State legislative elections without a Democratic or Republican candidate, 2021

Ballotpedia analysis: 2021 Elections
State executive elections without a Democratic or Republican candidate State legislative elections without a Democratic or Republican candidate

Ballotpedia tracked state legislative races without a Democratic or Republican candidate in the 2021 elections. In 2021, a total of six races did not have a Democratic candidate, and six races did not have a Republican candidate.^[1] Click here for information comparing state legislative races with only one major party candidate in 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020.

In the 50 states, there are 99 state legislative chambers altogether. Three of those chambers held legislative elections in 2021. The general election for state legislative races was held on November 2, 2021.

• Click here for the list of races without a Democratic candidate
• Click here for the list of races without a Republican candidate

Races without Democratic candidates

• New Jersey State Senate:
  • District 24

• Virginia House of Delegates:
  • Districts 1, 3, 4, 6, & 60

Races without Republican candidates

• New Jersey State Senate:
  • Districts 5, 20, & 29

• New Jersey General Assembly:
  • Districts 20 & 29

• Virginia House of Delegates:
  • District 70

Democratic and Republican races without major party opposition

Totals over time

Historical context

Races with and without major party opposition: 2010 - 2020 (even years)

The table below shows state legislative races with and without major party opposition for even-year races between 2010 and 2020. Even-year elections have significantly more state legislative seats up for election than odd-year elections do, making direct comparisons between years like 2019 and 2020 uninformative when it comes to races with and without major party opposition.

Methodology

There are several methodological approaches Ballotpedia used to calculate the number of races without a Democratic or Republican candidate on this page:

• State legislative districts can be either single-member districts (SMD - only one seat is up for election in a single district) or multi-member districts (MMD - more than one seat is up for election in a single district). Regardless of district type, this page counted races without a Democratic or Republican candidate, not seats. This means that if an MMD race with three seats up for election in a single year had a Democratic or Republican candidate file for any one of those seats, the race was counted as having a Democratic or Republican candidate and was not factored into the numbers reported on this page.

• Write-in candidates were not counted as candidates for the purpose of races without a Democratic or Republican candidate. However, if a write-in candidate advanced from a primary to a general election and became a regular candidate on the general election ballot, that candidate was counted for the purposes of races without a Democratic or Republican candidate.

• Candidates who unofficially withdrew from a race but still appeared on the ballot were counted as candidates for the purpose of this analysis. This meant that a race did not count as a race without a Democratic or Republican candidate if an unofficially withdrawn candidate still appeared on the ballot.

• In California and Washington state, which have top-two primary systems, a race was counted as not having a Democratic or Republican candidate if no candidate from a major party advanced from the primary election to the general election.

• The analysis does not include special elections for state legislative seats. It also does not include regular elections for legislative offices in the U.S. territories.

See also

• Competitiveness reports: 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010
• State legislative elections, 2021
• State legislative special elections, 2021
• State executive official elections without a Democratic or Republican candidate, 2021
• State legislative elections without a Democratic or Republican candidate, 2020

Footnotes

v • e Competitiveness in State Legislative Elections Background A "Competitiveness Index" for capturing competitiveness in state legislative elections • Creating an absolute measure for the "Competitiveness Index" in state legislative elections • Year-by-year comparison of results • Factors Affecting Competitiveness in State Legislative Elections 2023 Competitiveness Analysis Main Page • Impact of term limits • Open seats • Contested primaries • Incumbents in contested primaries • Major party competition • Incumbents defeated • Primary statistics 2022 Competitiveness Analysis Main Page • Impact of term limits • Open seats • Contested primaries • Incumbents in contested primaries • Major party competition • Incumbents defeated • Primary statistics 2021 Competitiveness Analysis Main Page • Major party competition • Open seats • Impact of term limits • Incumbents in contested primaries • Primary competitiveness • Incumbents defeated 2020 Competitiveness Analysis Main Page • Major party candidates with major party opposition • Open seats • Impact of term limits • Incumbents in contested primaries • Primary competitiveness • Incumbents defeated 2019 Competitiveness Analysis Main Page • Major party candidates with major party opposition • Open seats • Impact of term limits • Primary competitiveness • Incumbents defeated 2018 Competitiveness Analysis Main Page • Major party candidates with major party opposition • Open seats • Aftermath of the 2016 presidential election 2017 Primary competitiveness • Open seats • Incumbents with no primary challenger • Major party candidates with major party opposition • Incumbents defeated 2016 Competitiveness Analysis Main Page • Open Seats • Incumbents with no primary challenger • Major party candidates with major party opposition • Incumbents defeated 2015 Competitiveness Analysis Main Page • Open Seats • Incumbents with no primary challenger • Major party candidates with major party opposition • States Compared by Competitiveness • Incumbents defeated • Victorious challengers • List of candidates with no primary or general election opposition 2014 Competitiveness Analysis Main Page • Open Seats • Incumbents with no primary challenger • Major party candidates with major party opposition • States Compared by Competitiveness • Incumbents defeated • Victorious challengers • List of candidates with no primary or general election opposition 2013 Competitiveness Analysis Main Page • Open Seats • Incumbents with no primary challenger • Major party candidates with major party opposition • States Compared by Competitiveness • Incumbents with no primary or general election opposition • Incumbents defeated • Victorious challengers • List of candidates with no major party opposition 2012 Competitiveness Analysis Main Page • Open Seats • Incumbents with no primary challenger • Major party candidates with major party opposition • States Compared by Competitiveness • Incumbents with no primary or general election opposition • Incumbents defeated • Victorious challengers • List of candidates with no major party opposition • Impact of term limits 2011 Competitiveness Analysis Main Page • Open Seats • Incumbents with no primary challenger • Major party candidates with major party opposition • States Compared by Competitiveness • Incumbents with no primary or general election opposition • Incumbents defeated • Victorious challengers • List of candidates with no major party opposition • Impact of term limits 2010 Competitiveness Analysis Main Page • Open Seats •Incumbents with no primary challenger • Major party candidates with major party opposition • States Compared by Competitiveness • Incumbents with no primary or general election opposition • Incumbents defeated • Victorious challengers • List of candidates with no major party opposition • Impact of term limits 2009 Competitiveness Analysis Main Page • Open Seats • Incumbents with no primary challenger • Major party candidates with major party opposition 2007 Competitiveness Analysis Main Page • Open Seats • Incumbents with no primary challenger • Major party candidates with major party opposition

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) 2024 State legislative elections (2024) • State legislative special elections (2024) • Primary dates and filing requirements • 2024 Session Dates 2023 State legislative elections (2023) • State legislative special elections (2023) • Primary dates and filing requirements • 2023 Session Dates 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 How vacancies are filled in state legislatures • States with a full-time legislature • State legislatures with term limits • Comparison of state legislative salaries • When state legislators assume office after a general election • Population represented by state legislators • State constitutional articles governing state legislatures • State legislative sessions • Resign-to-run law • State legislature candidate requirements by state • Official names of state legislatures • State legislative chambers that use multi-member districts • Factors Affecting Competitiveness in State Legislative Elections State senates Length of terms of state senators • State senators • Partisan composition of state senates • State senators sorted by year first elected State houses Length of terms of state representatives • State representatives • Partisan composition of state houses • State representatives sorted by year first elected Leadership positions President of the Senate • President Pro Tempore • Senate Majority Leader • Senate Minority Leader • House Majority Leader • House Minority Leader • State Speaker of the House