Election results, 2018: Results of elected officials seeking other offices
Last updated December 28, 2018.
Twenty-one members of the U.S. House of Representatives sought election to statewide office in 2018. Nine (43%) of them won election to those positions.
Also, 472 state legislators ran for other elected positions in 2018, with 217 of them, or 46 percent, successfully winning election to a new position.
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives
Twenty-one members of the House of Representatives in the 115th United States Congress sought election to statewide offices in 2018.
- Nine (43%) won the general election for statewide office.
- Five (24%) were their party's nominee for the office sought, but lost in the general election.
- Seven (33%) were defeated in their party's primary for statewide office.
- Ten of these House members were Democrats. Of those, six (60%) won election to statewide office, one (10%) of them lost in the general election, and three (30%) were defeated in the primary.
- Among the eleven Republican House members in this group, three (27%) won their race, four (36%) lost in the general election, and four (36%) lost in the primary.
- Ten sought election to seats in the United States Senate, and four were successful.
- Eight ran for governor of their state, and four were elected.
- Two ran for state attorney general. Keith Ellison was elected to that position in Minnesota, while Sean Maloney was defeated in the primary in New York. Both men were Democrats.
- Rick Nolan ran for lieutenant governor of Minnesota and lost in the Democratic primary.
Due to election laws in New York, Maloney won his party's primary for his congressional seat before running and losing in the Democratic primary for state attorney general. He was re-elected to represent New York's 18th Congressional District on November 6, 2018, and is the only one of the twelve U.S. House members who sought statewide office and lost who was a member of the 116th Congress.
The table below lists the U.S. House members who ran for another office in 2018, and the outcome of that election.
| Members of U.S. House who ran for another office in 2018 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Representative | Party | Previous office | Office sought in 2018 | Result |
| Lou Barletta |  Republican |
Pennsylvania, District 11 | U.S. Senate, Pennsylvania | Lost general election |
| Diane Black | Republican |
Tennessee, District 6 | Governor, Tennessee | Lost primary |
| Marsha Blackburn | Republican |
Tennessee, District 7 | U.S. Senate, Tennessee | Won general election |
| Kevin Cramer | Republican |
North Dakota, At-Large District | U.S. Senate, North Dakota | Won general election |
| Keith Ellison |  Democratic |
Minnesota, District 5 | Attorney general, Minnesota | Won general election |
| Michelle Lujan Grisham | Democratic |
New Mexico, District 1 | Governor, New Mexico | Won general election |
| Colleen Hanabusa | Democratic |
Hawaii, District 1 | Governor, Hawaii | Lost primary |
| Raul Labrador | Republican |
Idaho, District 1 | Governor, Idaho | Lost primary |
| Sean Maloney | Democratic |
New York, District 18 | Attorney general, New York | Lost primary |
| Martha McSally | Republican |
Arizona, District 2 | U.S. Senate, Arizona | Lost general election |
| Luke Messer | Republican |
Indiana, District 6 | U.S. Senate, Indiana | Lost primary |
| Kristi Noem | Republican |
South Dakota, At-Large District | Governor, South Dakota | Won general election |
| Rick Nolan | Democratic |
Minnesota, District 8 | Lieutenant Governor, Minnesota | Lost primary |
| Beto O'Rourke | Democratic |
Texas, District 16 | U.S. Senate, Texas | Lost general election |
| Steve Pearce | Republican |
New Mexico, District 2 | Governor, New Mexico | Lost general election |
| Jared Polis | Democratic |
Colorado, District 2 | Governor, Colorado | Won general election |
| Jim Renacci | Republican |
Ohio, District 16 | U.S. Senate, Ohio | Lost general election |
| Todd Rokita | Republican |
Indiana, District 4 | U.S. Senate, Indiana | Lost primary |
| Jacky Rosen | Democratic |
Nevada, District 3 | U.S. Senate, Nevada | Won general election |
| Kyrsten Sinema | Democratic |
Arizona, District 9 | U.S. Senate, Arizona | Won general election |
| Tim Walz | Democratic |
Minnesota, District 1 | Governor, Minnesota | Won general election |
Members of State Legislatures
Four hundred seventy-two state legislators ran for other elected positions in 2018, with 217 of them, or 46 percent, successfully winning election to a new position. Eighty of these state legislators (17%) lost in the general election, while 175 (37%) were defeated in their party's primary.
The success rate for state senators seeking other offices was less than that for state representatives in 2018. Forty-nine of 135 state senators (36%) who ran for another office were successful, while 16 percent lost in the general election and 48 percent were defeated in the primary. Among state representatives, 50 percent of those who ran for another office were successful. Seventeen percent of them lost in the general election and 33 percent were defeated in the primary.
| State legislators who ran for other offices in 2018 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Lost in primary | Total | |
| State senators | 49 | 21 | 65 | 135 |
| State representatives | 168 | 59 | 110 | 337 |
| Total | 217 | 80 | 175 | 472 |
The table below details the results of state legislators who ran for other offices in 2018 and the outcomes of those elections by state.
| State legislators who ran for other offices in 2018, by state | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | State Senators | State Representatives | ||||
| Won | Lost | Lost in primary | Won | Lost | Lost in primary | |
| Alaska | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | ||
| Alabama | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | |
| Arizona | 8 | 4 | 9 | 1 | ||
| Arkansas | 5 | 2 | 1 | |||
| California | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Colorado | 1 | 6 | 1 | 4 | ||
| Connecticut | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | |
| Delaware | 2 | |||||
| Florida | 1 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 4 | |
| Georgia | 3 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Hawaii | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Idaho | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||
| Illinois | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| Indiana | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Iowa | 1 | 2 | 4 | |||
| Kansas | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | |
| Kentucky | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Louisiana | 1 | n/a | 1 | 2 | n/a | |
| Maine | 1 | 2 | 12 | 3 | 1 | |
| Maryland | 2 | 9 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Massachusetts | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||
| Michigan | 1 | 6 | 14 | 7 | 12 | |
| Minnesota | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 6 | |
| Mississippi | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | ||
| Missouri | 1 | 5 | 8 | |||
| Montana | 4 | 1 | 5 | 2 | ||
| Nebraska | 2 | 2 | n/a | n/a | n/a | |
| Nevada | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||
| New Hampshire | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||
| New Jersey | 1 | 1 | ||||
| New Mexico | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| New York | 1 | 3 | 1 | |||
| North Carolina | 5 | 2 | 8 | 1 | ||
| North Dakota | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | |
| Ohio | 5 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 6 | |
| Oklahoma | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 | ||
| Oregon | 1 | |||||
| Pennsylvania | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| Rhode Island | 3 | |||||
| South Carolina | 1 | 4 | 3 | |||
| South Dakota | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | |
| Tennessee | 1 | 4 | 4 | |||
| Texas | 2 | 2 | 3 | |||
| Utah | 3 | 1 | ||||
| Vermont | 1 | 2 | ||||
| Virginia | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Washington | 2 | |||||
| West Virginia | 1 | 4 | 2 | 5 | ||
| Wisconsin | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | ||
| Wyoming | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals | 49 | 21 | 65 | 168 | 59 | 110 |
- Note: Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia did not hold regular state legislative elections in 2018.
State legislators who ran for other offices in 2018 by party
Among the two major parties, Republican state legislators who ran for other offices were more successful than Democrats in 2018. Forty-eight percent (131 out of 274) of Republican state legislators who ran for another office won election to a new position, while 44 percent (82 out of 185) of Democratic state legislators who ran for another office were successful.
| State legislators who ran for other offices in 2018, by party | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Lost in primary | Total | |
| Conservative Party | 1 | 1 | ||
| Democratic Party | 82 | 32 | 71 | 185 |
| Independents | 4 | 4 | ||
| Nonpartisan | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| Republican Party | 131 | 41 | 102 | 274 |
| Total | 217 | 80 | 175 | 472 |
Positions sought by state legislators who ran for another offices in 2018
Here is the breakdown of the types of positions sought by state legislators who ran for other offices in 2018:
| Positions sought by state legislators who ran for another office in 2018 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Lost in primary | Total | |
| U.S. Senate | 8 | 6 | 14 | |
| U.S. House | 20 | 11 | 62 | 93 |
| Governor | 1 | 8 | 24 | 33 |
| State executive offices other than governor | 31 | 23 | 37 | 91 |
| State senate seats | 128 | 25 | 37 | 190 |
| State house seats | 28 | 1 | 3 | 32 |
| Judicial offices | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| County offices | 4 | 1 | 5 | 10 |
| Municipal/school board offices | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
| Total | 217 | 80 | 175 | 472 |
Methodology
Ballotpedia identified those officeholders who were declared candidates for a position in the 2018 elections that was different from what they held prior to the November elections. Candidates who resigned their office before the election either because they were required to by state law to run for another office (resign-to-run laws), or to better focus on their campaign for the new office, were still considered to be an elected official of their previous office for this analysis.
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2018
- State legislative elections, 2018
- United States Senate elections, 2018
