Democrats contest most legislative races since 2010
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Ballotpedia Publishes Annual State Legislative Competitiveness Report: Vol. 8, 2018
Middleton, Wis. - September 5, 2018: In its eighth annual edition of the Annual State Legislative Competitiveness Report, Ballotpedia found one-third (33.2 percent) of all state legislative seats up for election in 2018 are guaranteed to one party. This is the highest rate since 2010. While in the past, the share of these uncontested seats have been relatively balanced, this year Democrats are guaranteed 1,271 seats, the most guaranteed to either party since 2010, while Republicans are guaranteed 746, the fewest guaranteed to either party since 2010.
A total of 14,084 candidates filed for 6 ,073 legislative seats up for election across 46 states, including 7,105 Democrats, 6,278 Republicans, and 701 third party or independent candidates.
The analysis also specifically reviewed seats where the incumbent retired, meaning the seat is guaranteed to go to a newcomer. Just under one-fifth (19.6 percent) of all state legislative seats up for election in 2018 are guaranteed to a newcomer, the highest number since 2012. Of the retiring incumbents, 61.4 percent are Republicans while 36.0 percent are Democrats.
The full report divides the research into four sections; Races without major party competition, Incumbents not seeking re-election, Aftermath of the 2016 presidential election and Impact of term limits.
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Ballotpedia is the online encyclopedia of American politics and elections. Its goal is to preserve and expand knowledge about politics by providing objective information about local, state, and federal politics and policies. Its content includes trustworthy information readers can rely on, covering government officials and the offices they hold, political issues and public policy, elections, candidates, and the influencers of politics. Headquartered in Middleton, Wisconsin, Ballotpedia was founded in 2006. It includes over 270,000 professionally authored encyclopedic articles that have garnered over 900 million page views.
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