| ←2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 → Off-year elections | |
| Election day | November 4 |
|---|---|
| Congressional special elections | |
| Seats contested | 2 |
| Net seat change | 0 |
| Gubernatorial elections | |
| Seats contested | 4 |
| Net seat change | Republican +2 |
 | |
| 2003 gubernatorial election results map | |
| Legend | |
Republican Gain Democratic Gain | |
Elections were held in the United States on November 4, 2003. These wereoff-year elections in which no members of theCongress stood for election. However, there were threegubernatorial races,state legislative elections in four states, numerouscitizen initiatives,mayoral races in several major cities, and a variety of local offices on the ballot.
The most high-profile race during this year was theCalifornia gubernatorial recall election: California voters replaced incumbentGovernorGray Davis with actorArnold Schwarzenegger.
In 2003, twospecial elections to fill vacancies in the House of Representatives were held. They were forHawaii's 2nd congressional district (on January 4) andTexas's 19th congressional district (June 3). None of these congressional seats changed party hands.
Three states held elections for Governor in 2003. In addition to these regularly scheduled elections, California held arecall election. California held arecall election on October 7.Kentucky andMississippi voted on November 4. Louisiana's election dates do not coincide with that of most states: Louisiana held itsopen primary on October 4, with a runoff on November 15.
Going into the elections,Republicans held the governorships of twenty-six states andDemocrats held twenty-four. Republicans achieved a net gain of two with victories inKentucky andMississippi as well as the successfulrecall and replacement of Californian GovernorGray Davis with actorArnold Schwarzenegger, but Democrats succeeded capturingLouisiana's Governorship. Thus, Republicans succeeded in reversing a trend in which Republicans had been losing gubernatorial seats to the Democrats since1998.
In the three states which held regularly scheduled state general elections, elections for state executive branch offices ofLieutenant Governor (in a separate election in Louisiana and Mississippi and on the same ticket as the gubernatorial nominee in Kentucky),Secretary of state,state Treasurer,state Auditor,state Attorney General, and Commissionersof Insurance and Agriculture will be held. In addition, there will also be elections for each states' respectivestate Supreme Courts and state appellate courts.
Four states and one territory held elections for theirstate legislatures. Partisan change only occurred in one chamber, as Democrats won control of theNew Jersey Senate, which was previously tied.[1] However, Democrats did maintain control of theMississippi Legislature, theLouisiana Legislature, and theNew Jersey General Assembly. Republicans maintained control of the Virginia legislature, bringing a post-Civil War low for the Democratic Party.[2] TheCovenant Party led byBenigno Fitial won control of theNorthern Mariana Islands House of Representatives, but theNorthern Mariana Islands Senate would remain in Republican control.
Some of the many major American cities that held their mayoral elections in 2003 included: