Attorney General (state executive office)
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| Elections by Year |
| 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011 • 2010 |
Political parties
The chart below is a breakdown of the political parties pertaining to the state executive office of attorney general. For other state executive offices, click here.
| Office |  Democratic
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 Republican
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 Independent
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Nonpartisan | Total seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attorney General | 22 | 27 | 0 | 1 | 50 |
| Counts current as of September 2016. If you see an error, please email us | |||||
Current officeholders
List of Current Attorneys General
Note: If an office becomes vacant, it will appear in a separate table below the list of current officeholders.
There are no vacancies at this time.
Elected vs. appointed
Attorneys general are chosen in four different ways; they are either popularly elected or appointed by the governor, the state legislature, or the state supreme court. The office is elective in 43 states and chosen by a state government organ in seven.
The attorney general is appointed by the governor in five states: Alaska, Hawaii, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Wyoming.
In Maine, the attorney general is chosen by the state legislature, while in Tennessee the choice falls to the state supreme court.
| Quick facts about Attorneys General |
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Election history
2016
- See also: Attorney General elections, 2016
Ten states will hold elections for attorney general in 2016:
2015
- See also: Attorney General elections, 2015
Three states held elections for attorney general in 2015: Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi. In Kentucky, Andy Beshear (D) won election to the attorney general seat. Democrat Jim Hood was re-elected in Mississippi, while Republican Jeff Landry defeated incumbent Buddy Caldwell, also a Republican, in a runoff in Louisiana.
2014
- Main article: Attorney General elections, 2014
Thirty states held regularly scheduled attorney general elections in the 2014 electoral cycle:
Utah also held a special election to fill the remaining two years of John Swallow's term.
2013
- Main article: State executive official elections, 2013
One state, Virginia, held a regularly scheduled attorney general election in 2013. State Senators Mark Herring (D) and Mark Obenshain (R) faced off in the general election on November 5, 2013, and the race was considered too close to call until the State Board of Elections certified the results of the race on November 25, 2013, naming Herring the victor by a margin of 165 votes.[3][4] Since the margin was equal to or less than 0.5 percent of the total vote, Obenshain, as the losing candidate, was entitled to request a publicly financed recount, which he did on November 27.[5][6] The recount began on December 26, and Obenshain conceded to Herring two days later, giving a Democrat control of the office for the first time in almost two decades.[7][8]
2012
Ten states held attorney general elections in the 2012 electoral cycle: Indiana, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Vermont, Washington and West Virginia.
Heading into the November election, the Democrats held six of the seats and the Republicans held four seats. Five incumbents sought, and won, re-election, and the status breakdown of the remaining seats was as follows:
- Two - Montana AG Steve Bullock (D) and Washington AG Rob McKenna (R) - ran for the governorship in their respective states in 2012.
- One - Utah AG Mark Shurtleff (R) - retired from office.
- One - 2011 appointee Pennsylvania AG Linda Kelly (R) - did not run for election due to the terms of her Senate confirmation.
- One - Oregon AG John Kroger (D) - resigned six months ahead of schedule to take a new job as President of Reed College in Portland. Gov. John Kitzhaber appointed Ellen Rosenblum, who was running for 2012 election to the attorney general post at the time, to serve as interim attorney general for the remainder of his unexpired term. Rosenblum was elected to a full term in the general election on November 6, 2012.
Democrats won six of the 2012 races while Republicans took four, thus the partisan balance remained unchanged.
2011
- Main article: Attorney General elections, 2011
Three states, Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi, had regularly scheduled attorney general elections in the 2011 electoral cycle.
Incumbents were re-elected in all three states. Democratic incumbents Jack Conway (KY) and Jim Hood (MS) successfully defended their posts against Republican challengers Todd P’Pool and Steve Simpson, respectively. The Attorney General of Louisiana election was decided even before the October 22, 2011 primary election. Incumbent Republican Buddy Caldwell was unopposed in the race after his sole challenger, former U.S. Representative Joseph Cao, withdrew from the race in late September 2011, and the office of attorney general did not appear on the ballot.[9]
2010
- Main article: Attorney General elections, 2010
Thirty attorney general elections were held on November 2, 2010. Of the 30 seats that were up for election, 20 were held by a Democrat and 10 by a Republican. Of those 30 races, 16 were won by Republicans and 14 by Democrats- a net gain of six by Republicans over their pre-election total.
| Partisan breakdown of State Attorneys General | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Before November 2010 election | After November 2010 election | |||||||
| With 2010 elections | Unelected AGs | Total AGs | Post 2010 elections | Unelected AGs | Total AGs | Gain/loss legislators | |||
| |
20 | 12 | 32 | 14 | 12 | 26 | -6 | ||
| |
10 | 8 | 18 | 16 | 8 | 24 | +6 | ||
Recent news
This section displays the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Attorney General State. This list of articles is automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles; they are included to provide readers with the most recent news articles on the subject. Click here to learn more about this section.
See also
- State executive offices
- State executive official elections, 2012
- State executive official elections, 2013
- State executive official elections, 2014
- State executive official elections, 2015
- National Association of Attorneys General
- Democratic Attorneys General Association
- Republican Attorneys General Association
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ The National Association of Attorneys General, "Home," accessed March 26, 2013
- ↑ Council of State Governments, "The Book of States 2012," accessed October 17, 2012
- ↑ Virginia State Board of Elections, " Election Results – General Election – November 5, 2013," accessed November 13, 2013 at 7:40 a.m. CT
- ↑ Washington Post, "Herring wins Virginia attorney general race, elections board announces," November 25, 2013
- ↑ USA Today, "Virginia attorney general race heads to recount," November 27, 2013
- ↑ Politico, "Mark Obenshain to request recount in Virginia attorney general race," November 26, 2013
- ↑ Politico, "Mark Obenshain to request recount in Virginia attorney general race," November 26, 2013
- ↑ Washington Post, Obenshain concedes Virginia attorney general’s race to Herring, December 18, 2013
- ↑ The Green Papers, "2010 Gubernatorial Primaries at a Glance"
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