Election results, 2021: Party control of state legislatures

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Partisan control of one state legislature changed as a result of the 2021 elections, while control of a second state legislature remained the same. Republicans will control 30 state legislatures in 2022, Democrats will control 17, and 3 will be under divided party control.

In the Virginia House of Delegates, Democrats lost their 55-45 majority in the chamber. Republicans won 52 seats, and Democrats won 48 seats. The majority-Democratic Virginia State Senate was not up for election, meaning the state legislature was under divided party control in 2022.

Democrats maintained their majorities following New Jersey's General Assembly and State Senate elections. Prior to the election, Democrats had a 52-28 majority in the Assembly and a 25-14 majority in the Senate. After the 2021 elections, there were 46 Democratic wins and 34 Republican wins in the Assembly, and 24 Democratic wins and 16 Republican wins in the Senate.

Control of legislative chambers

The table below shows control of legislative chambers in each state before and after the 2021 elections.

State legislative chamber control before and after 2021 elections
	Pre-election majority			Post-election majority			Change?
State	State Senate	State House		State Senate	State House		Y/N
Alabama	Republican	Republican		Republican	Republican		N/A
Alaska	Republican	Split		Republican	Split		N/A
Arizona	Republican	Republican		Republican	Republican		N/A
Arkansas	Republican	Republican		Republican	Republican		N/A
California	Democratic	Democratic		Democratic	Democratic		N/A
Colorado	Democratic	Democratic		Democratic	Democratic		N/A
Connecticut	Democratic	Democratic		Democratic	Democratic		N/A
Delaware	Democratic	Democratic		Democratic	Democratic		N/A
Florida	Republican	Republican		Republican	Republican		N/A
Georgia	Republican	Republican		Republican	Republican		N/A
Hawaii	Democratic	Democratic		Democratic	Democratic		N/A
Idaho	Republican	Republican		Republican	Republican		N/A
Illinois	Democratic	Democratic		Democratic	Democratic		N/A
Indiana	Republican	Republican		Republican	Republican		N/A
Iowa	Republican	Republican		Republican	Republican		N/A
Kansas	Republican	Republican		Republican	Republican		N/A
Kentucky	Republican	Republican		Republican	Republican		N/A
Louisiana	Republican	Republican		Republican	Republican		N/A
Maine	Democratic	Democratic		Democratic	Democratic		N/A
Maryland	Democratic	Democratic		Democratic	Democratic		N/A
Massachusetts	Democratic	Democratic		Democratic	Democratic		N/A
Michigan	Republican	Republican		Republican	Republican		N/A
Minnesota	Republican	Democratic		Republican	Democratic		N/A
Mississippi	Republican	Republican		Republican	Republican		N/A
Missouri	Republican	Republican		Republican	Republican		N/A
Montana	Republican	Republican		Republican	Republican		N/A
Nebraska	Republican			Republican			N/A
Nevada	Democratic	Democratic		Democratic	Democratic		N/A
New Hampshire	Republican	Republican		Republican	Republican		N/A
New Jersey	Democratic	Democratic		Democratic	Democratic		No
New Mexico	Democratic	Democratic		Democratic	Democratic		N/A
New York	Democratic	Democratic		Democratic	Democratic		N/A
North Carolina	Republican	Republican		Republican	Republican		N/A
North Dakota	Republican	Republican		Republican	Republican		N/A
Ohio	Republican	Republican		Republican	Republican		N/A
Oklahoma	Republican	Republican		Republican	Republican		N/A
Oregon	Democratic	Democratic		Democratic	Democratic		N/A
Pennsylvania	Republican	Republican		Republican	Republican		N/A
Rhode Island	Democratic	Democratic		Democratic	Democratic		N/A
South Carolina	Republican	Republican		Republican	Republican		N/A
South Dakota	Republican	Republican		Republican	Republican		N/A
Tennessee	Republican	Republican		Republican	Republican		N/A
Texas	Republican	Republican		Republican	Republican		N/A
Utah	Republican	Republican		Republican	Republican		N/A
Vermont	Democratic	Democratic		Democratic	Democratic		N/A
Virginia	Democratic	Democratic		Democratic	Republican		Yes
Washington	Democratic	Democratic		Democratic	Democratic		N/A
West Virginia	Republican	Republican		Republican	Republican		N/A
Wisconsin	Republican	Republican		Republican	Republican		N/A
Wyoming	Republican	Republican		Republican	Republican		N/A

Virginia House of Delegates

See also: Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2021

Republicans won 52 races and Democrats won 48. Republicans flipped seven seats, one more than the six needed to give them control of the chamber. Democrats would have needed to hold at least 51 seats to maintain their majority. On November 16, Alex Askew (D) in District 85 and Martha Mugler (D) in District 91 announced they would request a recount, and both filed court petitions for recounts on November 17. Officials declared Karen Greenhalgh (R) the District 85 winner on December 3, and Aijalon Cordoza (R) the District 91 winner on December 8. With the recounts completed, Republicans secured a 52-48 majority in the House after the 2021 election.

All 100 seats were up for election, and, heading into the election, Democrats held a 55-seat majority to Republicans' 45 seats. This was the first election cycle since 1999 with Democrats defending a majority in the House. Democrats won control in the 2019 elections after Republicans had controlled the chamber since 2000.

The outcome of these elections, in addition to the state's gubernatorial election, also determined Virginia's trifecta status. Virginia became a Democratic trifecta in 2019 for the first time since 1994. Republicans won control of the House and the governorship in 2021, ending Democrats' trifecta control of the state.

Five of the ten preceding elections in the chamber saw net shifts of six seats or more: twice in Republicans' favor and three times in Democrats'. On average, 6.6 seats shifted control per election cycle during that same time frame. During Donald Trump's (R) presidency, Republicans lost 21 net seats (21% of the chamber) in the House, the most in any state legislative chamber in the country.

Ballotpedia identified 25 of the races as battlegrounds. Democrats held 19 of the battleground districts and Republicans held six. Based on analysis of these districts' electoral histories, these races had the potential to be more competitive than other races and could possibly lead to shifts in a chamber's partisan balance.

Commentators described the House of Delegates elections as a gauge of political sentiment following Joe Biden's (D) election as president in 2020. The presidential election winner's party lost seats in the House of Delegates in five of the seven state election years following a presidential election between 1993 and 2017.

The House of Delegates was one of three state legislative chambers with elections in 2021. Redistricting in Virginia after the 2020 census will not affect this election, which will be held using districts drawn after the 2010 census.

New Jersey

New Jersey General Assembly

See also: New Jersey General Assembly elections, 2021

Elections for the New Jersey General Assembly took place in 2021. The primary was on June 8, 2021, and the general election was on November 2. The filing deadline for candidates was April 5, 2021.

The New Jersey General Assembly was one of three state legislative chambers with elections in 2021. There are 99 chambers throughout the country.

New Jersey State Senate

See also: New Jersey State Senate elections, 2021

Elections for the New Jersey State Senate took place in 2021. The primary was on June 8, 2021, and the general election was on November 2. The filing deadline for candidates was April 5, 2021.

The New Jersey State Senate was one of three state legislative chambers with elections in 2021. There are 99 chambers throughout the country.

See also

• Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2021
• Ballotpedia Email Updates
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Footnotes

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