Impact of term limits on state senate elections in 2026
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Of the 88 state legislative chambers holding elections in 2026, 14 senate chambers include incumbents who are unable to run for re-election due to term limits. In those 14 chambers, term-limits are affecting 89 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.
Term-limited senators 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] Louisiana holds elections every four years in odd-numbered years. Click on a state below to see the total number of termed-out state senators in 2026 as well as a breakdown of the partisan totals for the legislative chamber.
Term-limited senators by year
The table below displays the number of term-limited senators by year from 2010 through 2026.
State senates with the largest term limit impacts
- The Missouri State Senate has the highest percentage of state senators term-limited in 2026. Of the 17 seats up for election, 9 senators, or roughly 53% of the chamber, are term-limited in 2026.
State senates with the smallest term limit impacts
- South Dakota's Senate has the lowest percentage of term-limited state senators in 2026. Of the 35 seats up for election, one senator, or roughly 3% of the chamber, is 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, 89 state senators—35 Democrats, 53 Republicans, and one independent—are term-limited. Going into the November elections, Democrats have majorities in five of the 14 term-limited state senates. Republicans have majorities in eight of the 14 state senates. Nebraska's state Senate is term-limited and officially nonpartisan.
Five state senates—Arkansas, California, Colorado, Nevada, and South Dakota—have more term-limited Democrats than Republicans. Eight state senates—Arizona, Florida, Maine, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, and Oklahoma—have more term-limited Republicans than Democrats. One state—Michigan—have the same number of term-limited Republicans and Democrats. No states had no term-limited senators.
| State | Majority party | Democratic term-limited | Republican term-limited | Independent term-limited | Seats up in 2026 | % of seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | Republican | 1 | 3 | 0 | 30 | 13% |
| Arkansas | Republican | 3 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 29% |
| California | Democratic | 4 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 30% |
| Colorado | Democratic | 3 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 17% |
| Florida | Republican | 2 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 25% |
| Maine | Democratic | 1 | 5 | 0 | 35 | 17% |
| Michigan | Democratic | 10 | 10 | 0 | 38 | 53% |
| Missouri | Republican | 2 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 53% |
| Montana | Republican | 3 | 6 | 0 | 25 | 36% |
| Nebraska | Nonpartisan[3] | 0 | 0 | 10 | 24 | 42% |
| Nevada | Democratic | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 9% |
| Ohio | Republican | 2 | 6 | 0 | 17 | 47% |
| Oklahoma | Republican | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8% |
| South Dakota | Republican | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3% |
| Total | 35 | 53 | 1 | 355 | 25% |
States
- See also: Arizona State Senate elections, 2026
The Arizona State Senate has been a term-limited state Senate since Arizona passed Proposition 107 in 1992. Arizona senators serve two-year terms with a four-term/eight-year term limit.
All 30 seats in the Arizona State Senate are up for election in 2026. In the 2026 elections, four senators are ineligible to run because of term limits. The following state senators are term-limited in 2026:
Democratic (1)
Republicans (3)
See also
- State legislative elections, 2026
- Impact of term limits on state legislative elections in 2026
- Impact of term limits on state representative elections in 2026
- State legislatures with term limits
- Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2026
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Louisiana State Senate are 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.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ The Nebraska Senate is officially nonpartisan, but is held by the Republican Party. Two Republican, seven Democrats, and one independent are term-limited in 2026. For more information on how Ballotpedia determined the partisan affiliation for Nebraska senators, please click here.
- ↑ Arkansas Legislature, "SJR 15 full text," accessed March 28, 2019
- ↑ Arkansas State Legislature, "Constitution of the State of Arkansas of 1874," accessed January 14, 2015
