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Impact of term limits on state representative elections in 2026

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Of the 88 state legislative chambers holding elections in 2026, 11 house chambers include incumbents who are unable to run for re-election due to term limits. In those 11 chambers, term limits are affecting 130 seats up for election.[1]

There are 99 chambers throughout the country. In 31 legislative chambers across 16 states, state legislators are subject to term limits. In the United States, there are 1,973 state senate seats and 5,413 state house seats. Of the 1,973 senate seats, 609 seats (30.9%) are subject to term limits. Of the 5,413 house seats, 1,460 seats (27.0%) are subject to term limits. Of the total 7,386 state legislative seats, 2,069 (28.0%) are limited.

HIGHLIGHTS
  • A total of 130 state representatives—48 Democrats, 80 Republicans, and two independents—are termed out in 2026. This represents roughly 10% of the 1,307 seats up for election in the 11 term-limited state Houses with elections in November 2026.[2]
  • Altogether, 219 state legislators—89 state senators and 130 state representatives—are ineligible to run in the 2026 elections because of term limits.[3]
  • Republican have more state representatives term-limited in 2026 compared to Democrats. A total of 48 Democrats are term-limited, while 80 Republicans are term-limited. In even-numbered election years between 2010 and 2024, Democrats averaged about 83 term-limited representatives, while Republicans averaged about 112 term-limited representatives.
  • Missouri has the highest percentage of state representatives term-limited in 2026. Of the 163 seats up for election, 32 Missouri representatives, or roughly 20% of the chamber, are term-limited in 2026.
    • See also: Impact of term limits on state legislative elections in 2026 and State legislative elections, 2026

    Term-limited representatives by state

    The map below displays the 16 states that use term limits for state legislators. All 16 states will hold elections in 2026 except Louisiana.[1] Click on a state below to see the total number of termed-out state representatives in 2026 as well as a breakdown of the partisan totals for the legislative chamber.

    Term-limited representatives by year

    The table below displays the number of term-limited representatives by year from 2010 through 2026.

    State Houses with the largest term limit impacts

    • Missouri's House has the highest percentage of term-limited state representatives in 2026. Of the 163 seats up for election, 32 representatives, or roughly 20% of the chamber, are term-limited in 2026.

    State House with the smallest term limit impacts

    • The Michigan House of Representatives and Nevada State Assembly are tied with the lowest percentage of term-limited state representatives in 2026. Neither of the chambers had representatives impacted by term limits in 2026. The second-lowest number of term-limited representatives was in the Oklahoma House of Representatives. Of the 101 seats up for election, five Oklahoma representatives, or roughly 5% of the chamber, are term-limited in 2026.

    Differential impact on parties

    Term limits can often have an impact on the competitiveness of a state legislative election because term limits create open seats. Open seats are believed to be more electorally competitive than seats in which an incumbent is running for re-election because incumbents tend to win re-election. A 2015 study by Ballotpedia found that in state legislative elections between 1972 and 2014, the incumbency win rate never fell below 90 percent, except for 1974 when 88 percent of incumbents won re-election.

    In total, 130 state representatives—83 Democrats, 133 Republicans, and two independents—are term-limited. Going into the November elections, Democrats have majorities in four of the 13 term-limited state houses. Republicans have majorities in nine of the 13 state houses.

    Three state houses—California, Colorado, and Montana—have more term-limited Democrats than Republicans. Six state houses—Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, and South Dakota—have more term-limited Republicans than Democrats. Two states—Arizona and Maine—have the same number of term-limited Republicans and Democrats. Two states—Michigan and Nevada—do not have any term limited representatives.

    2026 term-limited state house elections
    StateMajority partyDemocratic
    term-limited    		Republican
    term-limited    		Independent
    term-limited    		Seats up in 2026% of seats
    ArizonaRepublican220607%
    ArkansasRepublican2501007%
    CaliforniaDemocratic420808%
    ColoradoDemocratic6106511%
    FloridaRepublican513012015%
    MaineDemocratic1010215115%
    MichiganRepublican0001100%
    MissouriRepublican725016320%
    MontanaRepublican5401009%
    NevadaDemocratic000420%
    OhioRepublican6809914%
    OklahomaRepublican0501015%
    South DakotaRepublican150709%
    Total 488021,30710%

    States

    See also: Arizona House of Representatives elections, 2026

    The Arizona House of Representatives has been a term-limited state House since Arizona passed Proposition 107 in 1992. Arizona representatives serve two-year terms with a four-term/eight-year term limit. Arizona's term limits apply to parts of terms and not just full terms.

    All 60 seats in the Arizona House of Representatives are up for election in 2026. In the 2026 elections, four representatives are ineligible to run because of term limits. The following state representatives are term-limited in 2026:

    'Democratic (2)

    'Republicans (2)

    See also

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Michigan and Nevada are up for election in 2026 and have term limits, but no incumbents are term-limited in 2026. In the two chambers, a total of 152 seats are up for election in 2026. The Louisiana House of Representatives is not holding elections in 2026. In 2022, North Dakota voters approved term limits that went into effect on January 1, 2023. Legislators will not be termed-out until 2030.
    2. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named chambers
    3. ↑ Some of the 219 term-limited state legislators in 2026 may resign before their term ends. These legislators will still be counted in the total number of term-limited legislators in 2026.
    4. ↑ Arkansas Legislature, "SJR 15 full text," accessed March 28, 2019
    5. ↑ Arkansas State Legislature, "Constitution of the State of Arkansas of 1874," accessed January 14, 2015
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