Map of upper house elections: Democrats retained control Republicans gained control Republicans retained control Coalition retained control Non-partisan legislature No regularly-scheduled elections
Map of lower house elections: Democrats retained control Republicans gained control Republicans retained control Non-partisan legislature No regularly-scheduled elections
Elections to state legislatures were held in 46 U.S. states in 2014 with a total of 6,049 seats up for election (82 percent of the total number of state legislative seats in the United States). Six territorial chambers were up in four territories and the District of Columbia.
Prior to the general election, Republicans regained control of the Virginia Senate after winning a decisive August special election.[1] They had lost control at the start of the year due to the election of Democratic lieutenant governorRalph Northam.
In the general election, Republicans initially gained control of nine legislative chambers: both chambers of the Nevada Legislature (which they held simultaneously for the first time since 1931), the Minnesota House of Representatives, the New Hampshire House of Representatives, the New Mexico House of Representatives for the first time since 1955, the West Virginia House of Delegates, the Colorado Senate, the Maine Senate, and the New York Senate, which was previously under a Republican-led coalition. This increased the total number of Republican-controlled state houses from 58 to 67. The day after the election, Republicans, who achieved a 17–17 tie in the West Virginia Senate, gained control of that chamber as well thanks to the defection of State Senator Daniel Hall, thus increasing their total gains to ten, for a final total of 68 state houses won.[2] This allowed Republicans win control of either chamber of the West Virginia legislature for the first time since 1933.
The election left the Republicans in control of the highest amount of state legislatures in the party's history since 1928, and it also left the Democratic Party in control of the smallest number of state legislatures since 1860.[3][4][5]
Regularly-scheduled elections were held in 87 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.[6] 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.
Predictors considered Democrats to be vulnerable to significant losses in legislative control, owing to the six-year itch of the presidency of Democrat Barack Obama. Most of the legislative chambers considered competitive were held by Democrats.[7][8]
Ratings are designated as follows:
"Tossup": Competitive, no advantage
"Lean": Competitive, slight advantage
"Likely": Not competitive, but opposition could make significant gains
Upper house seats by party holding majority in each state
Republican
50–60%
60–70%
70–80%
80–90%
Democratic
50–60%
60–70%
70–80%
80–90%
90–100%
Lower house seats by party holding majority in each state
Republican
50–60%
60–70%
70–80%
80–90%
Democratic
50–60%
60–70%
70–80%
80–90%
Net changes to upper house seats after the 2014 elections +1 Rep seat +2 Rep seats +3–5 Rep seats +9 Rep seats +1 Dem seat +2 Dem seats
Net changes to lower house seats after the 2014 elections +1 Rep seat +2 Rep seats +3–5 Rep seats +6–60 Rep seats +1 Dem seat +2 Dem seats +3 Dem seats +1 Con seat
All of the seats of the Colorado House of Representatives and half of the Colorado Senate were up for election. Republicans won control of the Senate and Democrats maintained control of the House of Representatives.
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 of Representatives and Democrats maintained control of the Senate.
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.
All of the seats of the Maine Legislature were up for election. Republicans won control of the Senate and Democrats maintained control of the House of Representatives.
Nebraska is the only U.S. state with a unicameral legislature; half of the seats of the Nebraska Legislature were up for election in 2014. 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.
All of the seats of the New York Legislature were up for election. Republicans replaced a Republican-led coalition in the Senate, and Democrats maintained control of the Assembly.
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 state legislative chambers.
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.
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.
All of the seats of the West Virginia House of Delegates and half of the West Virginia Senate were up for election. Republicans initially won control of the House of Delegates and tied the Senate, but the defection of Democratic senator Daniel Hall the day after the election gave Republicans control of the chamber.[2][9]
All of the seats of the Wisconsin Assembly and half of the Wisconsin Senate were up for election. Republicans maintained control of both state legislative chambers.
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.
Although Democrats briefly gained control of the Virginia Senate due to the election of Democratic lieutenant governorRalph Northam, Republicans gained control back in an August special election.[1]