Election results, 2025: State financial officers
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Heading into the 2025 elections, there were 40 Democratic and 60 Republican state financial officers. Six officers' partisan affiliations were indeterminate.
Different states have different names for these elected officials, but they all fall into three groups: treasurers, auditors, and controllers. Broadly, these officials are responsible for things like auditing other government offices, managing payroll, and overseeing pensions. In some states, certain SFOs are also responsible for investing state retirement and trust funds, meaning they get to decide where that public money goes.
In 2025, there are zero state financial officers directly on the ballot. However, there are two elections for governor in New Jersey and Virginia in which the winner of the election could pick at least one of these positions. Heading into the election, New Jersey has a Democratic governor, and Virginia has a Republican governor.
Ballotpedia considers the elections in both states to be battlegrounds. To read more about Ballotpedia's gubernatorial coverage, click here. To read more about Ballotpedia's coverage of other state executive offices, such as lieutenant governor or attorney general, click here. To read more about Ballotpedia's coverage on secretaries of state, another office with no direct elections, but affected by gubernatorial contests, click here.
Offices on the ballot in 2025
While no state financial officers are up for election in 2025, the outcomes of two gubernatorial contests will affect which party gets to appoint at least one state financial officer.
Heading into 2025, New Jersey has two Democratic SFOs, Virginia has two Republican SFOs and one Democratic SFO. All are affected by their state's gubernatorial election, and not directly elected.
The table below highlights the partisan balance of state financial officers, before and after the election.
The map below highlights states holding state financial officer elections in 2025 by the party of the winning candidate.
Partisan balance of all state financial officers
Heading into the 2025 elections, 60 state financial officers were Republican, 40 were Democratic, and six were indeterminate.
The map below highlights the partisan control of all states holding state financial officer elections in 2025 by the party of the winning candidate.
About the offices
- See also: State executive officials
Auditor
- See also: Auditor (state executive office)
The auditor is a state-level position in 48 states that supervises and has administrative rights over the accounting and financial functions of the state. Additionally, auditors act as watchdogs over other state agencies, performing internal government audits and investigating fraud allegations.
The state auditor belongs to either the executive or legislative branch, depending on state. While both offices are similar in function, a legislative auditor functions primarily under the state legislature and is not considered a state executive office.
The auditor may be elected or appointed, depending on the state. Terms of office range from four to 10 years and may be indefinite, served at the pleasure of the appointing body. In instances where the auditor is an appointee, appointment is usually done through some form of nomination in a subcommittee of the legislature and a confirmatory vote before the General Assembly.
Some states assign the same portfolio to another state level financial officer, such as the treasurer or the comptroller.
There are a total of 23 legislative auditor offices and 33 state executive auditor offices. A total of eight states have both auditor offices.
Comptroller
- See also: Controller (state executive office)
Controller, also known as comptroller, is a state-level position in 19 states. Most controllers and comptrollers share duties similar to state treasurers, exercising varying powers related to budgetary and management matters.
The controller is popularly elected in nine states, appointed by the governor in another nine, and appointed by the state legislature in Tennessee. In 2017, controller salaries ranged from $92,007 in South Carolina to $195,972 in Tennessee.
Treasurer
- See also: Treasurer (state executive office)
In the United States, the treasurer of a state is the official charged with overseeing revenue and finances and generally acting as the state's chief banker. Every state in the United States has a treasurer, though some have a different official title for the office. In New York and Texas there is no treasurer—instead, those duties are performed by the controller.
Most states elect the treasurer; of those states, it is common for treasurer to be a constitutional executive office. Some states, however, treat the position as a member of the governor's cabinet, thus making the position a gubernatorial appointment.
The position of state treasurer exists in 48 states; it is elected in 36 and appointed in 12. Of the 12 states to appoint state treasurers, the governor is responsible for appointment in eight while the legislature is responsible in the other four. In 2017, state treasurer salaries ranged from $195,972 in Tennessee to $68,500 in Colorado.
As opposed to treasurers in the corporate world, state treasurers are often elected partisan offices who administer various programs and have control over financial decisions without being involved in the highly detailed day-to-day bookkeeping and accounting.
In some states, the treasurer may share financial duties with a comptroller, a chief financial officer or an auditor. Areas that often fall under a treasurer's job description include:
- Debt management and debt policy
- Disaster preparation
- Pension fund administration
- Oversight to prevent fraud with public money
- Payroll matters for public employees
- Investing public funds and managing portfolios
Analysis of state elections, 2025
State legislative elections
- See also: State legislative elections, 2025
As of October 28th, 2025, Republicans controlled 55.4% of all state legislative seats nationally, while Democrats held 43.65%. Republicans held a majority in 57 chambers, and Democrats held the majority in 39 chambers. Two chambers (Alaska House and Alaska Senate) were organized under multipartisan, power-sharing coalitions. One chamber (Minnesota House of Representatives) was split evenly between both parties.
| Partisan balance of all 7,386 state legislative seats | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legislative chamber | 
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 Other
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Vacant | ||||
| State senates | 831 | 1,120 | 5 | 17 | ||||
| State houses | 2,393 | 2,972 | 20 | 28 | ||||
| Total: | 3,224
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4,092
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25
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45 | ||||
Tap the box below to show more analysis articles related to the 2025 state legislative elections.
- Ballotpedia's Top 10 Elections to Watch, 2025
- Annual Competitiveness Report
- State legislative special elections
- Primary election competitiveness in state government, 2025
- Impact of term limits
- Trifecta vulnerability in the 2025 elections
- Data on incumbents defeated in 2025
- Characteristics of incumbents defeated in 2025
- Veto-proof state legislatures and opposing party governors in the 2025 elections
- Contested primaries
- Open seats
- Incumbents in contested primaries
- Major party competition
- Unconstested incumbents
State executive elections
- See also: State executive official elections, 2025
State executive offices up for election in 2025 include two gubernatorial seats, two lieutenant gubernatorial seats, and one attorney general seat. Including down-ballot races, there are eight state executive seats up for election across four states in 2025.[1]
Tap the box below to show more analysis articles related to the 2025 state executive elections.
- Ballotpedia's Top 10 Elections to Watch, 2025
- Annual Competitiveness Report
- State executive official elections overview
- Primary election competitiveness in state government, 2025
- Gubernatorial elections
- Secretary of State elections
- Attorney General elections
- Historical and potential changes in trifectas
- State government trifectas
- Endorsements of school board members by state executive officeholders and candidates, 2025
- Impact of term limits on state executive elections
- Veto-proof state legislatures and opposing party governors
State judicial elections
- See also: State judicial elections, 2025
Tap the box below to show more analysis articles related to the 2025 state judicial elections.
See also
- Election results, 2025
- Election results, 2025: Governors
- State executive official elections, 2025
- Auditor (state executive office)
- Controller (state executive office)
- Treasurer (state executive office)
- State government triplexes
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Footnotes
- ↑ Ballotpedia describes the offices of governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and secretary of state as top-ballot state executive offices. Down-ballot state executive offices that exist in all 50 states include superintendent of schools, insurance commissioner, agriculture commissioner, labor commissioner, and public service commissioner. Examples of other down-ballot state executive offices include treasurer, auditor, and comptroller.
CategoryMarquee analysis, 2025
