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Contested state legislative primaries, 2011

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There were 578 state legislative seats up for election in November 2011 in four states. This page analyzes contested primaries in those races. A primary is contested when there are more candidates running than nominations available, meaning at least one candidate on the primary ballot must lose. Learn more about the terms and methodologies used in this analysis.

Ballotpedia uses the number and percentage of contested primaries to help determine the overall competitiveness of an election cycle. A greater number of contested primaries indicates more candidates running for office and more choices voters must make. A smaller number of contested primaries indicates fewer candidates and choices on the ballot.

There were 538 state legislative districts up for election nationwide, creating 874 possible primaries. Of that total, there were 194 contested primaries, meaning 22% of all primaries were contested.

In 2011:

  • There were 48 contested Democratic primaries, representing 14% of all possible Democratic primaries.
  • There were 65 contested Republican primaries, representing 17% of all possible Republican primaries.
  • There were 81 contested top-two/four primaries, representing 56% of all possible top-two/four primaries.



    • Contested state legislative primaries, 2011
    Chamber Districts
    Democratic Republican Top-two/four Total
    # % # % # % # %
    House 367 34 14.7% 37 14.7% 62 59.0% 133 22.6%
    Senate 171 14 11.6% 28 22.2% 19 48.7% 61 21.3%
    Total 538 48 13.6% 65 17.2% 81 56.3% 194 22.2%


    Click [show] on the table below to view contested primary statistics by state in 2011. Hover over column headings to learn more about their contents.

    By state

    Overview

    Louisiana

    Note: Louisiana does not have true primaries but instead uses a unique majority-vote system. For the purpose of this analysis, primaries in Louisiana are considered contested if more than one person files to run.

    There were 144 state legislative districts up for election in Louisiana, creating 100 possible primaries because of the state’s unique voting system. Of that total, there were 81 contested elections, meaning 56.3% of all possible primaries were contested.

    In 2011

    Statistics from 2011 are shown below. Hover over column headings to learn more about their contents.

    Contested state legislative primaries in Louisiana, 2011
    Chamber Districts
    Total
    # %
    House 105 62 59.0%
    Senate 39 19 48.7%
    Total 144 81 56.3%


    See also:

    Mississippi

    There were 174 state legislative districts up for election in Mississippi, creating 348 possible primaries. Of that total, there were 72 contested primaries—33 by Democrats and 39 by Republicans—meaning 20.7% of all primaries were contested.

    In 2011

    Historical statistics are shown below. Hover over column headings to learn more about their contents.

    Contested state legislative primaries in Mississippi, 2011
    Chamber Districts
    Democratic Republican Total
    # % # % # %
    House 122 24 19.7% 24 19.7% 48 19.7%
    Senate 52 9 17.3% 15 28.8% 24 23.1%
    Total 174 33 19.0% 39 22.4% 72 20.7%


    See also:

    New Jersey

    There were 80 state legislative districts up for election in New Jersey, creating 160 possible primaries. Of that total, there were 25 contested primaries—11 by Democrats and 14 by Republicans—meaning 15.6% of all primaries were contested.

    In 2011

    Historical statistics are shown below. Hover over column headings to learn more about their contents.

    Contested state legislative primaries in New Jersey, 2011
    Chamber Districts
    Democratic Republican Total
    # % # % # %
    House 40 8 20.0% 8 20.0% 16 20.0%
    Senate 40 3 7.5% 6 15.0% 9 11.3%
    Total 80 11 13.8% 14 17.5% 25 15.6%


    See also:

    Virginia

    There were 140 state legislative districts up for election in Virginia, creating 222 possible primaries. The number of potential primaries decreased because 58 races held conventions as the sole means of nomination: 41 for Democrats and 17 for Republicans. There were 16 contested primaries—four by Democrats and 12 by Republicans—meaning 7.2% of all primaries were contested.

    In 2011

    Historical statistics are shown below. Hover over column headings to learn more about their contents.

    Contested state legislative primaries in Virginia, 2011
    Chamber Districts
    Democratic Republican Total
    # % # % # %
    House 100 2 2.9% 5 5.6% 7 4.4%
    Senate 40 2 6.9% 7 20.6% 9 14.3%
    Total 140 4 4.0% 12 9.8% 16 7.2%


    See also:

    Terms and methodologies

    Primary

    See also: Primary election

    A primary is an election used either to narrow the field of candidates or to determine political parties' nominees in advance of a general election. Broadly, a state might use one of two types of primary systems for its state legislative elections: partisan or top-two/four.

    Partisan primaries

    See also: Open, closed, and semi-closed primary

    Partisan primaries are those where candidates from the same party compete against one another. The winning candidates receive their parties' nominations in order to appear on the general election ballot.

    Top-two/four primaries

    See also: Top-two primary and Top-four primary

    Top-two/four primaries are those where all candidates, regardless of their party affiliations, appear on the same primary ballot. Depending on the system in place, either the top-two or top-four vote-getters advance to the general election.

    Contested primary

    A contested primary is one where there are more candidates running than nominations available, meaning at least one candidate on the primary ballot must lose.

    The number of candidates needed to create a contested primary depends on the primary system in place and the number of seats up for election in a state legislative district.

    In states with partisan primaries, a primary is typically contested when two or more candidates from the same political party file to run since only one candidate can receive their party's nomination. In states with multi-member state legislative districts, the number of candidates a party can nominate to the general election ballot depends on the number of seats in the district. In these cases, a primary is contested when at least one more candidate files to run than there are seats in the district. In states with top-two/four primaries, a primary is contested when more than two (in states with a top-two system) or more than four (in states with a top-four system) candidates file to run.

    Possible primaries

    The number of possible primaries is determined by the number of districts holding elections and the primary system in place.

    In states with partisan primaries, there are two possible primaries per district, one for each of the two major parties. In states with top-two/four primaries, there is one possible primary per district, since every candidate appears on the same primary ballot.

    Methodology

    This page analyzes the total number of contested state legislative primaries by comparing the number of such primaries to the number of possible primaries.

    Ballotpedia considers a primary as contested when there are more candidates on the ballot than nominations available. If a candidate unofficially withdraws before the primary but remains on the ballot, that candidate is included in the total towards determining whether a primary is contested.

    In states with partisan primaries, only major party candidates and primaries are counted. In states with top-two/four primaries, all candidates—major party and otherwise—are counted.

    If a district uses a convention—a nominating contested reserved to a smaller number of participants usually referred to as delegates—as the sole means of nominating a candidate, that district is not included in the calculation of possible primaries. In 2011, 58 state legislative districts used conventions as the sole means of nomination.

    See also

    Footnotes

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