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Ballotpedia's Candidate Filing Analysis Hub, 2026

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2026 Elections
Choose your state:
See also: Primary election competitiveness in state and federal government, 2026

This article provides links to Ballotpedia's competitiveness analysis of congressional and state legislative elections held in 2026. These analyses provide an understanding of how competitive the year's primary elections appeared to be following each state's filing deadline.

These analyses are based on the following metrics:

  • The number of incumbents who did not seek re-election
  • The total number of contested primaries
  • The number of incumbents with primary challengers.

Historical comparisons are also provided for context. Click here to learn more about how Ballotpedia defines and calculates competitiveness.

Congressional post-filing deadline data by state

Click on a state name to view congressional competitiveness data for that state, compiled after the state's 2026 filing deadline. Competitiveness information is added to the pages below after each state's filing deadline.

State legislative post-filing deadline data by state, 2026

Click on a state name to view state legislative competitiveness data for that state, compiled after the state's 2026 filing deadline. Competitiveness information is added to the pages below after each state's filing deadline.

National competitiveness overview, 2014-2026

The table below shows aggregate primary competitiveness and incumbency statistics by office in 2026. You may need to move the table horizontally using the scrollbar at the bottom of the table depending on your screen size.

2026 aggregate primary competitiveness data
OfficeDistricts/officesSeatsOpen seatsCandidatesPossible primariesContested Democratic primariesContested Republican primariesContested top-two primaries% of contested primariesIncumbents in contested primaries% of incumbents in contested primaries
U.S. Senate442688440100.0%2100.0%
U.S. House7373115291465952076.0%3865.5%
State executive21289130561217051.8%947.4%
State legislative610610751317122093131018.4%11020.6%
Total7087159720441430168204026.0%15925.9%


The table below shows overall primary competitiveness statistics each cycle since 2010.

Comparison of overall primary competitiveness percentages, 2010-2026
 201020122014201620182020202220242026Average
Open seats (%)18.7%21.9%16.9%17.4%20.0%15.0%23.5%16.9%13.6%18.8%
Total primaries (%)18.3%18.5%18.2%19.1%23.2%20.5%24.3%19.2%26.0%20.2%
Inc. in contested primaries (%)20.0%23.3%21.7%22.8%24.9%22.7%30.2%23.8%25.9%23.7%

Breakdown by office

This section shows competitiveness statistics broken down by office type. Click a tab to view competitiveness information from that office.

This analysis uses the following definitions:

  • Total candidates: the total number of major party candidates running in primary elections.[1]
  • Total seats: the total number of seats or offices up for election with the possibility of a primary election.
  • Open seats: the total number of seats, out of the total seats figure, where the incumbent did not file to run for re-election or filed to run for re-election but withdrew before the primary filing deadline.
  • Incumbents contested: the total number of incumbents in contested primaries.
  • Democratic/Republican/Top-two primaries: the total number of these types of primaries where at least one candidate could have failed to advance to the general election.
  • Total primaries: a combination of all Democratic, Republican, and top-two primaries where at least one candidate could have failed to advance to the general election.
See also: Annual Congressional Competitiveness Report, 2026
 201020122014201620182020202220242026Average
Open seats (%)--19.4%13.9%9.1%12.1%17.6%23.5%50.0%16.6%
Total primaries (%)--63.9%65.2%70.3%69.2%82.8%57.6%100.0%68.8%
Inc. in contested primaries (%)--56.0%58.1%50.0%53.6%75.0%54.2%100.0%57.3%


Definitions

Below are definitions of terms and metrics used in this analysis.

  • Districts/offices: the number of districts or offices up for election. Since some state legislative districts and state executive offices are represented by more than one officeholder, this number may be smaller than the number of seats.
  • Seats: the number of seats up for election.
  • Open seats: the number of open seats. This analysis defines a seat as open if the incumbent did not file to run for re-election or filed but withdrew and did not appear on any ballot for the district/office.[2]
  • Candidates: the number of candidates participating in primaries. If the race is a top-two primary, all candidates are counted. In all other primaries, only major-party candidates are counted.[3]
  • Possible primaries: this figure reflects the number of major-party primaries that are possible. In most cases, this figure is twice the number of districts/offices up for election, since every district could have a Democratic and a Republican primary. If top-two primaries are used, there is only one primary per district/office. If a convention is the only method of nomination, it is not counted as a possible primary.[4][5]
  • Contested Democratic/Republican/top-two primaries: these figures show the total number of primaries where at least one candidate will be defeated, meaning there are more candidates in the primary than there are seats.
  • % of contested primaries: calculated by dividing the sum of all contested primaries by the number of possible primaries.
  • Incumbents in contested primaries: the number of incumbents who appear on a primary ballot where he or she could be defeated.[6]
  • % of incumbents in contested primaries: calculated by dividing the number of incumbents in contested primaries by the number of incumbents seeking re-election.[7]

|tab-2-label=Alabama |tab-panel-2-content= Alabama's filing deadline was on January 23, 2026. Candidates filed to run for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, state executive offices, and state legislative offices.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ In top-two primaries, all candidates, regardless of party affiliation, are counted. If a convention is the sole means of nomination, only the candidate(s) advancing beyond the convention are counted.
  2. ↑ If an incumbent withdrew from or did not participate in a primary, but later chose to run for re-election as a minor party or independent candidate, his or her seat would not be counted as open.
  3. ↑ If a convention is the sole means of nomination, only the candidate(s) advancing beyond the convention are counted.
  4. ↑ For example, if there are 50 districts up for election, there would be 100 possible primaries. If Democrats in five districts and Republicans in two districts chose to nominate candidates via a convention, the number of possible primaries would decrease to 93
    ((50 * 2) - 7).
  5. ↑ If conventions are used, but could still result in a primary, that is included as a possible primary even if the convention did not proceed to a primary. For example, in some states a candidate can advance to the general election from a convention outright if he or she receives a certain percentage of the vote. If that percentage is not met, the race may proceed to a primary.
  6. ↑ Incumbents participating in contested nominating conventions are not included in this total. If the incumbent participates in a convention and advances to a contested primary, he or she would be included. This figure include all incumbents whose name appear on a contested primary ballot even if that incumbent passed away or unofficially withdrew before the election.
  7. ↑ Incumbents seeking re-election can typically be calculated by subtracting the number of open seats from the number of total seats.
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