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Election results, 2023: State legislative races decided by fewer than 100 votes
One (0.17%) of the 578 state legislative seats up for election in 2023 was decided by fewer than 100 votes: the race for Virginia House of Delegates District 82. Incumbent Kim Taylor (R) defeated Kimberly Adams (D) by 78 votes. There were 48 write-in votes.
Eight of the country's 99 state legislative chambers held regularly-scheduled elections in 2023. Elections in those eight chambers represented 578 of the country's 7,386 state legislative seats (7.8%). This was the most seats up for election in an odd-numbered year since 2011.
In 2021, one (0.5%) of the 220 state legislative races was decided by fewer than 100 votes.
| State legislative races decided by fewer than 100 votes, 2023 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | Party | Office | Votes for winning candidate | Votes for second-place candidate | Difference? | Did the district flip? | Partisan control after election | |
| Kim Taylor | Republican | Virginia House of Delegates District 82 | 14,286 | 14,208 | 78 | No |  51-49
| |
Analysis
State by state
The chart and map below show the states where state legislative races decided by fewer than 100 votes took place.
| State legislative chambers with races decided by fewer than 100 votes, 2023 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chamber | Chamber average district population (2020 Census) | Races decided by fewer than 100 votes | Partisan control of chamber after elections | |||
| Louisiana House of Representatives | 44,395 | 0 |  Republican 73-32
| |||
| Louisiana State Senate | 119,525 | 0 | Republican 28-11
| |||
| Mississippi House of Representatives | 24,294 | 0 | Republican 79-41-2
| |||
| Mississippi State Senate | 56,998 | 0 | Republican 36-16
| |||
| New Jersey General Assembly | 116,181 | 0 |  Democratic 52-28
| |||
| New Jersey State Senate | 232,362 | 0 | Democratic 25-15
| |||
| Virginia House of Delegates | 85,733 | 1 | Democratic 51-49
| |||
| Virginia State Senate | 216,364 | 0 | Democratic 21-19
| |||
Population buckets
The chart and graph below show the population size of the districts where state legislative races decided by fewer than 100 votes took place.
| Population size of state legislative races decided by fewer than 100 votes, 2023
| ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population bucket | Seats decided by fewer than 100 votes | Percentage of seats decided by fewer than 100 votes | Percentage of all state legislative seats | |||
| 0-25,000 | 0 | 0% | 26.3% | |||
| 25,000-50,000 | 0 | 0% | 24.0% | |||
| 50,000-75,000 | 0 | 0% | 15.0% | |||
| 75,000-100,000 | 1 | 100% | 8.3% | |||
| 100,000+ | 0 | 0% | 26.5% | |||
District populations
Virginia House District 82 had a population of 85,733, according to the 2020 census[1]. There were an average of 86,545 in each of Virginia’s 100 House districts, making it the state with the 12th-highest average population per state representative. Virginia's average of 216,364 people per state senator was the 11th-highest.
Louisiana’s average of 44,395 people per state representative was the 24th-highest in the nation based on the 2020 census. The state’s average of 119,525 people per state senator was the 25th-highest.
Mississippi's average of 24,294 people per state representative was the 36th-highest in the nation based on the 2020 census. The state’s average of 56,998 people per state senator was the 37th-highest.
New Jersey's average of 116,181 people per state representative was the 7th-highest in the nation based on the 2020 census. The state's average of 232,362 people per state senator was 9th-highest.
Election analysis
Hundreds of elections took place in 2023 across the United States, including primary and general elections at the state and local levels and special elections at the federal, state, and local levels. You will find Ballotpedia's research and curation on 2023 elections in the United States below.
- Ballotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection report
- Incumbent win rates by state
- Incumbents defeated in state legislative elections
- Minor-party candidates who won more than the margin of victory
- State government trifectas
- State government triplexes
- State legislative races decided by fewer than 100 votes
- State legislative seats that changed party control
- State legislative veto-proof majorities
- Partisan balance of mayors of the 100 largest cities by population
See also
- Election results, 2021: State legislative races decided by fewer than 100 votes
- Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2023
- Ballotpedia Email Updates
- Contact us
Footnotes
