The 2003 United States state legislative elections were held on November 7, 2003, alongside other elections. Elections were held for 8 legislative chambers in four states.https://ballotpedia.org/State_legislative_elections,_2003 Both chambers of the Northern Mariana Islands legislature were up.
Partisan change only occurred in one chamber, as Democrats won control of the New Jersey Senate, which was previously tied. However, Democrats did maintain control of the Mississippi Legislature, the Louisiana Legislature, and the New Jersey General Assembly. Republicans maintained control of the Virginia legislature, bringing a post-Civil War low for the Democratic Party.University of Virginia, Center for Politics. Virginia Votes 2003: Not much to remember, not much to forget.
Summary table Regularly scheduled elections were held in 8 of the 99 state legislative chambers in the United States. Nationwide, regularly scheduled elections were held for 578 of the 7,383 legislative seats. 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 TermLouisiana 39 39 100 4 105 105 100 4Mississippi 52 52 100 4 122 122 100 4New Jersey 40 40 100 2/4 80 80 100 2Virginia 40 40 100 4 100 100 100 2
Election predictions Ratings are designated as follows:
"Tossup": Competitive, no advantage "Lean": Competitive, slight advantage "Likely": Not competitive, but opposition could make significant gains "Solid": Not competitive at all
State Chamber Lastelection The CookPolitical Report Result Louisiana Senate D 26–13 D 24–15 House of Representatives D 74–31 D 66–37–2 Mississippi Senate D 34–18 D 29–23 House of Representatives D 86–33–3 D 76–46 New Jersey Senate 20–20 D 22–18 General Assembly D 44–36 D 47–33 Virginia Senate R 21–19 R 24–16 House of Delegates R 64–34–2 R 61–37–2
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. Democrats maintained control of both chambers.
+Louisiana State SenatePartyBeforeAfterChangeDemocratic2624 2Republican1315 2Total3939 +Louisiana House of RepresentativesPartyBeforeAfterChangeDemocratic7466 8Republican 31 37 6Independent 0 2 2Total105105
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. Democrats maintained control of both houses.
+Mississippi State SenatePartyBeforeAfterChangeDemocratic2929Republican 23 23Total5252 +Mississippi House of RepresentativesPartyBeforeAfterChangeDemocratic8176 5Republican 38 46 8Independent 3 0 3Total122122
New Jersey
All seats of the New Jersey Senate and the New Jersey General Assembly were up for election. Senators were elected to two-year terms in single-member districts, while Assembly members were elected to two-year terms in two-member districts. Democrats retained control in of the lower house and won control of the upper house.
+SenatePartyBeforeAfterChangeDemocratic 2022 2Republican 20 18 2Total4040 +General AssemblyPartyBeforeAfterChangeDemocratic4247 5Republican 37 33 4Green10 1Total8080
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 served terms of two years. Republicans maintained control of both houses.
+Senate of VirginiaPartyBeforeAfterChangeDemocratic 19 16 3Republican2124 3Total4040 +Virginia House of DelegatesPartyBeforeAfterChangeRepublican6461 3Democratic 34 37 3Independent 2 2Total100100
Territorial and federal district summaries Northern Mariana Islands
All seats of the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives and half of the Northern Mariana Islands Senate are up for election. Senators are elected to four-year terms and Representatives are elected to two-year terms.
Senate Party Before After Change Republican 5 2 3 Democratic 3 2 1 Total 9 9 House of Representatives Party Before After Change Republican 16 7 9 Democratic 1 1 Total 18 18
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