2019 United States state legislative elections


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.
Democrats gained majorities of both houses of the Virginia General Assembly, giving them complete control of the legislature for the first time since 1996, and the first trifecta since 1994.

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.

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. 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:
  • "Tossup": No advantage
  • "Tilt": Advantage that is not quite as strong as "lean"
  • "Lean": Slight advantage
  • "Likely": Significant, but surmountable, advantage
  • "Safe" or "Solid": Near-certain chance of victory
StatePVIChamberLast
election		Sabato
October 31,
2019		Result
Louisianarowspan=2 SenateR 25-14R 27-12
LouisianaHouse of RepresentativesR 61-39-5R 68-35-2-
Mississippirowspan=2 SenateR 33-19R 36–16
MississippiHouse of RepresentativesR 74-44-2R 75-46-1-
New Jerseyrowspan=2 ----
New JerseyGeneral AssemblyD 54-26D 52-28-
[|Virginia]rowspan=2 SenateR 21-19D 21-19
VirginiaHouse of DelegatesR 51-49D 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.

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.

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.

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.

Special elections

Various states held special elections for legislative districts throughout the year. Overall, Republicans flipped five seats from Democrats, with two in the Connecticut House of Representatives, one in the Minnesota Senate, one in the Kentucky House of Representatives, and one in the New Jersey Senate. Democrats flipped two seats from Republicans, with one in the Missouri House of Representatives and one in the Pennsylvania State Senate. An independent flipped one seat from Republicans in the Louisiana House of Representatives.

Alabama

Two special elections were held for the Alabama Legislature in 2019.
  • House District 42: Republican Ivan Smith was elected on November 5, 2019, to succeed Republican Jimmy Martin, who died on May 31, 2019, of cancer.
  • House District 74: Republican Charlotte Meadows was elected on November 12, 2019, to succeed Republican Dimitri Polizos, who died on March 27, 2019, of a heart attack.

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.
  • Senate District 3: Democrat Saud Anwar was elected on February 26, 2019, to succeed Democrat Tim Larson, who resigned in January 2019 after he was appointed Executive Director of the Connecticut Office of Higher Education by Governor Ned Lamont.
  • Senate District 5: Democrat Derek Slap was elected on February 26, 2019, to succeed Democrat Beth Bye, who resigned on January 9, 2019, after she was appointed Commissioner of the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood by Governor Ned Lamont.
  • Senate District 6: Republican Gennaro Bizzarro was elected on February 26, 2019, to succeed Democrat Terry Gerratana, who resigned in January 2019 after she was appointed to the Connecticut Office of Health Strategy by Governor Ned Lamont.
  • House District 19: Democrat Tammy Exum was elected on April 16, 2019, to succeed Democrat Derek Slap, who resigned on February 28, 2019, after he was elected to the Connecticut State Senate.
  • House District 39: Democrat Anthony Nolan was elected on February 26, 2019, to succeed Democrat Chris Soto, who resigned in January 2019 after he was appointed Director of Legislative Affairs by Governor Ned Lamont.
  • House District 99: Republican Joseph Zullo was elected on February 26, 2019, to succeed Democrat James Albis, who resigned in January 2019.
  • House District 130: Democrat Antonio Felipe was elected on May 7, 2019, to succeed Democrat Ezequiel Santiago, who died on March 15, 2019, of a heart attack.

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.
  • House District 5: Republican Matt Barton was elected in a runoff on February 5, 2019, to succeed Republican John Meadows III, who died on November 13, 2018, of cancer.
  • House District 28: Republican Chris Erwin was elected on April 9, 2019, to succeed a vacant term after the results of the December 2018 special election were deemed inconclusive.
  • House District 71: Republican Philip Singleton was elected in a runoff on October 1, 2019, to succeed Republican David Stover, who resigned on June 25, 2019, citing personal reasons.
  • House District 152: Republican Bill Yearta was elected in a runoff on December 3, 2019, to succeed Republican Ed Rynders, who resigned on September 5, 2019, citing health reasons.
  • House District 176: Republican James Burchett was elected in a runoff on March 12, 2019, to succeed Republican Jason Shaw, who resigned on January 1, 2019, after he was appointed to the Georgia Public Service Commission by Governor Nathan Deal.

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.
  • Senate District 31: Republican Phillip Wheeler was elected on March 5, 2019, to succeed Democrat Ray Jones II, who resigned on January 7, 2019, after he was elected Judge/Executive of Pike County.
  • House District 18: Republican Samara Heavrin was elected on November 5, 2019, to succeed Republican Tim Moore, who resigned on September 10, 2019, citing a belief in term limits.
  • House District 63: Republican Kimberly Banta was elected on November 5, 2019, to succeed Republican Diane St. Onge, who resigned on August 12, 2019, citing personal reasons.

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.
  • House District 12: Republican Chris Turner was elected on February 23, 2019, to succeed Republican Rob Shadoin, who resigned in September 2018 to serve as deputy counsel in the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
  • House District 17: Democrat Pat Moore was elected in a runoff on March 30, 2019, to succeed Democrat Marcus Hunter, who resigned after he was elected to judge of the Fourth Judicial District Court.
  • House District 18: Democrat Jeremy LaCombe was elected in a runoff on March 30, 2019, to succeed Democrat Major Thibaut, who resigned on December 31, 2018, to serve as president of Pointe Coupee Parish.
  • House District 26: Democrat Ed Larvadain was elected on February 23, 2019, to succeed Democrat Jeff Hall, who resigned on December 4, 2018, after he was elected mayor of Alexandria.
  • House District 27: Republican Mike T. Johnson was elected on February 23, 2019, to succeed Republican Lowell Hazel, who resigned after he was elected to judge of the Ninth Judicial District Court.
  • House District 47: Republican Ryan Bourriaque was elected on February 23, 2019, to succeed Republican Bob Hensgens, who resigned on December 10, 2018, after he was elected to the Louisiana State Senate.
  • House District 62: Independent Roy Adams was elected in a runoff on March 30, 2019, to succeed Republican Kenny Havard, who resigned on December 10, 2018, to serve as president of West Feliciana Parish.

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.
  • House District Rockingham 9: Republican Michael Vose was elected on October 8, 2019, to succeed Republican Sean Morrison, who resigned in May 2019, citing lack of cooperation.

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.
  • House District 68: Democrat June Speakman was elected on March 5, 2019, to succeed Democratic representative-elect Laufton Ascencao, who did not take office after admitting to faking his campaign invoice.

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.