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State legislative elections, 2026

From Ballotpedia
2026 State
Legislative Elections
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2026 elections
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In the 50 states, there are99 state legislative chambers altogether. Across 46 states, 88 of those chambers are holding regular legislative elections in 2026. The general election for state legislative races is onNovember 3, 2026.

States are also holdingspecial state legislative elections in 2026 to fill vacant seats.Click here for more.

In theU.S. Territories, five legislative chambers are holding regularly scheduled elections in 2026. Elections will be held for the American SamoaHouse of Representatives, theGuam Legislature, the Northern Mariana IslandsSenate andHouse of Representatives, and theU.S. Virgin Islands Legislature.

Two state legislative chambers, theMichigan andMinnesota state Houses, changed party control following the2024 general election. Republicans won control of theMichigan House from Democrats, and secured a tie in theMinnesota House.

There wereelections for the members of 85 of the nation's 99 legislative chambers in 2024, representing 5,807 of the country's 7,386 state legislative seats (79%).

Explore Ballotpedia's coverage of these elections:
  • Partisan balance
    The partisan balance of state legislatures
    Read more
  • Battlegrounds
    Information on battleground elections
    Read more
  • On the ballot
    A list of elections on the ballot
    Read more
  • Pre-election analysis
    Analysis published before the election
    Read more
  • Important dates and deadlines
    A list of important dates and deadlines for the 2026 election cycle
    Read more


Partisan balance

As ofFebruary 16th, 2026, Republicans controlled55.12% of all state legislative seats nationally, while Democrats held43.89%. Republicans held a majority in57 chambers, and Democrats held the majority in39 chambers.Two chambers (Alaska House andAlaska Senate) were organized undermultipartisan, power-sharing coalitions.One chamber (Minnesota House of Representatives) was split evenly between both parties.

Partisan balance of all 7,386 state legislative seats
Legislative chamberDemocratic PartyRepublican PartyGrey.png OtherVacant
State senates8371,120610
State houses2,4052,9512037
Total:3,242

4,071

26

47


Battlegrounds

Click the tabs below to view detailed information regarding battleground districts in the 2026 state legislative elections. In this section, you will find:

  • A list of districts targeted by each political party
Targeted chambers

DLCC targets

TheDemocratic Legislative Campaign Committee announced they would target the following chambers in the2026 elections:[1]


In addition to those battleground chambers, the DLCC also announced plans to help Democrats:[2]

RSLC targets

TheRepublican State Leadership Committee announced they would target the following chambers in the2026 elections:[3]

On the ballot

Click the tabs below to view information about the elections this year. In this section, you will find:

  • A list of states holding elections
  • Information about special elections
  • Ballotpedia's Sample Ballot Lookup Tool
Elections by state
Special elections
What's on your ballot?

The table below highlights each state holding legislative elections in 2026. To learn more about elections in a particular chamber, click the link in the chamber column.

State legislative elections, 2026
StateChamberRepublicanDemocraticOtherVacanciesTotal
AlabamaHouse762900105
AlabamaSenate2780035
AlaskaHouse21145040
AlaskaSenate640010
ArizonaHouse33270060
ArizonaSenate17130030
ArkansasHouse801901100
ArkansasSenate1340017
CaliforniaHouse20600080
CaliforniaSenate6140020
ColoradoHouse22430065
ColoradoSenate7110018
ConnecticutHouse4910200151
ConnecticutSenate11250036
DelawareHouse14270041
DelawareSenate380011
FloridaHouse843303120
FloridaSenate1360120
GeorgiaHouse997902180
GeorgiaSenate31230256
HawaiiHouse9420051
HawaiiSenate1120013
IdahoHouse6190070
IdahoSenate2960035
IllinoisHouse407800118
IllinoisSenate16230039
IndianaHouse703000100
IndianaSenate2230025
IowaHouse673300100
IowaSenate14110025
KansasHouse883700125
KentuckyHouse802000100
KentuckySenate1810019
MaineHouse727432151
MaineSenate14201035
MarylandHouse3910200141
MarylandSenate13340047
MassachusettsHouse2513212160
MassachusettsSenate5340140
MichiganHouse585200110
MichiganSenate18190138
MinnesotaHouse676700134
MinnesotaSenate33340067
MissouriHouse1065205163
MissouriSenate1430017
MontanaHouse584200100
MontanaSenate1690025
NebraskaSenate1761024
NevadaHouse15270042
NevadaSenate470011
New HampshireHouse21717616400
New HampshireSenate1680024
New MexicoHouse26440070
New YorkHouse4710300150
New YorkSenate22410063
North CarolinaHouse714900120
North CarolinaSenate30200050
North DakotaHouse4060046
North DakotaSenate2130024
OhioHouse65340099
OhioSenate1160017
OklahomaHouse801803101
OklahomaSenate1860024
OregonHouse23370060
OregonSenate4110015
PennsylvaniaHouse9810005203
PennsylvaniaSenate12130025
Rhode IslandHouse10641075
Rhode IslandSenate4340038
South CarolinaHouse883600124
South DakotaHouse6550070
South DakotaSenate3230035
TennesseeHouse75240099
TennesseeSenate1340017
TexasHouse886200150
TexasSenate1040216
UtahHouse61140075
UtahSenate1041015
VermontHouse558771150
VermontSenate13161030
WashingtonHouse39590098
WashingtonSenate7170024
West VirginiaHouse90901100
West VirginiaSenate3220034
WisconsinHouse54450099
WisconsinSenate1250017
WyomingHouse5660062
WyomingSenate1420016

Pre-election analysis

Click the tabs below to view detailed analysis from before the election. In this section, you will find:

  • Historical data related to competitiveness
  • Information about state government trifectas
  • Chambers that changed partisan control from 2010 to 2025
  • Trifecta status from 2010 to 2025


Historical competitiveness data
Trifectas
Changes in chamber partisan control, 2010 to 2025
Trifectas from 2010 to 2025
See also:Annual State Legislative Competitiveness Report: Vol. 15, 2025

Ballotpedia began examining thecompetitiveness of every state legislative race in the country in 2010. Three factors are used in this analysis: seats where the incumbent did not run for re-election, incumbents who ran in contested primaries, and seats contested by both major parties.

The following table details competitiveness data collected from regularly scheduled state legislative elections between 2010 and 2025. Odd-year elections are shown grouped together first followed by even-year elections.

Competitiveness in state legislative elections (2010-2024)
YearTotal seatsOpen seatsNo major party competitionIncs. runningIncs. in contested primaries
#%#%#%
Even-year elections
20245,80796216.6%2,22438.3%4,8531,03921.4%
20226,2781,49223.8%2,55940.8%4,8521,29926.8%
20205,87587614.9%2,04434.8%4,9991,00620.1%
20186,0671,19419.7%2,04633.7%4,8761,08222.2%
20165,9161,03217.4%2,50842.4%4,88798520.2%
20146,0511,01916.8%2,66344.0%5,04198319.5%
20126,0131,31421.9%2,38439.6%4,7901,11723.3%
20106,1271,14318.7%2,14235.0%4,98499520.0%
Odd-year elections
202518084.4%2212.2%1713822.2%
202357813823.9%31955.2%44311526.0%
2021220177.7%167.3%2034019.7%
201953810519.5%30155.9%43312528.9%
2017220209.1%4520.5%2003216.0%
20155387914.7%33261.7%46010723.3%
2013220156.8%6127.7%2052411.7%
20115789817.0%31254.0%48510421.4%

Election coverage by office

Click the tiles below to navigate to 2026 election coverage:
  • U.S. Senate
    U.S. Senate
    Read more
  • U.S. House
    U.S. House
    Read more
  • Governors
    Governors
    Read more
  • Secretary of state
    Secretary of state
    Read more
  • Attorney general
    Attorney general
    Read more
  • Other state executives
    Other state executives
    Read more
  • State legislatures
    State legislatures
    Read more
  • State ballot measures
    State ballot measures
    Read more
  • Local ballot measures
    Local ballot measures
    Read more
  • State judges
    State judges
    Read more
  • Local judges
    Local judges
    Read more
  • Municipal government
    Municipal government
    Read more
  • School boards
    School boards
    Read more
  • Recalls
    Recalls
    Read more

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑NBC News, "Democrats unveil state legislative map for the next election cycle, with eyes on opposing Trump's agenda and redistricting," February 11, 2025
  2. ↑Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, "The DLCC Target Map 2026," accessed December 22, 2025
  3. ↑RSLC, "MEMO: The New Redistricting Arms Race: How Winning Down-Ballot Elections in 2026 Are Essential for Republicans in 2029," October 31, 2025
  4. ↑The Washington Post, "Virginia Republicans snatched control of the state Senate, ended budget-Medicaid impasse," June 9, 2014
  5. ↑2025, 2015, and 2013 are not included because no chambers changed those years.
  6. ↑Chamber went from a Democratic majority to a 67-67 tie.
  7. ↑Chamber went from a Republican majority to a bipartisan governing coalition.
  8. ↑Democrats won a majority of seats, but did not have a majority when the legislative session began due to vacancies created during the interim.
  9. ↑Chamber went from being controlled by a Democratic-led bipartisan coalition to being led by a coalition with power split between the parties.
  10. ↑In this election, the Oregon House changed from a 30-30 tie to a 34-26 Democratic advantage.
  11. ↑The chamber first changed from Democratic to Republican control in a February 2011 special election. Republicans increased their majority to 24-15 in the 2011 elections.
  12. ↑The chamber changed partisan control prior to the 2011 elections due to Democrats switching to the Republican Party and special election wins by Republicans. Republicans increased their majority in the 2011 elections to 31-21.
  13. ↑In the 2011 elections, the chamber changed from a 22-18 Democratic advantage to a 20-20 tie. Republicans effectively controlled the chamber because Lieutenant Gov. Bill Bolling (R) could cast tie-breaking votes.
  14. ↑This chamber did not hold elections in 2010. It switched partisan control in December 2010 when Democrat Noble Ellington changed his party affiliation to Republican. In the regularly-scheduled 2011 elections, Republicans increased their majority to 58-45.
  15. ↑This chamber went from a 50-50 tie to a 68-32 Republican advantage in the 2010 elections.
  16. ↑This chamber went from a 36-24 Democratic advantage to a 30-30 tie in the 2010 elections.
Alabama (H,S) ·Alaska (H,S) ·Arizona (H,S) ·Arkansas (H,S) ·California (A,S) ·Colorado (H,S) ·Connecticut (H,S) ·Delaware (H,S) ·Florida (H,S) ·Georgia (H,S) ·Hawaii (H,S) ·Idaho (H,S) ·Illinois (H,S) ·Indiana (H,S) ·Iowa (H,S) ·Kansas (H,S) ·Kentucky (H,S) ·Louisiana (H,S) ·Maine (H,S) ·Maryland (H,S) ·Massachusetts (H,S) ·Michigan (H,S) ·Minnesota (H,S) ·Mississippi (H,S) ·Missouri (H,S) ·Montana (H,S) ·Nebraska ·Nevada (A,S) ·New Hampshire (H,S) ·New Jersey (GA,S) ·New Mexico (H,S) ·New York (A,S) ·North Carolina (H,S) ·North Dakota (H,S) ·Ohio (H,S) ·Oklahoma (H,S) ·Oregon (H,S) ·Pennsylvania (H,S) ·Rhode Island (H,S) ·South Carolina (H,S) ·South Dakota (H,S) ·Tennessee (H,S) ·Texas (H,S) ·Utah (H,S) ·Vermont (H,S) ·Virginia (H,S) ·Washington (H,S) ·West Virginia (H,S) ·Wisconsin (A,S) ·Wyoming (H,S)
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