2004 United States state legislative elections explained
| Election Name: | 2004 United States state legislative elections |
| Country: | United States |
| Type: | legislative |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2003 United States state legislative elections |
| Previous Year: | 2003 |
| Next Election: | 2005 United States state legislative elections |
| Next Year: | 2005 |
| Seats For Election: | 85 legislative chambers in 44 states |
| Election Date: | November 2, 2004 |
| Party1: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Party2: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Map Size: | 320px |
| Map2 Image: | US2004statelowerhouses.svg |
| Map2 Size: | 320px |
| Map2 Caption: | Map of lower house elections:
|
| 1Data1: | 53 |
| 2Data1: | 50 |
| 3Data1: | 3 |
| 1Data2: | 44 |
| 2Data2: | 48 |
| 3Data2: | 4 |
| 1Blank: | Chambers before |
| 2Blank: | Chambers after |
| 3Blank: | Overall change |
Elections to state legislatures were held on November 2, 2004, alongside other elections. Elections were held for 85 legislative chambers, with all states but Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, Alabama, Maryland, and Virginia holding elections in at least one house. Michigan and Minnesota held elections for their lower, but not upper houses.[1] Six chambers in three territories and the District of Columbia were up as well.
The 2004 elections created narrow legislative divisions across the country. Both parties flipped seats and chambers across the country, with most Democratic gains coming from the Northeast and West and most Republican gains coming from the South. Over 20 states featured statehouses controlled by fewer than four seats, and nearly 30 states featured divided governments. Both parties took advantage of heavy spending from 527 organizations.[2]
Republicans won control of four chambers from the Democrats. The institution of term limits contributed to the Republican takeover of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, and favorable redistricting aided Republicans in winning the Georgia House of Representatives for the first time ever. Republicans additionally won the Tennessee Senate, for the time since 1870, and the Indiana House of Representatives.
Democrats performed better than Republicans overall at the state-legislative level, despite their defeat in the concurrent presidential election, winning control of eight additional chambers. Favorable redistricting enabled the Democratic takeover of the Montana Legislature and their retaking of control of the North Carolina House of Representatives, which was previously tied. Additionally, they took control of the Washington Senate; the Oregon Senate, which was previously tied; both houses of the Colorado General Assembly for the first time since 1963, and the Vermont House of Representatives. The Iowa Senate became tied after previously being controlled by the Republicans prior to the election.[3] Democrats' takeover of the Montana House only came after the Montana Supreme Court declared a Democrat a victor in a contested election that evenly split the chamber. This gave Democrats control of the chamber with the help of incoming governor Brian Schweitzer.[4]
The Democrats also regained the title of holding the most legislative seats across the country, winning one more seat than the Republicans.[5]
Summary table
Regularly-scheduled elections were held in 85 of the 99 state legislative chambers in the United States. Nationwide, regularly-scheduled elections were held for 6,015 of the 7,383 legislative seats. Many 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 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 midterm election years.
Note that this table only covers regularly-scheduled elections; additional special elections took place concurrently with these regularly-scheduled elections.
Electoral predictions
Analysts expected a high level of competitiveness among chambers held by both parties, although not to the same extent as the 2002 elections, which took place following most states' legislative redistricting. The application of newly enacted term limits in some states was expected to have little effect, with the exception of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, and the close nature of the concurrent presidential election made the effects of potential presidential coattails difficult to predict.[7]
As the election progressed and George W. Bush's chances at winning re-election appeared to increase, outlooks changed on very few legislative chambers. Republicans made minor inroads in states in the South, especially in Oklahoma in the Georgia House of Representatives while Democrats appeared stronger in states in the Northeast and Northwest, such as Vermont and Washington. Due to the presidential election's heavy focus on foreign policy issues such as the Iraq War, the likelihood of coattails reaching all the way down to state legislative races appeared increasingly thin. The majority of state legislative chambers and individual races also remained out of reach for opposition parties due to the prevalence of partisan gerrymandering.
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
| State | Chamber | Last election | Rothenberg[8] | Result |
|---|
| Alaska | | Senate | data-sort-value="60.0" | R 12–8 | | data-sort-value="60.0" | R 12–8 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="67.5" | R 27–13 | | data-sort-value="65.0" | R 26–14 |
| Arizona | | Senate | data-sort-value="57.5" | R 17–13 | | data-sort-value="60.0" | R 18–12 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="63.3" | R 38–22 | | data-sort-value="63.3" | R 38–22 |
| Arkansas | | Senate | data-sort-value="-77.1" | D 27–8 | | data-sort-value="-77.1" | D 27–8 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="-70.0" | D 70–30 | | data-sort-value="-72.0" | D 72–28 |
| California | | State Senate | data-sort-value="-62.5" | D 25–15 | | data-sort-value="-62.5" | D 25–15 |
|---|
| State Assembly | data-sort-value="-60.0" | D 48–32 | | data-sort-value="-60.0" | D 48–32 |
| Colorado | | Senate | data-sort-value="51.4" | R 18–17 | | data-sort-value="-51.4" | D 18–17 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="56.9" | R 37–28 | | data-sort-value="-53.8" | D 35–30 |
| Connecticut | | State Senate | data-sort-value="-58.3" | D 21–15 | | data-sort-value="-63.9" | D 24–12 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="-62.3" | D 94–57 | | data-sort-value="-65.6" | D 99–52 |
| Delaware | | Senate | data-sort-value="-61.9" | D 13–8 | | data-sort-value="-61.9" | D 13–8 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="70.7" | R 29–12 | | data-sort-value="63.4" | R 26–15 |
| Florida | | Senate | data-sort-value="65.0" | R 26–14 | | data-sort-value="65.0" | R 26–14 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="67.5" | R 81–39 | | data-sort-value="70.0" | R 84–36 |
| Georgia | | State Senate | data-sort-value="53.6" | R 30–26 | | data-sort-value="60.7" | R 34–22 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="-59.4" | D 107–72–1 | | data-sort-value="55.0" | R 99–80–1 |
| Hawaii | | Senate | data-sort-value="-80.0" | D 20–5 | | data-sort-value="-80.0" | D 20–5 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="-70.6" | D 36–15 | | data-sort-value="-80.4" | D 41–10 |
| Idaho | | Senate | data-sort-value="80.0" | R 28–7 | | data-sort-value="80.0" | R 28–7 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="77.1" | R 54–16 | | data-sort-value="81.4" | R 57–13 |
| Illinois | | Senate | data-sort-value="-54.2" | D 32–26–1 | | data-sort-value="-52.5" | D 31–27–1 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="-55.9" | D 66–52 | | data-sort-value="-55.1" | D 65–53 |
| Indiana | | Senate | data-sort-value="64.0" | R 32–18 | | data-sort-value="66.0" | R 33–17 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="-51.0" | D 51–49 | | data-sort-value="52.0" | R 52–48 |
| Iowa | | Senate | data-sort-value="58.0" | R 29–21 | | data-sort-value="0" | 25–25 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="54.0" | R 54–46 | | data-sort-value="51.0" | R 51–49 |
| Kansas | | Senate | data-sort-value="75.0" | R 30–10 | | data-sort-value="75.0" | R 30–10 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="64.0" | R 80–45 | | data-sort-value="66.4" | R 83–42 |
| Kentucky | | Senate | data-sort-value="55.3" | R 21–17 | | data-sort-value="59.5" | R 22–15 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="-65.0" | D 65–35 | | data-sort-value="-57.0" | D 57–43 |
| Maine | | Senate | data-sort-value="-51.4" | D 18–17 | | data-sort-value="-51.4" | D 18–17 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="-53.0" | D 80–67–3–1 | | data-sort-value="-50.3" | D 76–73–1–1 |
| Massachusetts | | Senate | data-sort-value="-85.0" | D 34–6 | | data-sort-value="-85.0" | D 34–6 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="-84.4" | D 135–23–1 | | data-sort-value="-85.6" | D 137–23 |
| Michigan | | House of Representatives | data-sort-value="56.4" | R 62–48 | | data-sort-value="52.7" | R 58–52 |
|---|
| Minnesota | | House of Representatives | data-sort-value="60.4" | R 81–53 | | data-sort-value="50.7" | R 68–66 |
|---|
| Missouri | | Senate | data-sort-value="58.8" | R 20–14 | | data-sort-value="67.6" | R 23–11 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="55.2" | R 90–73 | | data-sort-value="59.5" | R 97–66 |
| Montana | | Senate | data-sort-value="58.0" | R 29–21 | | data-sort-value="-54.0" | D 27–23 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="53.0" | R 53–47 | | data-sort-value="-50.0" | D 50–50 |
| Nevada | | Senate | data-sort-value="61.9" | R 13–8 | | data-sort-value="57.1" | R 12–9 |
|---|
| Assembly | data-sort-value="-54.8" | D 23–19 | | data-sort-value="-61.9" | D 26–16 |
| New Hampshire | | Senate | data-sort-value="75.0" | R 18–6 | | data-sort-value="66.7" | R 16–8 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="69.5" | R 278–122 | | data-sort-value="62.3" | R 249–151 |
| New Mexico | | Senate | data-sort-value="-57.1" | D 24–18 | | data-sort-value="-57.1" | D 24–18 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="-61.4" | D 43–27 | | data-sort-value="-60.0" | D 42–28 |
| New York | | State Senate | data-sort-value="59.7" | R 37–25 | | data-sort-value="56.5" | R 35–27 |
|---|
| State Assembly | data-sort-value="-68.0" | D 102–48 | | data-sort-value="-69.3" | D 104–46 |
| North Carolina | | Senate | data-sort-value="-56.0" | D 28–22 | | data-sort-value="-58.0" | D 29–21 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="50.8" | R 61–59 | | data-sort-value="-52.5" | D 63–57 |
| North Dakota | | Senate | data-sort-value="66.0" | R 31–16 | | data-sort-value="68.1" | R 32–15 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="70.2" | R 66–28 | | data-sort-value="71.3" | R 67–27 |
| Ohio | | Senate | data-sort-value="66.7" | R 22–11 | | data-sort-value="66.7" | R 22–11 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="62.6" | R 62–37 | | data-sort-value="61.6" | R 61–38 |
| Oklahoma | | Senate | data-sort-value="-58.3" | D 28–20 | | data-sort-value="-54.2" | D 26–22 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="-52.5" | D 53–48 | | data-sort-value="56.4" | R 57–44 |
| Oregon | | State Senate | data-sort-value="0" | 15–15 | | data-sort-value="-56.7" | D 17–13 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="58.3" | R 35–25 | | data-sort-value="55.0" | R 33–27 |
| Pennsylvania | | State Senate | data-sort-value="58.0" | R 29–21 | | data-sort-value="60.0" | R 30–20 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="54.2" | R 110–93 | | data-sort-value="54.2" | R 110–93 |
| Rhode Island | | Senate | data-sort-value="-84.2" | D 32–6 | | data-sort-value="-86.8" | D 33–5 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="-84.0" | D 63–11–1 | | data-sort-value="-78.7" | D 59–16 |
| South Carolina | | Senate | data-sort-value="54.3" | R 25–21 | | data-sort-value="56.5" | R 26–20 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="58.9" | R 73–51 | | data-sort-value="59.7" | R 74–50 |
| South Dakota | | Senate | data-sort-value="74.3" | R 26–9 | | data-sort-value="71.4" | R 25–10 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="70.0" | R 49–21 | | data-sort-value="71.4" | R 50–20 |
| Tennessee | | Senate | data-sort-value="-54.5" | D 18–15 | | data-sort-value="51.5" | R 17–16 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="-54.5" | D 54–45 | | data-sort-value="-53.5" | D 53–46 |
| Texas | | Senate | data-sort-value="61.3" | R 19–12 | | data-sort-value="61.3" | R 19–12 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="58.7" | R 88–62 | | data-sort-value="58.0" | R 87–63 |
| Utah | | State Senate | data-sort-value="75.9" | R 22–7 | | data-sort-value="72.4" | R 21–8 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="74.7" | R 56–19 | | data-sort-value="74.7" | R 56–19 |
| Vermont | | Senate | data-sort-value="-63.3" | D 19–11 | | data-sort-value="-70.0" | D 21–9 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="48.7" | R 73–70–4–3 | | data-sort-value="-55.3" | D 83–60–6–1 |
| Washington | | State Senate | data-sort-value="51.0" | R 25–24 | | data-sort-value="-53.1" | D 26–23 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="-53.1" | D 52–46 | | data-sort-value="-56.1" | D 55–43 |
| West Virginia | | Senate | data-sort-value="-70.6" | D 24–10 | | data-sort-value="-61.8" | D 21–13 |
|---|
| House of Delegates | data-sort-value="-68.0" | D 68–32 | | data-sort-value="-68.0" | D 68–32 |
| Wisconsin | | Senate | data-sort-value="54.5" | R 18–15 | | data-sort-value="57.6" | R 19–14 |
|---|
| State Assembly | data-sort-value="58.6" | R 58–41 | | data-sort-value="60.6" | R 60–39 |
| Wyoming | | Senate | data-sort-value="66.7" | R 20–10 | | data-sort-value="76.7" | R 23–7 |
|---|
| House of Representatives | data-sort-value="75.0" | R 45–15 | | data-sort-value="76.7" | R 46–14 | |
State summaries
Alaska
All of the seats of the Alaska House of Representatives and half of the Alaska Senate were up for election. Republicans maintained control of both chambers.
Arizona
See main article: 2004 Arizona Senate election and 2004 Arizona House of Representatives election.
All of the seats of the Arizona Legislature were up for election. Republicans maintained control of both state legislative chambers.
Arkansas
All of the seats of the Arkansas House of Representatives and half of the Arkansas Senate were up for election. Democrats maintained control of both state legislative chambers.
California
See main article: 2004 California State Senate election and 2004 California State Assembly election.
All of the seats of the California House of Representatives and half of the California Senate were up for election. Democrats maintained control of both state legislative chambers.
Colorado
All of the seats of the Colorado House of Representatives and half of the Colorado Senate were up for election. Democrats won control of both chambers from the Republicans.
Connecticut
See main article: 2004 Connecticut State Senate election.
All of the seats of the Connecticut Legislature were up for election. Democrats maintained control of both state legislative chambers.
Delaware
See main article: article, 2004 Delaware Senate election and 2004 Delaware House of Representatives election.
All of the seats of the Delaware House of Representatives and half of the Delaware Senate were up for election. Democrats maintained control of the Senate while Republicans maintained control of the House.
Florida
See main article: 2004 Florida Senate election.
All of the seats of the Florida House of Representatives and half of the Florida Senate were up for election. Republicans maintained control of both state legislative chambers.
Georgia
All of the seats of the Georgia Legislature were up for election. Republicans maintained control of the Senate and won control of the House.
Hawaii
All of the seats of the Hawaii House of Representatives and half of the Hawaii Senate were up for election. Democrats maintained control of both state legislative chambers.
Idaho
All of the seats of the Idaho Legislature were up for election. Republicans maintained control of both state legislative chambers.
Illinois
All of the seats of the Illinois House of Representatives and 2/3rds of the Illinois Senate were up for election. Democrats maintained control of both state legislative chambers.
Indiana
All of the seats of the Indiana House of Representatives and half of the Indiana Senate were up for election. Republicans maintained control of the Senate and gained control of the House of Representatives.
Iowa
See main article: 2004 Iowa Senate election.
All of the seats of the Iowa House of Representatives and half of the Iowa Senate were up for election. Republicans maintained control of the House while the Senate became tied.
Kansas
All of the seats of the Kansas Senate and Kansas House of Representatives were up for election. Republicans maintained control of both chambers.
Kentucky
See main article: 2004 Kentucky Senate election and 2004 Kentucky House of Representatives election.
All of the seats of the Kentucky House of Representatives and half of the Kentucky Senate were up for election. Republicans maintained control of the Senate and Democrats maintained control of the House of Representatives.
Maine
All of the seats of the Maine Legislature were up for election. Democrats maintained control of both state legislative chambers.
Massachusetts
See main article: 2004 Massachusetts Senate election.
All of the seats of the Massachusetts Legislature were up for election. Democrats maintained control of both state legislative chambers.
Michigan
See main article: 2004 Michigan House of Representatives election.
All of the seats of the Michigan House of Representatives were up for election. Republicans maintained control of the House.
Minnesota
See main article: 2004 Minnesota House of Representatives election.
All of the seats of the Minnesota House of Representatives were up. Republicans maintained control of the House.
Missouri
All of the seats of the Missouri House of Representatives and half of the Missouri Senate were up for election. Republicans maintained control of both state legislative chambers.
Montana
See main article: 2004 Montana House of Representatives election.
All of the seats of the Montana House of Representatives and half of the Montana Senate were up for election. Democrats flipped control of both chambers.
Nebraska
See main article: article.
Nebraska is the only U.S. state with a unicameral legislature; half of the seats of the Nebraska Legislature were up for election. Nebraska is also unique in that its legislature is officially non-partisan and holds non-partisan elections, although the Democratic and Republican parties each endorse legislative candidates. Republicans maintained control.
Nevada
All of the seats of the Nevada House of Representatives and half of the Nevada Senate were up for election. Democrats maintained control of the House while Republicans maintained control of the Senate.
New Hampshire
All of the seats of the New Hampshire House of Representatives and the New Hampshire Senate were up for election. Republicans maintained control of both chambers.
New Mexico
See main article: 2004 New Mexico Senate election.
All of the seats of the New Mexico Legislature were up for election; Democrats maintained control of both chambers.
New York
All of the seats of the New York Legislature were up for election. Republicans maintained control of the Senate while Democrats maintained control of the Assembly.
North Carolina
See main article: 2004 North Carolina Senate election and 2004 North Carolina House of Representatives election.
All of the seats of the North Carolina House of Representatives and half of the North Carolina Senate were up for election. Democrats maintained control of the Senate and gained control of the House.
North Dakota
All of the seats of the North Dakota House of Representatives and half of the North Dakota Senate were up for election. Republicans maintained control of both state legislative chambers.
Ohio
All of the seats of the Ohio House of Representatives and half of the Ohio Senate were up for election. Republicans maintained control of both chambers.
Oklahoma
All of the seats of the Oklahoma House of Representatives and half of the Oklahoma Senate were up for election. Democrats maintained control of the Senate while Republicans won control of the House.
Oregon
All of the seats of the Oregon House of Representatives and half of the Oregon Senate were up for election. Democrats won control of the Senate while Republicans maintained control of the House.
Pennsylvania
See main article: 2004 Pennsylvania Senate election and 2004 Pennsylvania House of Representatives election.
All of the seats of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and half of the Pennsylvania Senate were up for election. Republicans maintained control of both chambers.
Rhode Island
All of the seats of the Rhode Island Legislature were up for election. Democrats maintained control of both state legislative chambers.
South Carolina
All of the seats of the South Carolina Legislature were up for election. Republicans maintained control of both chambers.
South Dakota
All of the seats of the South Dakota Legislature were up for election. Republicans maintained control of both state legislative chambers.
Tennessee
All of the seats of the Tennessee House of Representatives and half of the Tennessee Senate were up for election. Republicans gained control of the Senate while Democrats maintained control of the House.
Texas
See main article: 2004 Texas Senate election and 2004 Texas House of Representatives election.
All of the seats of the Texas House of Representatives and half of the Texas Senate were up for election. Republicans maintained control of both state legislative chambers.
Utah
All of the seats of the Utah House of Representatives and half of the Utah Senate were up for election. Republicans maintained control of both state legislative chambers.
Vermont
All of the seats of the Vermont Legislature were up for election. Democrats maintained control of the Senate and won control of the House.
Washington
See main article: 2004 Washington State Senate election.
All of the seats of the Washington House of Representatives and half of the Washington Senate were up for election. Democrats won control of the Senate and maintained control of the House.
West Virginia
See main article: 2004 West Virginia Senate election.
All of the seats of the West Virginia House of Delegates and half of the West Virginia Senate were up for election. Democrats maintained control of both state legislative chambers.
Wisconsin
All of the seats of the Wisconsin Assembly and half of the Wisconsin Senate were up for election. Republicans maintained control of both chambers.
Wyoming
All of the seats of the Wyoming House of Representatives and half of the Wyoming Senate were up for election. Republicans maintained control of both state legislative chambers.
Territorial and federal district summaries
American Samoa
All of the seats of the American Samoa Senate and the American Samoa House of Representatives were up for election. Members of the Senate serve four-year terms, while members of the House of Representatives serve two-year terms. Gubernatorial and legislative elections are conducted on a nonpartisan basis in American Samoa.
Guam
All of the seats of the unicameral Legislature of Guam were up for election. All members of the legislature serve a two-year term. Democrats lost control of the legislature.
Puerto Rico
All of the seats of the Senate of Puerto Rico and the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico are up for election. Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives both serve four-year terms. The New Progressive Party won control of both chambers.
Washington, D.C.
The Council of the District of Columbia serves as the legislative branch of the federal district of Washington, D.C. Half of the council seats are up for election. Council members serve four-year terms. Democrats retained supermajority control of the council.
Notes and References
- Web site: State legislative elections, 2004 .
- Web site: Prah . Pamela M. . November 15, 2007 . 2004 elections set up year of legislative stalemate . https://web.archive.org/web/20081107074537/http://www.stateline.org/live/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=136&languageId=1&contentId=15839 . November 7, 2008 . 2024-08-12 . stateline.org.
- Web site: Madigan . Erin . Kelderman . Eric . November 5, 2004 . GOP Loses Ground in Statehouse Control . 2023-03-03 . pew.org . en.
- News: Robbins . Jim . 2004-12-29 . Ruling Puts Democrats in Control in Montana . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-03-03 . 0362-4331.
- Storey . Tim . 2005 . 2004 legislative elections . Spectrum: The Journal of State Government . 78 . 1 . 8 . Gale Academic OneFile.
- Web site: 2020 Legislative Races by State and Legislative Chamber . National Conference of State Legislatures.
- Jacobson . Louis . July 9, 2004 . Handicapping the State Legislatures: A 50-State Preview . The Rothenberg Political Report . 7–10 . Harvard Dataverse.
- Jacobson . Louis . October 1, 2004 . Handicapping the State Legislatures: A 50-State Preview . The Rothenberg Political Report . 7–10 . Harvard Dataverse.
