The 2010 United States state legislative elections were held on November 2, 2010, halfway through President Barack Obama's first term in office. Elections were held for 88 legislative chambers, with all states but Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia holding elections in at least one house. Kansas and New Mexico held elections for their lower, but not upper houses. Four territorial chambers in three territories and the District of Columbia were up as well. The winners of this election cycle served in their respective legislatures for either two or four-year terms, depending on state election rules.
Owing to the slow recovery from the Great Recession, the unpopularity of Democratic president Barack Obama, and the highly publicized and chaotic passage of the Affordable Care Act, Republicans scored record gains. They net a total of 680 seats and took control of 20 legislative chambers, while the Democrats lost 21 chambers.
The Republican victories gave the party unprecedented power over the redrawing of congressional and state legislative districts following the 2010 census. They also used their newfound majorities to pass conservative legislation in a number of states, weakening labor unions, cracking down on illegal immigration, restricting abortion access, cutting taxes, and reducing government regulation.
Background
The 2008 elections saw a nationwide Democratic wave election, including the election of Barack Obama to the presidency, as well as the expansion of Democratic majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives. At the state legislative level, Democrats won control of 27 state legislatures, while Republicans only held 14, with 8 divided between parties. Democrats showed great strength across the country in that election, primarily losing ground only in the South, where they lost control of the Oklahoma Senate and the Tennessee House of Representatives.
Issues
The 2010 elections were held during the middle of President Barack Obama's first presidential term. Obama had taken office during the Great Recession, and signed several laws meant to counteract it, including the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. He also passed significant healthcare reform through the Affordable Care Act, a highly-controversial effort that a majority of Americans disapproved of at time. Other significant issues included illegal immigration and terrorism. By the time of the election, large pluralities of American voters sided with Republicans more than Democrats on these issues, with Democrats only above water on healthcare and environmental policy.
The conservative Tea Party movement grew significantly in 2009 and 2010, staging large protests in response to legislation passed by the Obama administration.
Behind the scenes, Republicans aggressively targeted state legislative races in states where they could gain complete control of the redistricting process following the 2010 census through the project REDMAP.
Summary table Regularly scheduled elections were held in 88 of the 99 state legislative chambers in the United States; nationwide, regularly scheduled elections were held for 6,064 of the 7,383 legislative seats. Most legislative chambers held elections for all seats, but some legislative chambers that use staggered elections held elections for only a portion of the total seats in the chamber. The chambers that were not up for election either hold regularly scheduled elections in odd-numbered years, or have four-year terms and hold all regularly scheduled elections in presidential election years.
Note that this table only covers regularly scheduled elections; additional special elections took place concurrently with these regularly scheduled elections.
State Upper House Lower House Seats up Total % up Term Seats up Total % up TermAlabama353510041051051004Alaska102050440401002Arizona3030100260601002Arkansas1835512/41001001002California204050480801002 Colorado173549465651002 Connecticut363610021511511002 Delaware1021482/441411002 Florida2040502/41201201002 Georgia565610021801801002 Hawaii1225482/451511002 Idaho3535100270701002 Illinois3959662/41181181002 Indiana25505041001001002 Iowa25505041001001002 Kansas040041251251002 Kentucky19385041001001002 Louisiana03904010504 Maine353510021511511002 Maryland474710041411411004 Massachusetts404010021601601002 Michigan383810041101101002 Minnesota67671002/41341341002 Mississippi05204012204 Missouri17345041631631002 Montana25505041001001002 Nebraska2449494 N/A (unicameral) Nevada112152442421002 New Hampshire242410024004001002 New Jersey04002/408002 New Mexico042100470701002 New York626210021501501002 North Carolina505010021201201002 North Dakota24475144794504 Ohio163352499991002 Oklahoma24485041011011002 Oregon153050460601002 Pennsylvania25505042032031002 Rhode Island3838100275751002 South Carolina046041241241002 South Dakota3535100270701002 Tennessee173352499991002 Texas1531482/41501501002 Utah142948475751002 Vermont303010021501501002 Virginia04004010002 Washington254949498981002 West Virginia17345041001001002 Wisconsin173352499991002 Wyoming153050460601002 Total1105197156N/A4958541192N/A
Electoral predictions
Analysts predicted a very strong showing for the Republicans, anticipating a nationwide wave election in their favor. This was attributed to the nation's slow recovery from the Great Recession, the chaotic passage and implementation of the Affordable Care Act, immigration, and the large number of legislative chambers and governorships that Democrats controlled after the 2006 and 2008 elections. As the campaign progressed, Democratic prospects only became worse, leading to the largest gap in legislative chambers held by each party considered vulnerable in over a decade. By election day, Republicans were expected to be able to flip between eleven and twenty seven legislative chambers from Democrats, with only one Republican-held chamber considered vulnerable.
Ratings are designated as follows:
"Tossup": Competitive, no advantage "Lean": Competitive, slight advantage "Likely": Not competitive, but opposition could make significant gains "Safe": Not competitive at all
StateChamberLast electionBallotpediaGoverningResultAlabamaSenateD 23–12 | | R 22–12–1House of RepresentativesD 62–43 | | R 62–43AlaskaSenateCoal. 16–4 | | Coal. 15–5House of RepresentativesR 22–18 | | R 24–16ArizonaSenateR 18–12 | | R 21–9House of RepresentativesR 35–25 | | R 40–20ArkansasSenateD 27–8 | | D 20–15House of RepresentativesD 71–28–1 | | D 55–45CaliforniaState SenateD 25–15 | | D 25–15State AssemblyD 51–29 | | D 52–28ColoradoSenateD 21–14 | | D 20–15House of RepresentativesD 38–27 | | R 33–32ConnecticutState SenateD 24–12 | | D 23–13House of RepresentativesD 114–37 | | D 100–51DelawareSenateD 16–5 | | D 14–7House of RepresentativesD 24–17 | | D 26–15FloridaSenateR 26–14 | | R 28–12House of RepresentativesR 76–44 | | R 81–39GeorgiaState SenateR 34–22 | | R 35–21House of RepresentativesR 105–74–1 | | R 108–71–1HawaiiSenateD 23–2 | | D 24–1House of RepresentativesD 45–6 | | D 43–8IdahoSenateR 28–7 | | R 28–7House of RepresentativesR 52–18 | | R 57–13IllinoisSenateD 37–22 | | D 35–24House of RepresentativesD 70–48 | | D 64–54IndianaSenateR 33–17 | | R 37–13House of RepresentativesD 52–48 | | R 60–40IowaSenateD 32–18 | | D 26–24House of RepresentativesD 57–43 | | R 60–40 KansasHouse of RepresentativesR 77–48 | | R 92–33KentuckySenateR 21–16–1 | | R 22–15–1House of RepresentativesD 65–35 | | D 58–42MaineSenateD 20–15 | | R 20–14–1House of RepresentativesD 95–55–1 | | R 77–73–1MarylandSenateD 33–14 | | D 35–12House of DelegatesD 104–37 | | D 98–43MassachusettsSenateD 35–5 | | D 36–4House of RepresentativesD 144–15–1 | | D 130–30 MichiganSenateR 21–17 | | R 26–12House of RepresentativesD 67–43 | | R 63–47 MinnesotaSenateD 44–23 | | R 37–30House of RepresentativesD 87–47 | | R 72–62MissouriSenateR 23–11 | | R 26–8House of RepresentativesR 89–74 | | R 106–57MontanaSenateR 27–23 | | R 28–22House of RepresentativesD 50–50 | | R 68–32NevadaSenateD 12–9 | | D 11–10AssemblyD 28–14 | | D 26–16New HampshireSenateD 14–10 | | R 19–5House of RepresentativesD 225–175 | | R 298–102 New MexicoHouse of RepresentativesD 45–25 | | D 36–34New YorkState SenateD 32–30 | | R 32–30State AssemblyD 107–41–1–1 | | D 99–50–1North CarolinaSenateD 30–20 | | R 31–19House of RepresentativesD 68–52 | | R 67–52–1North DakotaSenateR 26–21 | | R 35–12House of RepresentativesR 58–36 | | R 69–25OhioSenateR 21–12 | | R 23–10House of RepresentativesD 53–46 | | R 59–40OklahomaSenateR 26–22 | | R 32–16House of RepresentativesR 61–40 | | R 70–31OregonState SenateD 18–12 | | D 16–14House of RepresentativesD 36–24 | | 30–30PennsylvaniaState SenateR 30–20 | | R 30–20House of RepresentativesD 104–99 | | R 112–91Rhode IslandSenateD 33–4–1 | | D 29–8–1House of RepresentativesD 69–6 | | D 65–10 South CarolinaHouse of RepresentativesR 73–51 | | R 76–48South DakotaSenateR 21–14 | | R 29–6House of RepresentativesR 46–24 | | R 50–19–1TennesseeSenateR 19–14 | | R 20–13House of RepresentativesR 50–49 | | R 64–34–1TexasSenateR 19–12 | | R 19–12House of RepresentativesR 76–74 | | R 99–51UtahState SenateR 21–8 | | R 22–7House of RepresentativesR 53–22 | | R 58–17VermontSenateD 23–7 | | D 21–8–1House of RepresentativesD 94–48–5–3 | | D 94–48–5–3WashingtonState SenateD 31–18 | | D 27–22House of RepresentativesD 62–36 | | D 56–42West VirginiaSenateD 26–8 | | D 28–6House of DelegatesD 71–29 | | D 65–35WisconsinSenateD 18–15 | | R 19–14State AssemblyD 52–46–1 | | R 60–38–1WyomingSenateR 23–7 | | R 26–4House of RepresentativesR 41–19 | | R 50–10
National results
+Lower house results by partyPartySeatsbeforeChambersbeforeSeatsafter+/-Chambersafter+/-Republican2,360 162,907 547 29 13Democratic3,030 332,485 545 19 14Independent 14 0 13 1 0 Progressive 5 0 5 0 Independence 1 0 1 0 Working Families 1 0 0 1 0 Total 5,411 49 5,411 — 49 —
+Upper house results by partyPartySeatsbeforeChambersbeforeSeatsafter+/-Chambersafter+/-Republican 925 21 1,055 130 28 7Democratic 1,043 28 911 132 21 7Independent 3 0 4 1 0 Progressive 0 0 1 1 0 Total 1,971 50 1,971 — 50 — Republicans made substantial gains in state legislatures across the nation. Twenty chambers flipped from Democratic to Republican control, giving Republicans full control of eleven state legislatures and control of one chamber in Colorado, Iowa, and New York. Additionally, Republicans gained enough seats in the Oregon House of Representatives to produce a 30-30 party split, pushing Democrats into a power-sharing agreement that resulted in the election of two "co-speakers" (one from each party) to lead the chamber. Republicans gained a net of 680 seats in state legislative races, breaking the previous record of 628 flipped seats set by Democrats in the post-Watergate elections of 1974.
Six states saw both chambers switch from Democrat to Republican majorities: Alabama (where the Republicans won a majority and a trifecta for the first time since 1874), Maine (for the first time since 1975 and a trifecta for the first time since 1965), Minnesota (for the first time since 1915 in partisan elections and 1973 in non-partisan elections), New Hampshire, North Carolina (for the first time since 1896), and Wisconsin. In addition, by picking up the lower chambers in Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Montana and Pennsylvania, Republicans gained control of both chambers in an additional five states. Further, Republicans picked up one chamber from Democrats in Colorado, Iowa, and New York to split control in those states. They expanded majorities in both chambers in Texas, Florida, and Georgia.
Post-election party switching