate to term limits thanRepublicans

Here are the Louisiana Senators that were not eligible to run for election.

Democrats (5)

• Butch Gautreaux
• Joe McPherson
• Joel Chaisson
• Robert Marionneaux
• Willie Mount

Republicans (1):

• Michael Michot

State Representatives

In 2011,Democrats lost more seats in the state house to term limits thanRepublicans orIndependents.

These are the Louisiana representatives who were ineligible to run for re-election:

Democrats (5)

• Damon Baldone
• Gary Smith Jr.
• Jean Doerge
• Michael Jackson (Louisiana)
• Richard Gallot, Jr.

Republicans (4):

• Jane Smith
• Kay Katz
• Nita Hutter
• Thomas McVea

Independents (1):

• Ernest Wooton

Impact of Redistricting

Partisan dominance in state legislatures heading into the2011 state legislative elections

See also:State Legislative and Congressional Redistricting after the 2010 Census

The 2011 elections are the first general elections afterredistricting, when each state's legislative redistricts are redrawn to account for updated population figures taken during the census.

Each state tackles redistricting in its own way -- some using commissions while still others simply vesting authority in the hands of the state legislators themselves. The process is historically contentious, with incumbents biding for a chance to protect their district -- typically referred to as gerrymandering.

The four states with elections in 2011 faced a stricter time restraint because they were required to have maps implemented in time for elections in 2011 -- whereas the 46 other states have until the 2012 elections to complete the job (unless an earlier deadline is mandated).

• Louisiana:GovernorBobby Jindal (R) officially singed the new maps on April 14, 2011. In a special session preceding the regular assembly, Louisiana's lawmakers hashed out redistricting at the state and federal level, but the painful contraction of the Congressional delegation and the competing priorities of groups at odds with one another left many with a bad taste. The maps were submitted to the U.S. Justice Department in keeping with the state's obligations under the Voting Rights Act. At the same time, the NAACP, the Legislative Black Caucus, and affiliated groups were waging a campaign to see the maps disapproved and considering legal action if that did not happen.

• Mississippi: In 2011, thestate legislature was divided with Democrats controlling theHouse and Republicans holding a slim margin in theSenate. Due to political conflicts, the legislature was unable to redraw legislative boundaries in time for the 2011 election. Thus, Mississippi's legislative 2011 elections took place under the state's maps as drawn after the 2000 census. In March, the NAACP filed an injunction to block elections under the old maps, arguing that maps do not reflect current population figures. However, a ruling in May ordered the elections to proceed under the old maps.Redistricting was revisited after the 2011 election.^[6]

• New Jersey: The Garden State uses a bipartisan redistricting commission of 5 Democrats and 5 Republicans to handle creating new state legislative maps. However, should the commission stalemate, theNew Jersey Supreme Court appoints an 11th member to serve as tiebreaker. As would be expected, a tiebreaker was needed and Alan Rosenthal was appointed to try to negotiate a compromise map. However, when the April 3, 2011 deadline arrived, no bipartisan map was agreed upon and Rosenthal sided with the Democratic proposal.^[7] Democrats largely claimed victory, particularly after theGovernor --Chris Christie (R), who has no procedural impact on the maps -- weighed in several times in the final weeks.^[8]

• Virginia: Virginia managed to complete 2011 redistricting in the face of significant partisan differences. TheVirginia House of Delegates andgovernorship are both controlled byRepublicans while theVirginia State Senate is controlled byDemocrats. In each chamber, legislators agreed to draft their own maps and concur with the maps drawn by the other.^[9] However, Senate Democrats were forced to compromise on their plan after a veto of theSenate andHouse maps.GovernorBob McDonnell (R) cited strong reservations about the political bent of the plan drafted byDemocrats and encouraged HouseRepublicans to split fewer precincts. Gov. McDonnell ultimately signed revised maps on April 29, 2011.^[10][11]

Impact on Parties

Party Impact in 2011

Prior to the 2011 elections, Republicans held the majority of seats in both chambers of theLouisiana State Legislature. During the elections, Democrats suffered more heavily from term limits than Republicans.

Chamber with limits	Majority party	Seats in chamber	Up for election in 2011	Seats impacted by term limits	Party with most losses
Louisiana: (Senate), (2011 elections)		39	39	5 + 1 =6
Louisiana: (House), (2011 elections)		105	105	4 + 3 =7
Totals:	(2)	144	144	9 +4 =13	2

Impact on Party Control of Seats in 2010

After the 2010 election results were in, it was possible to see the effect that term limits had on party control of termed-out seats. While incumbents generally have an advantage in elections, elections for termed-out seats lack an incumbent running for re-election. In some cases, this preceded a change in party control of the termed-out seat.

Term-limited seats that changed party control in the 2010 elections
State	Senators Termed Out 2010	Representatives Termed Out 2010	Democratic Seats lost to other Parties - Senate	Republican Seats lost to other Parties - Senate	Democratic Seats lost to other Parties - House	Republican Seats lost to other Parties - House	Percent of Termed-Out Senate Seats that Changed Party	Percent of Termed-Out House Seats that Changed Party	Total Legislative Seats that Changed Party
Arizona	10	13	0	0	0	0	0%	0%	0
Arkansas	13	34	7	0	11	1	53.8%	35.3%	19
California	8	17	0	0	1	1	0%	11.1%	2
Colorado	3	8	0	0	1	0	0%	12.5%	1
Florida	7	23	0	0	0	0	0%	0%	0
Maine	4	20	1	0	5, 1	2	25%	40%	9
Michigan	29	37	3	0	6	1	10.3%	18.9%	10
Missouri	10	52	1	0	6	0	10%	11.5%	7
Montana	15	15	2	0	4	0	13.3%	26.7%	6
Nebraska	1	N/A[12]	0	0	-	-	0%	-	0
Nevada	4	10	0	0	0	0	0%	0%	0
Ohio	7	13	0	0	0	0	0%	0%	0
Oklahoma	6	4	4	0	0	0	66.7%	0%	4
South Dakota	4	8	1	0	1	1	25%	25%	3
Total:	121	254	19	0	34,2	6	15.7%	16.5%	61

Legend: =Seat picked up by Democrat • =Seat picked up by Republican • =Seat picked up by Third Party

Louisiana

• Louisiana State Senate elections, 2011
• Louisiana House of Representatives elections, 2011

Elections were held in all 39 ofLouisiana'ssenate districts on November 19, 2011.^[13]

Louisiana's primary was held onOctober 22, 2011. If necessary, a general election runoff is scheduled for November 19, which is 11 days after the general election date for the majority of other states.

The Pelican State is a unique situation with respect to elections.Louisiana utilizes a "jungle primary" system in which a candidate can win election during the primary, if he/she receives more than 50 percent of the vote. Additionally, candidates of the same party can both advance to the general election, as the top-2 vote getters regardless of party advance if a runoff is needed.

Heading into the 2011 election, the partisan breakdown in Louisiana's two chambers is:

Campaign donors

2007 was the last year that thestate senate andstate house held elections. In that year, the state senate had 90 candidates and raised a total of $18,266,324 in campaign contributions. The state house had 292 candidates running for office who raised a total of $23,068,639 in campaign contributions.

Senate

The top 10 donors were:^[14]

House

The top 10 donors were:^[15]

Races to watch

Senate

On September 12, 2011, Louisiana news organizationBayou Buzz issued a report on the top five Louisiana Senate races to watch. They are as follows:^[16]

• 1. District 19 -State Rep. Gary Smith Jr. (D) vs.Garrett Monti (R)

While Smith has received the support of retiring Senate President Joel Chaisson and was initially considered to be a clear replacement, the report cites Monti as gaining ground because of Smith's status as an insider.

• 2. District 39 -IncumbentLydia Jackson (D) facesJim Slagle (R) andGregory Tarver (D)

Slagle is cited as having crossover appeal with Jackson's base, which could result in a split vote, allowing Tarver, a former senator, to reclaim his former seat.

• 3. District 14 -IncumbentYvonne Dorsey (D) facesMichael Jackson (D) andChristopher Toombs (R)

Dorsey was reported as not accomplishing much in the legislature, while Jackson raised his profile in the House. Jackson, it notes, would not be a solid Democratic vote, which Dorsey has been.

• 4. District 28 -IncumbentEric LaFleur (D) vs.Paul Miller (R)

Although LaFleur is the incumbent, his district has become more Republican. The Louisiana Committee for a Republican Majority and the GOP victory fund are expected to play big roles.

• 5. District 24 -IncumbentElbert Guillory (D) facesKelly Scott (D) andDon Cravins (D)

The report states that Guillory advocated for a redistricting plan pushed for by the Louisiana Family Forum, an affiliate of Focus on the Family, that would have packed black voters into districts, reducing the number of majority-minority seats. This could potentially backfire, especially since Cravins has been popular while serving as Mayor of Opelousas.

Mississippi

• Mississippi State Senate elections, 2011
• Mississippi House of Representatives elections, 2011

Elections were held in all 52 ofMississippi'ssenate districts on November 8, 2011.

The signature filing deadline was on June 1. Mississippi's primary was held onAugust 2, 2011.

Redistricting

On March 17, the NAACP filed an injunction to prevent elections from being held in 2011. The group alleges that theredistricting process has not produced maps that are current to reflect new population figures.^[17][18] A mid-May court ruling ordered the elections proceed under the existing districts, with redistricting taken up again in 2012.

Whether special elections would be ordered in 2012 once redistricting was complete was left undecided by the court.

House control

The Democratic Party has controlled theMississippi House of Representatives since Reconstruction. This fall may present the first opportunity for the GOP to capture the chamber. Democrats have a 13-seat advantage heading into the election. In the2010 elections Republicans enjoyed sweeping gains across the country and in particular in southern states. According to an August 2011Wall Street Journal article, Republicans have identified 21 House seats to target on November 8, 2011. Tim Saler, executive director of the state GOP, said the party plans to spend more than $1 million supporting candidates.^[19] Meanwhile, Richard Wilbourn, an attorney, is leading a tea party effort called "Move the House" to help candidates in Democratic-held districts whereGovernorHaley Barbour received at least 50 percent in 2007.^[20]

Heading into the 2011 election, the partisan breakdown in Mississippi's two chambers is:

Campaign donors

2007 was the last year that thestate senate andstate house held elections. In that year, the 119 candidates for state senate raised a total of $5,740,791 in campaign contributions. The 253 candidates for state house raised a total of $6,201,617 in campaign contributions.

Senate

The top 10 contributors were:^[21]

House

The top 10 donors were:^[22]

New Jersey

• New Jersey State Senate elections, 2011
• New Jersey General Assembly elections, 2011

Elections were held in all 40 ofNew Jersey'ssenate districts on November 8, 2011. The primary election filing deadline for all candidates was April 11, at 4 p.m.^[23]

Of the possible competitive seats, the most heavily watched appears to be in District 38, where Democratic incumbentsRobert Gordon (State Senator),Connie Wagner andTimothy Eustace (Assembly members) defend their seats in races that have combined to raise the most campaign contributions in history for a single district -- $3.6 million. The final figure is expected to be above $4 million.^[24]

Primary

See also:Ballotpedia news report on New Jersey primary competitiveness

New Jersey's primary was held onJune 7, 2011. Third party candidates were added to the New Jersey Department of State'sSenate(dead link) andGeneral Assembly(dead link) candidate lists on June 7. This information is reflected on theNew Jersey State Senate andNew Jersey General Assembly election pages.

New Jersey has 40 legislative districts, leaving 80 possible primaries in each chamber -- 40 Democratic and 40 Republican. In theSenate, a primary is "contested" when at least two candidates are competing for their respective party’s nomination. In theGeneral Assembly, a contested primary features at least 3 candidates since the top-2 vote getters advance to the general election.

There were only 9 contested primaries out of the 80 primaries in theSenate. In theGeneral Assembly, only 15 of the 80 primaries were contested. All told, only 24 out of the 160 primaries on June 7 (15%) required voters to choose between multiple candidates. In the remaining 136 primaries (85%), the candidate (or candidates in theNew Jersey General Assembly) automatically advanced to thegeneral election.

Note: In 2009, only theGeneral Assembly held elections.Senators are elected to four-year terms (except in the year afterredistricting, like 2011, when they receive two-year terms).

• Total contested primaries have increased from18 in 2007 to24 in 2011
• While the number of incumbents contested has increased from10 in 2007 to12 in 2011, the number of uncontested incumbents has grown even more. In 2007,53 incumbents were uncontested but63 advanced straight to the general election in 2011 due to a decrease in open seats.
• The total number of uncontested primaries has stayed largely the same --135 in 2007 and132 in 2011.
• When combining all 400 primaries over the past 3 elections,322 -- or80.5% -- of all primaries have been uncontested.

Party Registration

As ofMarch 23, the voter registration totals inNew Jersey are as follows:^[25]

The last time both chambers held elections -- in 2007 -- a total of 1,546,701 ballots were cast out of the 4,787,102 registered voters. Thus, turnout was 32% in the2007 elections. Heading into the 2011 election, the partisan breakdown in New Jersey's two chambers is:

Campaign donors

2007 was the last year that thestate senate andstate house both held elections. In that year, the state senate had 98 candidates and raised a total of $30,156,484 in campaign contributions. The state house had 204 candidates who raised a total of $26,388,602 in campaign contributions.

Senate

The top 10 donors were:^[26]

House

The top 10 donors were:^[27]

Virginia

• Virginia State Senate elections, 2011
• Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2011

Elections were held in all 40 ofVirginia'ssenate districts on November 8, 2011.^[28]

The signature filing deadline for Democratic and Republican candidates was June 15, 2011 at 5 p.m.^[29]

Virginia's primary was rescheduled to August 23, 2011 instead of its usual date of June 14, 2011^[30][31].^[32]

Heading into the 2011 election, the partisan breakdown in Virginia's two chambers is:

Primary

Senate

The total number of contested primaries has remained low from 2007 to 2011.

There are a total of 40 districts in theVirginia State Senate, meaning that normally there would be 80 primaries. However, some districts use a caucus or convention rather than a primary to decide which candidate to send to the general election. 17 out of the 80 potential primaries decide on a candidate this way, leaving 63 which use primaries. Of these 63 primaries, only 9 are contested (14.3%).

The following district/party combinations do not use a primary.

Democrats: Districts 7, 12, 13, 15, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27, 38, 39

Republicans: Districts 6, 17, 25, 29, 38, 40

House

The total number of contested primaries has remained low from 2009 to 2011.

There are a total of 100 districts in theVirginia House of Delegates, meaning that normally there would be 200 primaries. However, some districts use a caucus or convention rather than a primary to decide which candidate to send to the general election. 39 out of the 200 potential primaries decide on a candidate this way, leaving 161 which use primaries. Of these 161 primaries, only 7 are contested (4.3%).

The following district/party combinations do not use a primary.

Democrats: Districts 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 13, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 25, 31, 32, 33, 50, 51, 56, 57, 59, 67, 72, 73, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 98

Republicans: Districts 1, 3, 15, 26, 47, 59, 64, 75, 88

Campaign donors

2007 was the last year that thestate senate andstate house both held elections. In that year, the 77 candidates for state senate raised a total of $31,534,141 in campaign contributions. The 156 candidates for state house raised a total of $32,931,206 in campaign contributions.

Senate

The top 10 donors were:^[33]

House

The top 10 donors were:^[34]

See also

• Signature requirements and deadlines for 2011 state government elections
• State legislative special elections, 2011
• 2011 state legislative elections analyzed using a Competitiveness Index

Footnotes