Your monthly support provides voters the knowledge they need to make confident decisions at the polls. Donate today.
Election results, 2022: State legislative veto-proof majorities
Heading into the 2022 elections, there were four states with a governor of one party and a veto-proof state legislative majority of the opposing party: Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, and Massachusetts. There are three states—North Carolina, Vermont, and Wisconsin—that could have switched to having a veto-proof majority and an opposing party governor as a result of the 2022 elections.
2022 Analysis
State legislatures with veto-proof majorities
- See also: Veto overrides in state legislatures
After the November 2022 elections, there were 27 state legislatures where one party held a veto-proof majority in both legislative chambers.[1] The number grew to 29 in 2023 due to legislators who switched parties. Republicans controlled twenty of the veto-proof legislatures, and Democrats controlled nine.
State legislatures with veto-proof majorities and governor of the opposing party
Two of four states heading into the 2022 elections that had a veto-proof legislative majority and governor of the opposing party—Kentucky and Kansas—maintained that status after the elections. The other two states—Maryland and Massachusetts—no longer have that status since the party that held veto-proof legislative majorities also gained control of the governor's office in the 2022 elections.
Vermont became a state with a veto-proof legislative majority and opposing-party governor as a result of the 2022 elections.
2020 Analysis
Two state legislatures saw changes in their veto-proof majority status—typically when one party controls either three-fifths or two-thirds of both chambers—as a result of the 2020 elections. Democrats gained veto-proof majorities in Delaware and New York, bringing the number of state legislatures with a veto-proof majority in both chambers to 24: 16 held by Republicans and eight held by Democrats.
Forty-four states held regularly-scheduled state legislative elections on November 3. Heading into the election, there were 22 state legislatures where one party had a veto-proof majority in both chambers; 16 held by Republicans and six held by Democrats. Twenty of those states held legislative elections in 2020.
Heading into the election, there were four states where the governor was a member of a different political party than the veto-proof majority: Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Maryland. All but Maryland held legislative elections in 2020, and no veto-proof majority status changes occurred. Ballotpedia identified five states with state legislative elections in 2020 that had the potential to gain a veto-proof majority of the party opposite the governor: Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Vermont, and Wisconsin. To find out what happened in those states, click here.
| Changes in state legislative veto-proof majorites | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Before | After | ||||
| Delaware | Democratic veto-proof majority in state House |  Democratic veto-proof majority in state legislature
| ||||
| New York | Democratic veto-proof majority in state Assembly | Democratic veto-proof majority in state legislature
| ||||
| Changes in state legislative chamber veto-proof majorities | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chamber | Before | After | ||||
| Connecticut State Senate | No veto-proof majority | Democratic veto-proof majority
| ||||
| Delaware State Senate | No veto-proof majority | Democratic veto-proof majority
| ||||
| Montana House of Representatives | No veto-proof majority |  Republican veto-proof majority
| ||||
| Nevada State Assembly | Democratic veto-proof majority |
No veto-proof majority | ||||
| New York State Senate | No veto-proof majority | Democratic veto-proof majority
| ||||
Analysis for 2018
In the 2018 elections, Republicans lost their legislative supermajority in North Carolina, increasing the policymaking capacity of Gov. Roy Cooper (D). Heading into the 2018 elections, there were three states with a governor of one party and a veto-proof state legislature of the opposing party: Maryland, Massachusetts, and North Carolina. Ballotpedia identified seven states that could have switched to having a veto-proof legislature and an opposing party governor as a result of the 2018 elections.
See also
- Veto-proof state legislatures and opposing party governors in the 2020 elections
- Veto-proof state legislatures and opposing party governors in the 2018 elections
- Veto overrides in state legislatures
- State legislative elections, 2022
- Election results, 2022
- Election results, 2022: Governors
Footnotes
- ↑ Even though Nebraska has a unicameral state legislature, it is included in this figure.
