Comparison of state legislative election and session dates, 2020
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In 2020, 44 states held legislative elections and 46 states held legislative sessions. This page compares the dates of state legislative filing deadlines, primaries, general elections, and sessions to illustrate how they can overlap and interact with one another.
A filing deadline is the date by which a candidate must submit information in order to appear on a ballot. These deadlines vary from state to state. For the 2020 elections, Arkansas' filing deadline was November 12, 2019, nearly a year before the general election. In Delaware, it was on July 14, 2020.
In 17 of the 44 states holding legislative elections in 2020, filing deadlines were scheduled to occur after the end of the state legislative session. This means that, in those states, candidates could base their decision to run for office on events that occurred during the legislative session. Candidates in the remaining states had to file either during or before their legislative session or during a suspended session.
Primaries are elections used either to narrow the field of candidates for a given elective office or to determine the nominees for political parties in advance of a general election. In 2020, four states—Arkansas, California, North Carolina, and Texas—held the earliest state legislative primaries on March 3 whereas Delaware held the latest primary on September 15.
In the 40 states holding state legislative elections and regularly-scheduled legislative sessions, 33 primaries were scheduled to take place after the end of the state's legislative session. Two states' primaries—Arkansas and North Carolina—were scheduled to take place before their legislative sessions. This means that, in those states, an incumbent could be challenged and defeated in a primary prior to the start of their final legislative session.
States with a Republican trifecta tended to have shorter legislative sessions than states with Democratic trifectas or divided governments. On average, states with Republican trifectas have an average session length of 100 days whereas states with Democratic trifectas average 130 days. States with divided governments have an average session length of 151 days. Of the states with the ten longest sessions, only one—Ohio—has a Republican trifecta. The remaining nine consist of five states with Democratic trifectas and four with divided governments.
On this page, you will find:
- Filing deadlines for state legislative candidates relative to state legislative sessions
- Which states hold legislative primaries before, during, and after their legislative sessions
- The length of time between filing deadlines and primaries
- The projected length of all 2020 legislative sessions
- An overview of all state legislative session and election lengths and dates
Filing deadline relative to legislative session
In 2020, five states—Arkansas, California, Illinois, North Carolina, and Ohio—scheduled filing deadlines to occur before their 2020 legislative sessions. In all five states, those deadlines were scheduled in 2019. This means that incumbent legislators running for re-election had to file their candidacy before returning to the final legislative session to which they were previously elected.
Thirteen states scheduled their filing deadlines to occur during their legislative sessions. In nine states, the filing deadline ultimately passed during a special or suspended legislative session due to the coronavirus pandemic. The remaining 17 states scheduled their filing deadlines to occur after their legislative sessions. Four states—Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, and Texas—meet in odd-numbered years so all 2020 filing deadlines were scheduled after their previous 2019 sessions. Six states—Alabama, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia—did not have any regular state legislative elections and, therefore no state legislative filing deadlines scheduled in 2020 and are not represented here.
The table and map below list the filing deadlines for the 44 states holding legislative elections in 2020 and whether they were scheduled to occur before, during, or after a state's legislative session.[1] An additional column lists those states where the filing deadline ultimately passed during a special or suspended legislative session due to the coronavirus. For example, in Kentucky, the 2020 state legislative filing deadline occurred while the state legislature was in session whereas in Arkansas, the filing deadline passed before the legislative session began.
| Filing deadline relative to session | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before session | During session | After session | During suspended/special session | ||||
| State | Deadline | State | Deadline | State | Deadline | State | Deadline |
| Arkansas | November 12, 2019 | Kentucky | January 10, 2020 | Texas | December 9, 2019 | Colorado[2] | March 17, 2020 |
| Illinois | December 2, 2019 | West Virginia | January 25, 2020 | Montana | March 9, 2020 | New York[3] | March 17, 2020[4] |
| California | December 6, 2019 | Indiana | February 7, 2020 | New Mexico | March 10, 2020 | South Carolina[5] | March 30, 2020 |
| Ohio | December 18, 2019 | Pennsylvania | February 18, 2020 | Oregon | March 10, 2020 | Missouri[6] | March 31, 2020 |
| North Carolina | December 20, 2019 | Nebraska | March 2, 2020 | Nevada | March 13, 2020 | Tennessee[7] | April 2, 2020 |
| Georgia | March 6, 2020 | Utah | March 19, 2020 | Arizona[8] | April 6, 2020 | ||
| Idaho | March 13, 2020 | South Dakota | March 31, 2020 | Oklahoma[9] | April 10, 2020 | ||
| Iowa | March 13, 2020 | North Dakota | April 6, 2020 | Hawaii[10] | June 2, 2020 | ||
| Maine | March 16, 2020 | Washington | May 15, 2020 | Rhode Island[11] | June 24, 2020 | ||
| Michigan | April 21, 2020 | Vermont | May 28, 2020 | ||||
| Massachusetts | June 2, 2020 | Wyoming | May 29, 2020 | ||||
| New Hampshire | June 12, 2020 | Wisconsin | June 1, 2020 | ||||
| Kansas | June 1, 2020 | Alaska | June 1, 2020 | ||||
| Minnesota | June 2, 2020 | ||||||
| Connecticut | June 9, 2020 | ||||||
| Florida | June 12, 2020 | ||||||
| Delaware | July 14, 2020 | ||||||
Trifecta analysis
A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. At the start of 2020, there were 15 Democratic trifectas, 21 Republican trifectas, and 14 states with a divided government.
The following table provides the number of states with filing deadlines scheduled either before, during, or after their respective legislative sessions in 2020 given their trifecta status. An additional column lists those states where the filing deadline ultimately passed during a special or suspended legislative session due to the coronavirus. For example, seven states with Democratic trifectas had filing deadlines scheduled to occur after the end of their legislative sessions. The six states that did not have regular elections scheduled in 2020 are not represented here.
| Filing deadline relative to legislative session given trifecta status | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trifecta status | Before session | During session | After session | During suspended/special session |
| Democratic | 2 | 2 | 7 | 2 |
| Republican | 2 | 7 | 6 | 4 |
| Divided | 1 | 5 | 6 | 0 |
State legislative primary relative to legislative session
The map below provides a nationwide overview of 2020 state legislative primaries and whether they were scheduled to occur before, during, or after a state's legislative session.[1][12] It is uncommon for a state to hold its state legislative primaries before or during a legislative session. In 2020, only two states—Arkansas and North Carolina—scheduled their primaries to take place before their legislative sessions. This means that if an incumbent in either state was challenged in a primary and lost, they would still have a final term as an elected legislator. Five states— California, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania—scheduled primaries to take place during their legislative sessions. However, these five states all have full-time legislators, which means the legislature can meet throughout the year after adjourning regularly scheduled sessions.
Length of time between filing deadline and primary
The following table provides the five longest and shortest lengths of time between filing deadlines and primaries.[1] The state with the longest period between filing deadline and primary was Kentucky with 165 days. The states with the shortest period were Connecticut, Delaware, and South Dakota with 63 days.
The list below changed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Originally, the five states with the longest period between filing deadline and primary were Kentucky (130 days), Missouri (126), Tennessee (126), Arizona (120), and Arkansas (112). After Ohio and West Virginia postponed their primaries, the period between filing deadline and primaries in those states increased from 90 and 108 to 132 and 136 days, respectively. Kentucky also postponed its primaries increasing its period from 130 to 165 days.
| Length of time between filing deadline and primary | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Longest | Shortest | ||
| State | Days | State | Days |
| Kentucky | 165[13] | Connecticut | 63 |
| West Virginia | 136[14] | Delaware | 63 |
| Ohio | 132[15] | South Dakota | 63 |
| Missouri | 126 | Kansas | 64 |
| Tennessee | 126 | North Dakota | 64 |
The following map provides a nationwide overview of the various lengths of time between filing deadlines and primaries in 2020 state legislative elections. Six states—Alabama, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia—did not have any regular state legislative elections scheduled in 2020 and are not represented here.
Trifecta analysis
A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. At the start of 2020, there were 15 Democratic trifectas, 21 Republican trifectas, and 14 states with a divided government.
Of the 14 states with more than 100 days between their filing deadlines and primary dates, three had Democratic trifectas, three had divided governments, and eight had Republican trifectas. Looking just at the five states with the longest lengths of time, one—Kentucky—had a divided government. The remaining four—West Virginia, Ohio, Missouri, and Tennessee—had Republican trifectas.
The following table provides the number of states with various lengths of time between filing deadlines and primary dates in states given their trifecta status at the start of 2020. The six states that did not have regular elections scheduled in 2020 are not represented here.
| Time between filing deadline and primary in states by trifecta status | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Trifecta status | 60 - 79 days | 80 - 99 days | 100+ days |
| Democratic | 5 | 5 | 3 |
| Republican | 6 | 5 | 8 |
| Divided | 6 | 3 | 3 |
The period between filing deadline and primary increased in eight states due to the coronavirus pandemic. In response to the outbreak, these states changed the date of either their filing deadline or primary. The table below lists those states and provides a comparison between the original period versus the new period after changing dates as well as the reason for the change and the state's trifecta status.
| Lengths of time between filing deadline and primary changed due to coronavirus | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Original length | New length | Reason | Trifecta status |
| Georgia | 74 days | 95 days | Postponed primary | Republican |
| Indiana | 88 days | 116 days | Postponed primary | Republican |
| Kentucky | 130 days | 165 days | Postponed primary | Mixed |
| Maine | 85 days | 120 | Postponed primary | Democratic |
| New York | 82 days | 95 days | Earlier filing deadline | Democratic |
| Pennsylvania | 70 days | 105 days | Postponed primary | Mixed |
| Ohio | 90 days | 105 days | Postponed primary | Republican |
| West Virginia | 108 days | 136 days | Postponed primary | Republican |
Legislative session length
- See also: Dates of 2020 state legislative sessions
The information below reflects projected session lengths at the start of 2020 prior to the coronavirus pandemic. For more information about how the pandemic has impacted legislative session dates, click here.
Forty-six state legislatures hold regular sessions annually. The other four states—Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, and Texas—meet in odd-numbered years. Ten state legislatures have full-time legislators, meaning the legislature meets throughout the year. All other legislators are considered part-time because they only meet for a portion of the year.[16]
The following table provides the five longest and shortest legislative sessions.[12] In 2020, the state with the longest projected session was Ohio with 360 days. With 140 days, Rhode Island had the longest projected legislative session for a state with a part-time legislature. In 2020, the state with the shortest projected legislative sesion was Wyoming with 25 days.
| Projected legislative session length | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Longest | Shortest | ||
| State | Days | State | Days |
| Ohio | 360 | Wyoming | 25 |
| Michigan | 358 | Arkansas | 29 |
| New Jersey | 352 | New Mexico | 30 |
| Pennsylvania | 328 | Oregon | 33 |
| California | 238 | Utah | 45 |
The map below provides an overview of projected 2020 session lengths by state. The only states projected to have legislative sessions longer than 175 days all have full-time legislators.
Trifecta analysis
A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. At the start of 2020, there were 15 Democratic trifectas, 21 Republican trifectas, and 14 states with a divided government. Of the five states with the shortest legislative sessions, three—Wyoming, Arkansas, and Utah—had Republican trifectas while two—New Mexico and Oregon—had Democratic trifectas.
States with a Republican trifecta tended to have shorter legislative sessions than states with Democratic trifectas or divided governments. On average, states with Republican trifectas have an average session length of 100 days whereas states with Democratic trifectas average 130 days. States with divided governments have an average session length of 151 days.
Of the five states with the longest legislative sessions, one—Ohio—had a Republican trifecta, two—New Jersey and California—had Democratic trifectas, and two—Michigan and Pennsylvania—had divided governments.
In 2020, Ohio was the only state with a Republican trifecta to also have a full-time legislature.
The following table provides the number of states with various projected legislative session lengths given their trifecta status at the start of 2020. The four states that meet in odd-number years are not represented here.
| Projected legislative session length in states by trifecta status | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Trifecta status | Less than 75 days | 75 - 175 days | More than 175 days |
| Democratic | 4 | 8 | 2 |
| Republican | 6 | 12 | 1 |
| Divided | 2 | 8 | 3 |
State legislative sessions and elections overview
The table below breaks down the start and end date of a state's 2020 legislative session as well as its filing deadline and primary date for state legislative elections.[12] Additionally, it provides the length of the state's legislative session and the length of time between filing deadline and primary in days. .
Key:
= Not yet convened
= State's session adjourned, suspended, or partially suspended
= State in regular session
= State in special session
= No regular session scheduled
= This state's session is not a regular or special session.- (*) - This state has full-time legislators.
- (**) - This state did not adjourn on designated dates due to unfinished business.
Methodology
Ballotpedia considered four sources when compiling the data in the maps and tables above:
The four sites each contained a mix of projected end dates for the legislative sessions. Ballotpedia used a projected end date if three sites had the same date. If two websites had the same date but two had a different matching date, Ballotpedia used the date provided by the NCSL.
See also
- State legislative elections, 2020
- State Legislatures
- Dates of 2020 state legislative sessions
- Statewide primary election dates, 2020
- Signature requirements and deadlines for 2020 state government elections
Footnotes
|
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections 2020 primary calendar," accessed June 4, 2019
- ↑ Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Colorado suspended its legislative session from March 14 to May 26.
- ↑ Due to the coronavirus pandemic, New York suspended its legislative session on March 16 and 17.
- ↑ Changed due to coronavirus. Originally scheduled for April 2, 2020.
- ↑ Due to the coronavirus pandemic, South Carolina suspended its legislative session was suspended from March 20 to June 30.
- ↑ Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Missouri suspended its legislative session from March 12 to April 7.
- ↑ Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Tennessee suspended its legislative session from March 19 to June 1.
- ↑ Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Arizona suspended its legislative session from March 23 to May 19.
- ↑ Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Oklahoma suspended its legislative session from March 23 to May 4.
- ↑ Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Hawaii suspended its legislative session from May 21 to June 22.
- ↑ Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Rhode Island suspended its legislative session from June 18 to July 13.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Session dates methodology
- ↑ Kentucky originally had a length of 130 days before postponing its primary.
- ↑ West Virginia originally had a length of 108 days before postponing its primary.
- ↑ Ohio originally had a length of 90 days before postponing its primary.
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "Legislative session length," accessed March 5, 2019
- ↑ Session start: February 4
Session suspended/in recess: March 25 to May 4
Session end: May 18 - ↑ Session start: January 21
Session end: May 20 - ↑ Session start: January 13
Session suspended/in recess: March 23 to May 19
Session end: May 26 - ↑ Session start: April 8
Session end: April 24 - ↑ Session start: January 6
Session suspended/in recess: March 16 to May 4
Session end: August 31 - ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 22.5 22.6 22.7 22.8 This state has full-time legislators. The legislature may meet throughout the year after adjourning their regularly scheduled sessions.
- ↑ Session start: January 8
Session suspended/in recess: March 14 to May 26
Session end: June 15 - ↑ Session start: February 5
Session suspended/in recess: March 12 to May 6
Session end: May 6 - ↑ Session start: January 14
Session suspended/in recess: March 18 to May 26
Session end: June 30 - ↑ Session start: January 14
Session end: March 19 - ↑ Session start: January 13
Session suspended/in recess: March 13 to June 11
Session end: June 26 - ↑ Originally scheduled for May 19, 2020
- ↑ Originally 74 before primary postponement
- ↑ Session start: January 15
Session suspended/in recess: March 16 to May 11; May 21 to June 22
Session end: July 10 - ↑ Session start: January 6
Session end: March 20 - ↑ Session start: January 8
Session suspended/in recess: March 16 to May 20
Session end: May 23 - ↑ Session start: January 6
Session end: March 11 - ↑ Originally scheduled for May 5, 2020
- ↑ Originally 88 before primary postponement
- ↑ Session start: January 13
Session suspended/in recess: March 16 to June 3
Session end: June 14 - ↑ Session start: January 13
Session end: May 21 - ↑ Session start: January 7
Session suspended/in recess: April 8 to April 13
Session end: April 15 - ↑ Originally scheduled for May 19, 2020
- ↑ Originally 130 before primary postponement
- ↑ Session start: March 9
Session suspended/in recess: March 31 to May 4
Session end: June 1 - ↑ Session start: January 8
Session end: March 17 - ↑ Originally 85 before postponement.
- ↑ Session start: January 8
Session end: March 18 - ↑ Session start: January 1
Session end: January 5, 2021 - ↑ Session start: January 8
Session end: December 31 - ↑ Session start: February 11
Session suspended/in recess: March 17 to April 7
Session end: May 17 - ↑ Session start: January 7
Session suspended/in recess: March 18 to May 7; July 1 to August 10
Session end: October 2 - ↑ Session start: January 8
Session suspended/in recess: March 12 to April 7; April 8 to May 15
Session end: May 15 - ↑ Session start: January 8
Session suspended/in recess: March 16 to July 20
Session end: August 13 - ↑ Session start: January 8
Session suspended/in recess: March 14 to June 11
Session end: June 30 - ↑ Session start: January 14
Session end: December 17 - ↑ Session start: January 21
Session end: February 20 - ↑ Session start: January 8
Session suspended/in recess: April 2 to May 26; June 10 to July 20
Session end: December 31 - ↑ Originally scheduled for April 2, 2020
- ↑ Originally 82 before filing deadline change
- ↑ Session start: April 28
Session suspended/in recess: July 8 to September 2
Session end: September 3 - ↑ Session start: January 6
Session end: December 31 - ↑ Originally scheduled for March 17, 2020
- ↑ Originally 90 before primary postponement
- ↑ Session start: February 3
Session suspended/in recess: March 23 to May 4
Session end: May 22 - ↑ Session start: February 3
Session end: March 5 - ↑ Session start: January 7
Session end: November 30 - ↑ Originally scheduled for April 28, 2020
- ↑ Originally 70 before primary postponement
- ↑ Session start: January 7
Session suspended/in recess: March 16 to June 12; June 18 to July 13; July 16 to August 30
Session end: August 30 - ↑ Session start: January 14
Session suspended/in recess: March 20 to June 23; June 25 to September 15
Session end: September 24 - ↑ Session start: January 14
Session end: March 30 - ↑ Session start: January 14
Session suspended/in recess: March 19 to June 1
Session end: June 19 - ↑ Session start: January 27
Session end: March 12 - ↑ Session start: January 7
Session suspended/in recess: June 26 to August 25
Session end: September 25 - ↑ Session start: January 8
Session end: March 12 - ↑ Session start: January 13
Session end: March 12 - ↑ Session start: January 8
Session end: March 7 - ↑ Originally scheduled for May 12, 2020
- ↑ Originally 108 before primary postponement
- ↑ Session start: January 14
Session end: May 13 - ↑ Session start: February 10
Session end: March 12
