Senate

	2010 Legislative Election Results
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Other 2010 Election information
	State legislative election results • Statewide elections, 2010 • State Senate elections • State House elections

	2010 Legislative Election Results
State-by-State Analysis
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Other 2010 Election information
	State legislative election results • Statewide elections, 2010 • State Senate elections • State House elections

	2010 Legislative Election Results
State-by-State Analysis
	Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan• Minnesota • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming
Other 2010 Election information
	State legislative election results • Statewide elections, 2010 • State Senate elections • State House elections

Massachusetts State Senate Election Results

This page contains macro-level election results and analysis for the Massachusetts State Senate. For results in individual contests see our Massachusetts State Senate elections, 2010 page. The following is a breakdown of the state senate before and after the election:

Massachusetts State Senate
Party		As of November 1, 2010	After the 2010 Election
	Democratic Party	35	36
	Republican Party	5	4
Total		40	40

What You'll See on This Page

This page displays the following lists of candidates

Incumbents who ran on November 2
Incumbents who were defeated
Challengers who defeated an incumbent
Newly elected senators
List of all winners
Unopposed candidates
Third party candidates

State Senate Overview:

There were 32 incumbents who ran in the November 2 general election. No incumbents lost, and thus 32 incumbents were re-elected to the Massachusetts State Senate.

No Republican or Democratic incumbents lost in the general election.

There will be 8 new senators sworn-in. All 8 are Democrats.

Of the 40 seats up for election, 36 were won by Democrats and 4 by Republicans.

16 candidates were unopposed, 12 Democrat and 4 Republicans.

No candidates ran as an independent or third party candidate in the general election.

Incumbency Analysis

Of the 1,167 state senate seats up for election in 2010, incumbents ran for 894 (76.6%) of them. Of these 894, 94 lost their re-election bids, 89 Democrats and 5 Republicans. In Massachusetts, 8 incumbent senators did not run for re-election on the November 2 ballot, while 32 incumbents (8.0%) ran for re-election. Of these 32 incumbents, none were defeated.

Incumbents who ran on November 2

The following is a list of all of the incumbents who ran on the November 2 general election ballot:

Incumbents defeated

There were no incumbents who ran and were defeated in the November 2 general election.

New State Senators and General Election Winners

388 new senators were elected across the country. This includes challengers who defeated incumbents as well as candidates who won open seats. Of these 388, 278 were Republicans and 110 were Democrats. In Massachusetts, 8 new senators will be sworn-in. All 8 of the newly elected senators were Democrats. In the 8 open seat contests, Democrats won all 8 seats while Republicans did not win any. In total, Massachusetts elected 40 senators, 4 Republicans and 36 Democrats.

Newly elected senators

The following are the newly-elected members of the Massachusetts State Senate:

Democratic

Republican

There were no newly elected Republican senators.

Open Seat Winners

The following is a list of candidates who won election in seats where no incumbent was running:

Democratic

Republican

No Republicans won election in seats where no incumbent was running.

Candidates who won election

The following is a list of all candidates elected to the Massachusetts State Senate:

Democratic

Republican

Competitiveness

Across the nation, 1,167 state senate seats were up for election in 2010. 1,143 of those seats were partisan seats (24 seats were up for election in Nebraska's nonpartisan unicameral legislature). In 320 (28.0%) of these state senate contests, there was a major party candidate with no major party opposition. In Massachusetts, 16 candidates (40.0% of seats) faced no major party opposition. Of these 16, 12 wereDemocrats and 4 were Republicans.

Unopposed candidates in general election

The following candidates did not face major party competition:

Democratic

Republican

Ballot Access

Across the nation, 140 independent or third party candidates ran for state senate. In Massachusetts, none of the 65 senate candidates ran as an independent or third party candidate.

House

Massachusetts State House Election Results

This page contains macro-level election results and analysis for the Massachusetts House of Representatives. For results in individual contests, see our Massachusetts House of Representatives elections, 2010. The following is a breakdown of the state house before and after the election:

Massachusetts House of Representatives
Party		As of November 1, 2010	After the 2010 Election
	Democratic Party	142	128
	Republican Party	15	32
	Vacancy	3	-
Total		160	160

What You'll See on This Page

This page displays the following lists of candidates

Incumbents who ran on November 2
Incumbents who were defeated
Challengers who defeated an incumbent
Newly elected senators
List of all winners
Unopposed candidates
Third party candidates

State House Overview:

There were 133 incumbents who ran in the November 2 general election. Only 13 incumbents lost, and thus 120 incumbents were re-elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

No Republican incumbents lost in the general election, while 13 incumbent Democratic incumbent lost.

There will be 40 new representatives sworn-in. Of those 40, 18 are Democrats and 22 are Republicans

Of the 150 seats up for election, 127 were won by Democrats and 33 by Republicans.

89 candidates were unopposed, 81 Democrats and 8 Republicans.

No candidates ran as an independent or third party candidate in the general election.

Incumbency Analysis

Of the 4,958 state house seats up for election, incumbents ran in the general election for 4,091 (79.5%) of them. Of these 4,091 incumbents, 413 lost their re-election bids, 403 Democrats and 10 Republicans. In Massachusetts, 133 (88.7%) incumbents ran for re-election. Of these 133, 13 incumbent representatives were defeated. All 13 incumbents were Democrats.

Incumbents who ran on November 2

The following is a list of all of the incumbents who ran on the November 2 general election ballot:

Incumbents defeated

The following is a list of incumbents defeated on November 2:

Candidate	Party	District
Danielle Gregoire
Matthew Patrick
Bill Bowles
James Fagan
Steven D'Amico
Mark Falzone
Barbara L'Italien
Rosemary Sandlin
Allen McCarthy
Paul Kujawski
Jennifer Callahan (Massachusetts)

Challengers who beat an incumbent

The following is a list of challengers who defeated an incumbent on November 2:

Candidate	Party	District
David Vieira
George Ross
Shaunna O'Connell
Steven Howitt
Donald Wong
James Lyons Jr.
Nicholas Boldyga
Geoff Diehl
Kevin Kuros
Ryan Fattman
Steven Levy

New Representatives and General Election Winners

1,345 new representatives were elected across the country. This includes challengers who defeated incumbents as well as candidates who won open seats. Of these 1,345, 988 were Republicans and 357 were Democrats. In Massachusetts, 40 new representatives will be sworn-in. Of those 40, 18 are Democrats and 22 are Republicans. In the 27 open seat contests, Republicans won 9 and Democrats 18. In total, Massachusetts elected 150 representatives, 33 Republicans and 127 Democrats.

Newly elected representatives

The following are the newly-elected members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives:

Democratic

Republican

Open Seat Winners

The following is a list of candidates who won election in seats where no incumbent was running:

Democratic

Republican

Candidates who won election

The following is a list of all candidates elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives:

Democratic

Republican

Competitiveness

Across the nation, 4,958 state house seats were up for election in 2010. In 1,680 (33.9%) of these state house contests, there was a major party candidate with no major party opposition. In Massachusetts, 89 candidates (59.3% of all seats) faced no major party opposition. Of these 89, 81 were Democrats and 8 were Republicans.

Unopposed candidates in general election

The following candidates did not face major party competition:

Democratic

Republican

Ballot Access

In Massachusetts, 34 (11.4%) of the 264 house candidates ran as independent or third party candidates.

Third party candidates

The following is a list of third party and independent candidates who ran in 2010:

National Partisan Trends

The following tables detail the partisan breakdown of national election results. These results provide context for Republican gains in Massachusetts.

Incumbents who were defeated in the general election

Across the nation, only 15 Republican incumbents were defeated while 492 Democratic incumbents were defeated. In total, 507 (10.4%) of the 4,872 incumbents running in the general election were defeated. The following is a breakdown of incumbent defeats in the 2010 general election:

The following is the breakdown of incumbents who lost.

Incumbents defeated in 2010 legislative elections
Party	Senate	House	Total
Democratic	89	403	492
Republican	5	10	15
TOTALS	94	413	507

Total new legislators elected

In total, 1,733 (28.3%) new legislators were elected in 2010. Of these 1,733, 1,266 (73.1%) are Republicans and 467 (26.9%) are Democrats.

The following is the breakdown of new legislators.

New Legislators after the 2010 legislative elections
Party	Senate	House	Total
Democratic	110	357	467
Republican	278	988	1,266
TOTALS	388	1,345	1,733

Winners of Open Seats

Open seats contests made up 1,178 (19.2%) of the 6,125 seats on November 2. Of these 1,178 open seats, Republicans won 729 (61.9%) while Democrats won 449 (38.1%). Going into the election, the number of open seats formerly held by each party was quite similar. Estimates prior to the election suggest that approximately 52% of the open seats were previously held by Republicans and 48% were held by Democrats.

The following is the breakdown of open seat winners.

Open Seat Winners in 2010 legislative elections
Party	Senate	House	Total
Democratic	108	341	449
Republican	191	538	729
TOTALS	299	879	1,178

Impact on legislative majorities

See also: Partisan balance of state legislatures

Heading into the November 2 elections, the Democratic Party held a commanding lead in state houses in the 88 legislative chambers that held elections in 2010. 52 of the 88 chambers, or nearly 60% of them, had a Democratic majority, while only 33 of them had a Republican majority. (Two chambers had an exactly equal number of Democrats and Republicans and one is officially nonpartisan.) The following is a partisan breakdown of state legislatures prior to the November 2 election:

Partisan breakdown before the November 2010 Election
Legislative chamber
State senates	23	18	1	1
State houses	29	15	1	-
Totals:	52	33	2	1

As a result of the election, Republicans picked up 20 legislative chambers while Democrats lost 20. Republicans won 53 total chambers on November 2, while Democrats won only 32. The following is a partisan breakdown of state legislatures after the November 2 election:

Partisan breakdown after the November 2010 Election
Legislative chamber
State senates	16	25	1	1
State houses	16	28	1	0
Totals:	32	53	2	1

Another way to examine the data is to gauge how many chambers had gains for the Democratic Party versus the Republican Party. Using this variable, the wide-sweeping Republican victory is further amplified. Democrats bolstered their majorities in only 7 of 88 (7.96%) state chambers. These legislatures are as follows:

State legislative chambers where Democrats gained seats on November 2
State	Chamber	Number of seats gained by Democrats
California	Assembly	+ 2
Delaware	House	+ 2
Hawaii	Senate	+ 1
Maryland	Senate	+ 2
Massachusetts	Senate	+ 1
Missouri	Senate	+ 1
West Virginia	Senate	+ 1

In 7 chambers, the GOP kept their current number of seats. In one chamber, the California State Assembly, both major parties gained seats by filling 2 vacancies and defeating an incumbent independent. Overall, the Republican Party picked up legislative seats in 75 (85.2%) of the 88 legislative chambers that held elections on November 2.

Impact on State Politics

Along with the GOP capture of the U.S. House of Representatives, state Republicans gained trifectas (control of the governorship, house, and senate) in 12 states. The following is a breakdown of trifectas across the nation, before and after the 2010 election:

Trifectas before and after the 2010 Election
Party	Before election	U.S. House seats	After election	U.S. House seats	Gain/loss states	Gain/loss congressional seats
Democratic	16	131	11	115	-5	-16
Republican	8	66	20	198	+12	+132

Before the election, 131 U.S House seats were in states with Democratic trifectas, while 66 districts were in states with Republican trifectas. After the election, Republicans trifectas control redistricting for 198 U.S. House seats while Democrats control only 115. Additionally, California, the strongest Democratic trifecta with 53 U.S. House representatives, passed propositions that take redistricting power away from state government.

Massachusetts 2010 legislative election results

Senate

Massachusetts State Senate Election Results

What You'll See on This Page

State Senate Overview:

Incumbency Analysis

Incumbents who ran on November 2

Incumbents defeated

New State Senators and General Election Winners

Newly elected senators

Democratic

Republican

Open Seat Winners

Democratic

Republican

Candidates who won election

Democratic

Republican

Competitiveness

Unopposed candidates in general election

Democratic

Republican

Ballot Access

House

Massachusetts State House Election Results

What You'll See on This Page

State House Overview:

Incumbency Analysis

Incumbents who ran on November 2

Incumbents defeated

Challengers who beat an incumbent

New Representatives and General Election Winners

Newly elected representatives

Democratic

Republican

Open Seat Winners

Democratic

Republican

Candidates who won election

Democratic

Republican

Competitiveness

Unopposed candidates in general election

Democratic

Republican

Ballot Access

Third party candidates

National Partisan Trends

National Partisan Trends

Incumbents who were defeated in the general election

Total new legislators elected

Winners of Open Seats

Impact on legislative majorities

Impact on State Politics

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