Election results, 2020: Incumbent win rates by state

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Updated 6:30pm EST, February 11, 2021

This content is part of Ballotpedia's analysis of the 2020 elections. For comprehensive election results, click here.

Ballotpedia covered all state races on November 3, 2020, as well as local elections in America's 100 largest cities by population. In the 2020 general election, 93% of incumbents nationwide won their re-election bids. This percentage includes races in which incumbents ran unopposed but does not include recall elections.

• The incumbent win rate remained at or above 90% in all states but California, New Hampshire, Ohio, and West Virginia.
• The lowest overall incumbent win rate was in California with 85%. New Jersey was the only state to see a 100% incumbent win rate.
• Congressional incumbents had a 96% win rate. Thirty-eight states had a 100% win rate in congressional races.
• State-level incumbents had a 95% win rate. Five states had a 100% win rate in state-level races.
• Local-level incumbents had an 89% average win rate. Eight states had a 100% win rate in local-level races.

The analysis below includes data compiled by Ballotpedia on the 7,636 incumbents who ran for re-election on November 3, 2020.

The table below shows the win rate for each state and election type:

Incumbent win rate by state in the general election on November 3, 2020
State	Incumbent win rate	Congress	State executive	State legislative	State judicial	Local
Alaska	97%	100%	-	95%	100%	100%
Alabama	94%	83%	100%	-	100%	94%
Arkansas	95%	100%	-	95%	-	-
Arizona	93%	90%	100%	96%	100%	92%
California	85%	94%	-	98%	-	80%
Colorado	95%	86%	100%	97%	100%	94%
Connecticut	95%	100%	-	95%	-	-
Delaware	96%	100%	100%	96%	-	-
Florida	96%	92%	-	96%	100%	95%
Georgia	97%	100%	100%	98%	-	93%
Hawaii	97%	100%	50%	100%	-	-
Iowa	93%	67%	-	93%	100%	-
Idaho	96%	100%	-	98%	-	89%
Illinois	96%	100%	-	94%	90%	97%
Indiana	93%	100%	100%	94%	100%	89%
Kansas	95%	100%	75%	96%	100%	92%
Kentucky	93%	100%	-	93%	100%	93%
Louisiana	94%	100%	100%	-	100%	92%
Massachusetts	99%	100%	100%	99%	-	100%
Maryland	92%	100%	-	-	100%	88%
Maine	92%	100%	-	92%	-	-
Michigan	97%	100%	50%	98%	100%	97%
Minnesota	95%	89%	-	95%	100%	98%
Missouri	99%	100%	100%	99%	100%	100%
Mississippi	90%	100%	-	-	100%	0%
Montana	93%	100%	100%	92%	100%	-
North Carolina	93%	100%	100%	95%	20%	93%
North Dakota	96%	100%	100%	95%	100%	-
Nebraska	93%	100%	100%	89%	100%	92%
New Hampshire	89%	100%	50%	89%	-	-
New Jersey	100%	100%	-	100%	-	100%
New Mexico	93%	50%	50%	96%	100%	91%
Nevada	90%	100%	0%	92%	100%	89%
New York	96%	91%	-	97%	-	100%
Ohio	87%	100%	67%	96%	68%	78%
Oklahoma	90%	83%	100%	89%	100%	88%
Oregon	95%	100%	100%	97%	100%	78%
Pennsylvania	97%	100%	50%	98%	-	-
Rhode Island	97%	100%	-	97%	-	-
South Carolina	93%	88%	-	97%	-	56%
South Dakota	95%	100%	100%	95%	100%	-
Tennessee	98%	100%	-	98%	-	-
Texas	90%	100%	100%	98%	73%	86%
Utah	97%	67%	100%	99%	100%	94%
Virginia	94%	100%	-	-	-	100%
Vermont	94%	100%	100%	94%	-	-
Washington	96%	100%	88%	95%	100%	100%
Wisconsin	97%	100%	-	97%	-	100%
West Virginia	87%	100%	83%	87%	-	-
Wyoming	95%	100%	-	94%	100%	-
Average	93%	96%	88%	95%	92%	89%

See also

• Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2020
• 2020 election analysis: Uncontested races by state
• Election results, 2020: State government trifectas
• Election results, 2020: State government triplexes
• State executive official elections, 2020
• State legislative elections, 2020
• State judicial elections, 2020
• United States municipal elections, 2020

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