Election results, 2020: Results of elected officials seeking other offices
In 2020, 344 officials in Congress and state legislatures ran for a different office than the one to which they were elected. At the Congressional level, fourteen members of the U.S. House of Representatives and eight members of the U.S. Senate sought election to other offices. Five (23%) of them won election to those positions. Additionally, 322 state legislators in 44 states ran for other elected positions, with 157, or 49%, successfully winning election to a new position.
Those 344 elected officials who sought a different office in 2020 represents a 30% decrease from 2018, when Ballotpedia tracked 493 officials in Congress and state legislators who ran for a different office. To learn about the elected officials who sought other offices in 2018, click here.
On this page, you'll find information on elected officials from these levels of government who ran for other offices in 2020:
You can also find information on the state legislators who ran for other offices broken down by party and type of office sought. To read about the methodology used on this page, click here.
Congress
Twenty-two members of Congress sought election to another office. Five won election to those positions.
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives
Fourteen members of the House of Representatives in the 116th United States Congress sought election to a different office in 2020. Four won election to a statewide office, while one won election to a countywide seat. Three were defeated in their party's primary for statewide office, one withdrew before the primary occurred, and one lost in a general election. Four (29%) members of the U.S. House ran for President of the United States and lost in the Democratic Party primary to Joe Biden (D).
Seven of the House members were Republicans. Of those, three (43%) won election, one (14%) lost in the general election, two (28%) lost in the primary, and one (14%) withdrew before the primary. Among the seven Democratic House members, two (28%) won election, four (57%) lost in the presidential primaries, and one (14%) lost in the primary for a statewide office.
Additionally:
- Five sought election to the United States Senate, and two were successful.
- Greg Gianforte (R) ran for Governor of Montana and was successful, leading to a Republican trifecta in the state.
- Two ran to become lieutenant governor. Denny Heck (D) ran successfully for lieutenant governor of Washington, while Rob Bishop (R) ran unsuccessfully to become lieutenant governor of Utah.
- Greg Steube (R) ran for Florida State Senate District 23 but withdrew before the primary.
- Paul Cook (R) ran successfully for the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors.
Compared to 2018, fewer members of the U.S. House sought a different office in 2020. In 2018, Ballotpedia tracked 21 members of the U.S. House who sought election to statewide offices, including 10 Democrats and 11 Republicans. Nine (43%) won the general election, 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.
The table below lists the U.S. House members who ran for another office in 2020, and the outcome of that election.
| Members of U.S. House who ran for another office in 2020 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Representative | Party | Previous office | Office sought in 2020 | Result | |||||
| Ben Ray Luján |  Democratic |
New Mexico, District 3 | U.S. Senate New Mexico | Won general election | |||||
| Bradley Byrne |  Republican |
Alabama, District 1 | U.S. Senate Alabama | Lost primary | |||||
| Denny Heck | Democratic |
Washington, District 10 | Lieutenant Governor of Washington | Won general election | |||||
| Doug Collins | Republican |
Georgia, District 9 | U.S. Senate Georgia | Lost general election | |||||
| Eric Swalwell | Democratic |
California, District 15 | President of the United States | Lost | |||||
| Greg Gianforte | Republican |
Montana At-large District | Governor of Montana | Won general election | |||||
| Greg Steube | Republican |
Florida, District 17 | Florida State Senate District 23 | Withdrew before primary | |||||
| Joseph Kennedy III | Democratic |
Massachusetts, District 4 | U.S. Senate Massachusetts | Lost primary | |||||
| Paul Cook | Republican |
California, District 8 | San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors District 1 | Won | |||||
| Rob Bishop | Republican |
Utah, District 1 | Lieutenant Governor of Utah | Lost primary | |||||
| Roger Marshall | Republican |
Kansas, District 1 | U.S. Senate Kansas | Won general election | |||||
| Seth Moulton | Democratic |
Massachusetts, District 6 | President of the United States | Lost | |||||
| Tim Ryan | Democratic |
Ohio, District 13 | President of the United States | Lost | |||||
| Tulsi Gabbard | Democratic |
Hawaii, District 2 | President of the United States | Lost | |||||
Members of the U.S. Senate
Eight members of the U.S. Senate ran for another office in 2020. All eight sought to become the Democratic Party's nominee for President of the United States. Former Senator (1973-2009) and Vice President (2009-2017) Joe Biden (D) ultimately captured the Party's nomination.
| Members of U.S. Senate who ran for another office in 2020 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Representative | Party | Previous office | Office sought in 2020 | Result | |||||
| Kamala Harris | Democrat |
U.S. Senate California | President of the United States | Lost | |||||
| Michael Bennet | Democrat |
U.S. Senate Colorado | President of the United States | Lost | |||||
| Elizabeth Warren | Democrat |
U.S. Senate Massachusetts | President of the United States | Lost | |||||
| Amy Klobuchar | Democrat |
U.S. Senate Minnesota | President of the United States | Lost | |||||
| Cory Booker | Democrat |
U.S. Senate New Jersey | President of the United States | Lost | |||||
| Kirsten Gillibrand | Democrat |
U.S. Senate New York | President of the United States | Lost | |||||
| Lincoln Chafee | Democrat |
U.S. Senate Rhode Island | President of the United States | Lost | |||||
| Bernie Sanders | Democrat |
U.S. Senate Vermont | President of the United States | Lost | |||||
Members of state legislatures
Three hundred twenty-two state legislators ran for other elected positions in 2020, with 157 of them, or 49%, successfully winning election to a new position. Fifty-seven of these state legislators (18%) lost in the general election, while 108 (34%) were defeated in their party's primary.
The success rate for state senators seeking other offices was less than that for state representatives in 2020. Twenty-five of the 78 state senators (32%) who ran for another office were successful, while 24% lost in the general election and 44% were defeated in the primary. Among state representatives, 54% of those who ran for another office were successful. Sixteen percent of them lost in the general election and 30% were defeated in the primary.
| State legislators who ran for other offices in 2020 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chamber | Won | Lost | Lost in primary | Total | |||||
| State Senate | 25 | 19 | 34 | 78 | |||||
| State House | 132 | 38 | 76 | 244 | |||||
Compared to 2018, 150 fewer state legislators ran for another office in 2020. In 2018, 217 (46%) won 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 table below details the results of state legislators who ran for other offices in 2020 and the outcomes of those elections by state.
| State legislators who ran for other offices in 2020, by state | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | State Senators | State Representatives | ||||
| Won | Lost | Lost in primary | Won | Lost | Lost in primary | |
| AL | 1 | 1 | 3 | |||
| AR | 1 | 1 | ||||
| AZ | 2 | 1 | 6 | |||
| CA | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 3 | |
| CO | 1 | 5 | ||||
| CT | 1 | |||||
| DE | 2 | |||||
| FL | 8 | 3 | 5 | |||
| GA | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | ||
| HI | 1 | 3 | 1 | |||
| IA | 2 | 1 | ||||
| ID | 3 | |||||
| IL | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| IN | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| KS | 1 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 1 | |
| KY | 2 | 1 | ||||
| LA | 1 | 2 | ||||
| MA | 1 | |||||
| MD | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ||
| ME | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 2 | |
| MI | 1 | 1 | 4 | |||
| MN | 1 | |||||
| MO | 1 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 6 | |
| MT | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 4 | 7 |
| NC | 4 | 5 | 1 | 4 | ||
| ND | 1 | 2 | ||||
| NE | 1 | 2 | ||||
| NH | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | ||
| NM | 2 | 1 | ||||
| NJ | 1 | |||||
| NV | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||
| NY | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 | ||
| OH | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | ||
| OK | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| OR | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| PA | 1 | 2 | 1 | |||
| SC | 1 | 1 | ||||
| SD | 3 | 1 | 9 | 4 | ||
| TN | 1 | 3 | ||||
| TX | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | ||
| UT | 2 | 2 | 1 | |||
| VA | 1 | |||||
| VT | 2 | 2 | ||||
| WA | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | |
| WI | 2 | 2 | 7 | 2 | ||
| WV | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | |
| WY | 2 | 1 | ||||
| Totals | 25 | 19 | 34 | 132 | 38 | 74 |
State legislators who ran for other offices in 2020 by party
Among the two major parties, Republican state legislators who ran for other offices were more successful than Democrats in 2020. Fifty-seven percent (92 out of 162) of Republican state legislators who ran for another office won election to a new position, while 41% (66 out of 158) of Democratic state legislators who ran for another office were successful.
| State legislators who ran for other offices in 2020, by party | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Won | Won (%) | Lost | Lost (%) | Lost in primary | Lost in primary (%) | Total |
| Republican Party | 92 | 57% | 10 | 6% | 60 | 37% | 162 |
| Independent | 0 | 0% | 2 | 100% | 0 | 0% | 2 |
| Democratic Party | 66 | 42% | 45 | 28% | 47 | 30% | 158 |
Positions sought by state legislators who ran for another offices in 2020
Here is the breakdown of the types of positions sought by state legislators who ran for other offices in 2020:
| Positions sought by state legislators who ran for another office in 2020 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type of office | Won | Lost | Lost in primary | Total | |
| President of the United States | 1 | 1 | |||
| U.S. Senate | 3 | 5 | 8 | ||
| U.S. House | 18 | 14 | 33 | 65 | |
| Governor | 2 | 7 | 9 | ||
| State executive offices other than governor | 7 | 9 | 21 | 37 | |
| State Senate | 105 | 13 | 27 | 145 | |
| State House | 14 | 2 | 3 | 19 | |
| Judicial offices | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
| County offices | 8 | 6 | 7 | 21 | |
| Municipal/school board offices | 5 | 4 | 2 | 11 | |
| Total | 159 | 56 | 107 | 322 | |
Methodology
Ballotpedia identified those officeholders who were declared candidates for a position in the 2020 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, 2020
- State legislative elections, 2020
- United States Senate elections, 2020
- 116th Congress
- Results of elected officials seeking other offices, 2018
Footnotes
