Attorney General elections, 2023
There were three attorney general offices on the ballot in 2023. These elections were in Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
Heading into the election, Republicans held the attorney general office in all three states. Republicans won all three attorney general elections. Only one incumbent, Lynn Fitch (R), ran for re-election; she was re-elected.
Russell Coleman (R) won election as Kentucky attorney general and Fitch won re-election as Mississippi attorney general on November 7, 2023. Liz Murrill (R) won election as Louisiana attorney general on November 18, 2023.
In 2023, there were three triplexes — one Republican and two divided governments — on the ballot. A triplex is when one political party holds the following three statewide offices: governor, attorney general, and secretary of state. Louisiana was the only triplex to change partisan control. It changed from a divided government to a Republican triplex after Jeff Landry (R) was elected governor and Republicans retained control of the attorney general and secretary of state offices.
After the November 2023 elections, there were 25 Republican triplexes, 20 Democratic triplexes, and five divided governments where neither party held triplex control. Before the 2023 elections, there were 24 Republican triplexes, 20 Democratic triplexes, and six divided governments.
As the state's chief legal officer, the attorney general is responsible for enforcing state law and advising the state government on legal matters. In many states, attorneys general play a large role in the law enforcement process.
The attorney general is the only top-level state executive office beside the governor that exists in all 50 states. Seventeen states impose some form of term limits on attorneys general.
Offices on the ballot in 2023
In 2023, there were three attorney general offices—all held by Republicans—on the ballot. The table below highlights the partisan balance of those three positions before and after the election.
Attorney general seats up in 2023 | |||
---|---|---|---|
Party | As of the 2023 elections | After the 2023 elections | |
Democratic Party | 0 | 0 | |
Republican Party | 3 | 3 | |
Total | 3 | 3 |
Election results
Kentucky
General election
General election for Attorney General of Kentucky
Russell Coleman defeated Pamela Stevenson in the general election for Attorney General of Kentucky on November 7, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | Russell Coleman (R) | 58.0 | 752,692 | |
![]() | Pamela Stevenson (D) | 42.0 | 544,748 |
Total votes: 1,297,440 | ||||
![]() | ||||
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. |
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Pamela Stevenson advanced from the Democratic primary for Attorney General of Kentucky.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Russell Coleman advanced from the Republican primary for Attorney General of Kentucky.
Louisiana
Louisiana elections use the majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50 percent of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.
General election
General election for Attorney General of Louisiana
Liz Murrill defeated Lindsey Cheek in the general election for Attorney General of Louisiana on November 18, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | Liz Murrill (R) | 66.4 | 444,544 |
![]() | Lindsey Cheek (D) | 33.6 | 225,050 |
Total votes: 669,594 | ||||
![]() | ||||
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. |
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Attorney General of Louisiana
Liz Murrill and Lindsey Cheek defeated John Stefanski, Perry Walker Terrebonne, and Marty Maley in the primary for Attorney General of Louisiana on October 14, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | Liz Murrill (R) | 45.2 | 463,103 |
✔ | ![]() | Lindsey Cheek (D) | 23.4 | 239,652 |
![]() | John Stefanski (R) | 16.8 | 172,300 | |
![]() | Perry Walker Terrebonne (D) | 7.3 | 74,479 | |
![]() | Marty Maley (R) | 7.2 | 74,176 |
Total votes: 1,023,710 | ||||
![]() | ||||
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. |
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- John Belton (Independent)
Mississippi
General election
General election for Attorney General of Mississippi
Incumbent Lynn Fitch defeated Greta Martin in the general election for Attorney General of Mississippi on November 7, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | Lynn Fitch (R) | 58.1 | 470,870 |
![]() | Greta Martin (D) ![]() | 41.9 | 339,948 |
Total votes: 810,818 | ||||
![]() | ||||
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. |
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Attorney General of Mississippi
Greta Martin advanced from the Democratic primary for Attorney General of Mississippi on August 8, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | Greta Martin ![]() | 100.0 | 184,080 |
Total votes: 184,080 | ||||
![]() | ||||
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. |
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Attorney General of Mississippi
Incumbent Lynn Fitch advanced from the Republican primary for Attorney General of Mississippi on August 8, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | Lynn Fitch | 100.0 | 350,670 |
Total votes: 350,670 | ||||
![]() | ||||
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. |
List of elections
State | Triplex status (before) | Incumbent | Incumbent party | Incumbent ran? |
---|---|---|---|---|
Kentucky | Divided triplex status | ![]() Daniel Cameron |
![]() |
No[1] |
Louisiana | Divided triplex status | ![]() Jeff Landry |
![]() |
No[2] |
Mississippi | Republican triplex | ![]() Lynn Fitch |
![]() |
Yes |
Partisan balance
The following table displays the number of attorney general offices held by each party before and after the 2023 elections.
U.S. attorneys general partisan breakdown | |||
---|---|---|---|
Party | As of the 2023 elections | After the 2023 elections | |
Democratic Party | 23 | 23 | |
Republican Party | 27 | 27 | |
Total | 50 | 50 |
As a result of the 2022 elections, the partisan composition of state attorneys general was 27 Republicans and 23 Democrats. In three states—Arizona, Iowa, and Vermont—the office changed party control, resulting in a net gain of one office for Democrats and a net loss of one office for Republicans. Before the 2022 election, the nationwide partisan balance of attorneys general was 22 Democrats and 28 Republicans.
Triplexes
- See also: State government triplexes
State government triplex is a term to describe when one political party holds the following three positions in a state's government: governor, attorney general, and secretary of state. In states where the attorney general or secretary of state are appointed by the governor, Ballotpedia considers the office to be held by the governor's party for the purposes of defining triplexes until the governor appoints a specific person to those offices.[3] If a state does not have a secretary of state, Ballotpedia considers that state a triplex if one party controls both triplex offices.
As of September 2, 2024, there are 25 Republican triplexes, 20 Democratic triplexes, and 5 divided governments where neither party holds triplex control.
The table below shows the triplex statuses in the three states that held state executive elections in 2023. Bolded offices were up for election.
Triplex statuses and state executive elections, 2023 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
State | Triplex | Gov. | Attorney General | Secretary of State | ||
Kentucky | Divided | D | R | R | ||
Louisiana | Divided | D | R | R | ||
Mississippi | Republican | R | R | R |
Attorney general offices that changed party control in 2022
Three attorneys general changed partisan control as a result of the 2022 elections.
- From Republican to Democratic
- In Arizona, where Kris Mayes (D) defeated Abraham Hamadeh (R) in the open-seat race to succeed Mark Brnovich (R)
- In Vermont, where Charity Clark (D) defeated Michael Tagliavia (R) to succeed Susanne Young (R). Gov. Phil Scott (R) had appointed Young to replace former Attorney General T.J. Donovan (D) in 2022.
- From Democratic to Republican
- In Iowa, Brenna Bird (R) defeated incumbent Tom Miller (D). Miller was the only incumbent defeated in 2022.
Voters decided who would control 34 of 50 state attorney general offices in 2022. Thirty offices were up for election, and four offices’ appointment authorities were on the ballot.
Historical control
In 1977, the Democratic Party held a total of 27 elected attorney general offices to the Republican Party's 16. The Democratic lead in attorney general offices would be maintained through the 1990s, as opposed to the other three top executive offices, which became majority-Republican following the 1994 midterm elections. In the 2010 midterm elections, the Republican Party gained a lead in elected attorney general offices, with 22 elected attorneys general to the Democrats' 21. The Democratic victory in the 2013 Virginia election for attorney general caused the party to briefly regain a 22-21 majority of elected attorney general offices. This lead was lost in the 2014 midterm elections. After that point, the Republican Party grew its majority control of elected attorney general offices, although the difference between the two parties was three or fewer from 2019 to 2023.
Important dates and deadlines
The table below lists important dates throughout the 2023 election cycle for states that held statewide elections in 2023, including filing deadlines and primary dates.
Primary dates and filing deadlines, 2023 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
State | Primary date | Primary runoff date | Filing deadline for primary candidates | Source |
Kentucky | 5/16/2023 | K.A. | 1/6/2023 | Source |
Louisiana | 10/14/2023 | K.A. | 8/10/2023 | Source |
Mississippi | 8/8/2023 | 8/29/2023 | 2/1/2023 | Source |
New Jersey | 6/6/2023 | K.A. | 3/27/2023 | Source |
Pennsylvania | 5/16/2023 | K.A. | 3/7/2023 | Source |
Virginia | 6/20/2023 | K.A. | 4/6/2023 | Source |
Washington | 8/1/2023 | K.A. | 5/19/2023 | Source |
Wisconsin | 2/21/2023 | K.A. | 1/3/2023 | Source |
About the office
Although Ballotpedia covers Washington, D.C., and the five U.S. territories and their officeholders, D.C. and territory officeholders are not included in the following figures.
Selection process
The attorney general is directly elected in 43 states. The attorney general is appointed by the state Legislature in Maine, by the state Supreme Court in Tennessee, and by the governor in the remaining five states.
Compensation
According to compensation figures for 2017 compiled by the Council of State Governments in the Book of the States, the highest salary for an attorney general is $182,688 in Tennessee, while the lowest is $80,000 in Colorado. To view the compensation of a particular attorney general, hover your mouse over the state.[4]
Initiate local prosecution
In 47 states—all except Connecticut, North Carolina, and Arkansas—the attorney general has the power to initiate prosecution at the local level, although 28 states place limits on this power.[5]
Supersede local prosecution
In 36 states, the attorney general has the power to take over a case handled by a local prosecutor without instructions from the governor or legislature, although this power is restricted to certain cases in 22 of those states. This differs from general power of oversight over legal matters in a state and the ability of some attorneys general to initiate local prosecution or to step in and provide assistance to a local prosecutor without instructions from the governor or legislature. In Alaska and Delaware, the attorney general's office is responsible for handling all local prosecution by default.[5]
Criminal appeals
The attorney general has the power to represent the state in criminal appeals in 46 states, although this power is restricted in five of those states.[5]
Term limits
A total of 17 states impose some form of term limits on attorneys general.
See also
- State executive official elections, 2023
- Attorney General elections, 2022
- State executive official elections, 2022
Footnotes
- ↑ Cameron ran for governor of Kentucky in 2023.
- ↑ Landry ran for governor of Louisiana in 2023.
- ↑ This is because it is very uncommon for an attorney general or secretary of state appointed by a governor to often be in direct conflict with that governor.
- ↑ Council of State Governments, "Book of the States 2017 - Selected State Administrative Officials: Annual Salaries," accessed October 22, 2017
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Council of State Governments, "Book of the States 2017 - Attorneys General: Prosecutorial and Advisory Duties," accessed December 3, 2017
|
|