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Election results, 2024: State legislative races decided by fewer than 100 votes
Sixty-four (1.1%) of the 5,807 state legislative races in 2024 were decided by fewer than 100 votes. Fifty-nine of the races were in state house chambers, and five were in a state senate chamber. Click here to see a list of all the races.
Of the 85 state legislative chambers that held elections in 2024, 21 (24.7%) had at least one race that was decided by fewer than 100 votes.
The New Hampshire House of Representatives had 22 races decided by fewer than 100 votes—more than any other chamber. As of 2020, there were, on average, 3,444 people in each New Hampshire House district, making them the smallest state legislative districts in the country. The Maine House of Representatives and Vermont House of Representatives each had nine races decided by fewer than 100 votes—the second-highest number after the New Hampshire House.
The Maine House was also the only chamber where the number of races decided by fewer than 100 votes exceeded the total number of seats separating Democrats and Republicans following the election. In 2022, there were two such chambers—the New Hampshire and Pennsylvania Houses. In Maine, nine races were decided by fewer than 100 votes, and Democrats had a 76-73-2 majority after the election.
This means that the Maine House was as close as 21 total votes away from a Republican majority. Had the two closest races won by Democrats—District 75 (decided by seven votes) and District 52 (decided by 14 votes)—been won by Republicans instead, the result would have been a 75-74-2 Republican majority.
Across all 64 races, Democrats won 36 (56.3%), Republicans won 27 (42.2%), and one winner (1.6%) was unenrolled. In 2022, Democrats won 49 races by fewer than 100 votes (47.6%), Republicans won 52 (50.5%), Independents won one (1%), and one was tied.
Most of the races took place in districts with small population sizes compared to the rest of the country. Forty-eight (75%) were in districts with a population of less than 25,000. Districts that size made up 26.3% of all state legislative districts as of 2020.
In 2022, there were 103 (1.64%) of the 6,278 state legislative races decided by fewer than 100 votes. In 2020, there were 30 (0.5%) of the 5,875 state legislative races decided by fewer than 100 votes.
On this page, you will find:
- The states where the 64 races decided by fewer than 100 votes took place
- The distribution of the 64 races across state houses and senates
- An analysis of the size of the districts where the 64 races took place
- A list of all 64 races
Analysis
State by state
The chart and map below show the states where state legislative races decided by fewer than 100 votes took place.
Chamber type
The chart and graph below show the type of chamber where state legislative races decided by fewer than 100 votes typically took place.
| Chambers of state legislative races decided by fewer than 100 votes, 2024 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Partisan change | Seats | Percentage | ||||
| State House seats | 59 | 92.19% | ||||
| State Senate seats | 5 | 7.81% | ||||
| Total | 64 | 100% | ||||
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, 2024
| ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 48 | 75.00% | 26.30% | |||
| 25,000-50,000 | 7 | 10.94% | 24.00% | |||
| 50,000-75,000 | 6 | 9.38% | 15.00% | |||
| 75,000-100,000 | 1 | 1.56% | 8.30% | |||
| 100,000+ | 2 | 3.13% | 26.50% | |||
List of races
The chart below shows the 64 state legislative races decided by fewer than 100 votes in 2024.
See also
- State legislative elections, 2024
- State Legislative Districts
- Population represented by state legislators
- Election results, 2024: Minor party candidates who won more than the margin of victory
Footnotes
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