Incumbents with a primary challenger in the 2016 state legislative elections

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
2016 State
Legislative Elections
2017 »
« 2015
Ballotpedia Election Coverage Badge.png
Part 1: Overview
Part 2: Battlegrounds
Part 3: Competitiveness
  Impact of term limits
Part 4: Elections by state
  Election dates
2016 Elections
Choose a chamber below:

In the 44 states with elections there were 5,923 state legislative seats up for election on November 8, 2016.[1]

How many state legislative incumbents who chose to run for re-election in 2016 faced a primary challenger?

  • A total of 1,005 incumbents faced a primary challenger in 2016. Because 4,883 incumbents ran for re-election in 2016, that means that only 20.6% of them faced a primary challenger. In 2014, 1,009 (20.1%) of incumbents faced a primary opponent.
  • The remaining 3,878 incumbents (79.4%) that ran for re-election in 2016 had no primary challenger.

The top five states ranked by incumbents facing primary opposition included:

  1. West Virginia
  2. New Hampshire
  3. Nevada
  4. Hawaii
  5. Wyoming

The lowest ranking states included:

44. Maine
43. Connecticut
42. Minnesota
41. Wisconsin
40. Oregon

Incumbents defeated

Primary elections

Historically, incumbents who run for re-election rarely lose in the primary. In 2016, 123 incumbents were defeated in primary elections. About 10 percent of incumbents are defeated in an average election cycle, with most of those defeats occurring in the general election.

Democratic Party There were 39 Democratic incumbents defeated. In other words, 90.4 percent of all Democratic incumbents who faced a primary defeated their challenger.
Republican Party Another 84 Republican incumbents were defeated. In other words, 86.1 percent of all GOP incumbents who faced a primary defeated their challenger.

Click here to see more data on incumbents who were defeated in 2016 elections »

States compared by incumbents with primary opposition

The following table details the number of seats where the incumbent faced primary opposition in 2016.

"Senate (or house) at stake" represents the number of seats up in the chamber. The number of incumbents that faced a primary challenger in each chamber is listed in the columns labeled "Senate Incumbents w/ primary" and "House Incumbents w/ primary." Those figures are added and used in the columns "Total Incumbents w/ primary" and "% w/ primary."

Each state is ranked under the column "Primary challenger rank," with the highest percentage of incumbents with primary opposition at rank one. "Overall competitive rank" is based on composite scores from data collected on open seats, incumbents with primary opposition and seats with more than one general election candidate.

States compared by incumbents with primary opposition
State Senate at stake Senate Incumbents w/ primary House at stake House Incumbents w/ primary Total Incumbents w/ primary % w/ primary Primary rank Overall rank
Alaska 10 0 40 12 12 29.3% 15 18
Arizona 30 3 60 16 19 29.2% 13 19
Arkansas 17 2 100 8 10 9.8% 36 43
California 20 6 80 20 26 35.1% 6 9
Colorado 18 0 65 5 5 8.5% 38 12
Connecticut 36 3 151 7 10 6.1% 43 25
Delaware 11 1 41 5 6 12.0% 33 37
Florida 40 3 120 11 14 14.3% 30 21
Georgien 56 12 180 37 49 22.5% 20 42
Hawaii 14 5 51 20 25 40.3% 4 26
Idaho 35 5 70 26 31 32.3% 9 21
Illinois 40 4 118 13 17 11.8% 34 39
Indiana 25 5 100 12 17 15.7% 28 23
Iowa 25 0 100 9 9 8.0% 39 33
Kansas 40 11 125 28 39 29.8% 12 13
Kentucky 19 4 100 14 18 16.5% 26 30
Maine 35 2 151 2 4 2.7% 44 16
Massachusetts 40 4 160 17 21 11.2% 35 44
Michigan - - 110 23 23 33.3% 7 1
Minnesota 67 4 134 7 11 6.4% 42 14
Missouri 17 2 163 19 21 14.9% 29 32
Montana 25 1 100 12 13 16.7% 24 5
Nebraska 25 4 -- -- 4 16.0% 18 2
Nevada 11 3 42 14 17 41.5% 3 7
New Hampshire 124 1 400 124 125 40.7% 2 3
New Mexico 42 4 70 5 9 8.8% 37 40
New York 63 7 150 27 34 17.6% 23 29
North Carolina 50 7 120 24 31 20.7% 21 27
North Dakota 23 1 46 6 7 13.0% 32 11
Ohio 16 4 99 10 14 16.3% 27 15
Oklahoma 25 9 101 19 28 33.3% 8 8
Oregon 15 1 60 3 4 7.0% 40 24
Pennsylvania 25 4 203 25 29 13.9% 31 34
Rhode Island 38 6 75 12 18 17.0% 25 41
South Carolina 46 19 124 21 40 26.1% 19 38
South Dakota 35 6 70 12 18 28.1% 17 10
Tennessee 16 7 99 27 34 31.5% 10 28
Texas 16 3 150 41 44 29.5% 14 35
Utah 15 5 75 18 23 29.1% 16 20
Vermont 30 12 150 15 27 18.5% 22 31
Washington 26 5 98 27 32 31.1% 11 17
West Virginia 18 6 100 34 40 43.0% 1 4
Wisconsin 16 1 99 6 7 6.9% 41 36
Wyoming 15 2 60 18 20 35.7% 5 6

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey and Virginia hold state legislative elections in odd-numbered years. Alabama and Maryland hold elections every four years.
v • e
Competitiveness in State Legislative Elections
Background
Competitive Analysis Main Logo.JPG
2024
Competitiveness Analysis Main Page • Impact of term limits • Open seats • Contested primaries • Incumbents in contested primaries • Major party competition • Incumbents defeated • Primary statistics
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2007
v • e
State legislatures
Legislatures
Alabama (H, S) · Alaska (H, S) · Arizona (H, S) · Arkansas (H, S) · California (A, S) · Colorado (H, S) · Connecticut (H, S) · Delaware (H, S) · Florida (H, S) · Georgia (H, S) · Hawaii (H, S) · Idaho (H, S) · Illinois (H, S) · Indiana (H, S) · Iowa (H, S) · Kansas (H, S) · Kentucky (H, S) · Louisiana (H, S) · Maine (H, S) · Maryland (H, S) · Massachusetts (H, S) · Michigan (H, S) · Minnesota (H, S) · Mississippi (H, S) · Missouri (H, S) · Montana (H, S) · Nebraska · Nevada (A, S) · New Hampshire (H, S) · New Jersey (GA, S) · New Mexico (H, S) · New York (A, S) · North Carolina (H, S) · North Dakota (H, S) · Ohio (H, S) · Oklahoma (H, S) · Oregon (H, S) · Pennsylvania (H, S) · Rhode Island (H, S) · South Carolina (H, S) · South Dakota (H, S) · Tennessee (H, S) · Texas (H, S) · Utah (H, S) · Vermont (H, S) · Virginia (H, S) · Washington (H, S) · West Virginia (H, S) · Wisconsin (A, S) · Wyoming (H, S)
SLP badge.png
2024
2023
Historical elections
2022 •  2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011 • 2010 • 2009 • 2008 • 2007 • 2006 • 2005 • 2004 • 2003 • 2002 • 2001 • 2000
Features of
state legislatures
State senates
State houses
Leadership positions
v • e
Ballotpedia
Über uns
Editorial Content
Geoff Pallay, Director of Editorial Content and Editor-in-Chief • Ken Carbullido, Vice President of Election Product and Technology Strategy • Daniel Anderson, Managing Editor • Ryan Byrne, Managing Editor • Cory Eucalitto, Managing Editor • Mandy Gillip, Managing Editor • Doug Kronaizl, Local Elections Project Manager • Jaclyn Beran • Marielle Bricker • Joseph Brusgard • Emma Burlingame • Kelly Coyle • Thomas Ellis • Nicole Fisher • Brianna Hosea • Joseph Greaney • Thomas Grobben • Jaime Healy-Plotkin • Tyler King • Glorie Martinez • Nathan Maxwell • Ellie Mikus • Jackie Mitchell • Ellen Morrissey • Mackenzie Murphy • Kaley Platek • Samantha Post • Adam Powell • Ethan Rice • Spencer Richardson • Victoria Rose • Briana Ryan • Myj Saintyl • Maddy Salucka • Maddie Sinclair Johnson • Abbey Smith • Ethan Sorell • Janie Valentine • Joel Williams • Samuel Wonacott • Trenton Woodcox • Mercedes Yanora
v • e
Ballotpedia
Über uns
Editorial Content
Geoff Pallay, Director of Editorial Content and Editor-in-Chief • Ken Carbullido, Vice President of Election Product and Technology Strategy • Daniel Anderson, Managing Editor • Ryan Byrne, Managing Editor • Cory Eucalitto, Managing Editor • Mandy Gillip, Managing Editor • Doug Kronaizl, Local Elections Project Manager • Jaclyn Beran • Marielle Bricker • Joseph Brusgard • Emma Burlingame • Kelly Coyle • Thomas Ellis • Nicole Fisher • Brianna Hosea • Joseph Greaney • Thomas Grobben • Jaime Healy-Plotkin • Tyler King • Glorie Martinez • Nathan Maxwell • Ellie Mikus • Jackie Mitchell • Ellen Morrissey • Mackenzie Murphy • Kaley Platek • Samantha Post • Adam Powell • Ethan Rice • Spencer Richardson • Victoria Rose • Briana Ryan • Myj Saintyl • Maddy Salucka • Maddie Sinclair Johnson • Abbey Smith • Ethan Sorell • Janie Valentine • Joel Williams • Samuel Wonacott • Trenton Woodcox • Mercedes Yanora
Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Incumbents_with_a_primary_challenger_in_the_2016_state_legislative_elections&oldid=8520431"