Elections are usually about choices: choices between platforms, choices between parties, choices between personalities. Yet voters don’t always have a choice when they go to the polls. In the 46 states in which there were elections in 2014, more than one-third of all legislative races were not contested in the general election—the highest of any election since 2000. This repeats the 2012 scenario in those 46 states, when 33 percent of all seats were uncontested. It is up significantly from the last midterms in those 46 states in 2010 when 27 percent of all seats were uncontested.
Our analysis shows the presence or absence of term limits influences the number of contested races. Hawaii and Michigan had the highest percentage of contested seats in 2014, when every single legislative seat was contested. Michigan, which has term limits, consistently ranks amongst the most competitive states, with an average of 98 percent of legislative races contested. Hawaii, however, does not have term limits, and 76 percent of its races are typically contested. Georgia was the least contested state, with only 20 percent of races contested. Georgia does not have term limits.
Percent of Contested Legislative Races in 46 States, 2014![PercentLegContestedRacesbyState2014](assets/Uploads/_resampled/ResizedImage600562-PercentLegContestedRacesbyState2014.png)
Percent of Contested Legislative Races in 46 States, 2014 & 2001–2012 Average
State | Percent of Contested Legislative Races in 2014 | Average Percent of Contested Legislative Races, 2001–2012 |
---|---|---|
Alabama | 43% | 52% |
Alaska | 78% | 73% |
Arizona* | 88% | 76% |
Arkansas* | 36% | 36% |
California* | 96% | 95% |
Colorado* | 83% | 88% |
Connecticut | 81% | 78% |
Delaware | 65% | 62% |
Florida* | 60% | 60% |
Georgia | 20% | 34% |
Hawaii | 100% | 76% |
Idaho | 60% | 67% |
Illinois | 40% | 53% |
Indiana | 57% | 72% |
Iowa | 57% | 71% |
Kansas | 60% | 63% |
Kentucky | 53% | 46% |
Maine• | 92% | 94% |
Maryland | 80% | 79% |
Massachusetts | 44% | 42% |
Michigan* | 100% | 98% |
Minnesota | 93% | 97% |
Missouri* | 53% | 65% |
Montana* | 86% | 80% |
Nebraska* | 83% | 71% |
Nevada* | 81% | 90% |
New Hampshire | 87% | 94% |
New Mexico | 51% | 45% |
New York | 66% | 78% |
North Carolina | 53% | 63% |
North Dakota | 72% | 89% |
Ohio* | 84% | 85% |
Oklahoma* | 38% | 51% |
Oregon | 78% | 85% |
Pennsylvania | 49% | 62% |
Rhode Island | 42% | 62% |
South Carolina | 28% | 33% |
South Dakota* | 61% | 80% |
Tennessee | 44% | 56% |
Texas | 58% | 63% |
Utah | 84% | 85% |
Vermont | 62% | 70% |
Washington | 85% | 78% |
West Virginia | 91% | 81% |
Wisconsin | 59% | 68% |
Wyoming | 36% | 41% |
TOTAL | 64% | 69% |
*States that have legislative term limits. Source: National Conference of State Legislatures
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