Primary election competitiveness in state government, 2019

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Last updated on August 5, 2025

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In 2019, Ballotpedia published primary election competitiveness data following each state's major-party candidate filing deadline. This includes data from state legislative and state executive filings.

The statistics in this report include the percentage of contested partisan primary elections in 2019, the percentage of incumbents who sought re-election, and the percentage of incumbents with a primary challenger. It does not include data on candidates nominated by convention. Click here to scroll to primary election competitiveness data for state elections in 2019. Click here for the 2018 edition of this analysis.

A contested primary is defined as one in which voters have a choice on the ballot. Most commonly, this means that there is more than one candidate from one party in the race. Exceptions to this include states with multi-member legislative districts and states featuring a top-two primary system, such as Louisiana.

Overview

The following statistics are an aggregate of primary election competitiveness data across all states with completed filing deadlines. Corresponding data from 2015 and 2017 are provided for comparative purposes.

• An average of 2.1 candidates per seat ran for election. In 2017, 2.2 candidates per seat ran, and in 2015, 1.9 candidates per seat ran.
• 20.8% of seats were open. In 2017, 10.2% of seats were open, and in 2015, 15.7% of seats were open.
• 28.0% of possible primary races were contested. Comparatively, 16.1% of primaries were contested in 2017, and 21.6% were contested in 2015.
• 30.6% of incumbents faced contested primaries. In 2017, 16.3% of incumbents faced a primary opponent, while in 2015, 24.6% of incumbents faced a contested primary.

Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia held state primary elections in 2019. Click [show] on the table below to view aggregate primary competitiveness data from that year.

2019 aggregate primary competitiveness data
Office	Districts/ offices	Seats	Open seats	Candidates	Possible primaries	Contested Democratic primaries	Contested Republican primaries	Contested top-two primaries	% of contested primaries	Incumbents in contested primaries	% of incumbents in contested primaries
State executive	35	35	14	128	55	10	14	14	69.1%	14	66.7%
State legislative	498	538	105	1,091	850	67	56	92	25.3%	125	28.9%
Total	533	573	119	1,219	905	77	70	106	28.0%	139	30.6%

2017

New Jersey and Virginia held state primary elections covered by Ballotpedia in 2017. Click [show] on the table below to view aggregate primary competitiveness data from that year.

2017 aggregate primary competitiveness data
Office	Districts/ offices	Seats	Open seats	Candidates	Possible primaries	Contested Democratic primaries	Contested Republican primaries	Contested top-two primaries	% of contested primaries	Incumbents in contested primaries	% of incumbents in contested primaries
State executive	5	5	3	28	9	3	3	1	77.8%	1	50.0%
State legislative	180	220	20	472	352	33	18	0	14.5%	32	16.0%
Total	185	225	23	500	361	36	21	1	16.1%	33	16.3%

2015

Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia held state primary elections in 2015. Click [show] on the table below to view aggregate primary competitiveness data from that year.

2015 aggregate primary competitiveness data
Office	Districts/ offices	Seats	Open seats	Candidates	Possible primaries	Contested Democratic primaries	Contested Republican primaries	Contested top-two primaries	% of contested primaries	Incumbents in contested primaries	% of incumbents in contested primaries
State executive	24	24	9	87	41	6	11	7	58.5%	10	66.7%
State legislative	498	538	79	994	852	49	50	70	19.8%	107	23.3%
Total	522	562	88	1,081	893	55	61	77	21.6%	117	24.6%

2013

New Jersey, Virginia, and Wisconsin held state primary elections in 2013. Click [show] on the table below to view aggregate primary competitiveness data from that year.

2013 aggregate primary competitiveness data
Office	Districts/ offices	Seats	Open seats	Candidates	Possible primaries	Contested Democratic primaries	Contested Republican primaries	Contested top-two primaries	% of contested primaries	Incumbents in contested primaries	% of incumbents in contested primaries
State executive	5	5	3	14	6	3	1	0	66.7%	1	50.0%
State legislative	180	220	15	428	360	12	20	0	8.9%	24	11.7%
Total	185	225	18	442	366	15	21	0	9.8%	25	12.1%

2011

Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia held state primary elections in 2011. Click [show] on the table below to view aggregate primary competitiveness data from that year.

2011 aggregate primary competitiveness data
Office	Districts/ offices	Seats	Open seats	Candidates	Possible primaries	Contested Democratic primaries	Contested Republican primaries	Contested top-two primaries	% of contested primaries	Incumbents in contested primaries	% of incumbents in contested primaries
State executive	24	24	7	81	41	6	11	5	53.7%	8	47.1%
State legislative	538	578	98	1,112	874	48	65	81	22.2%	104	21.4%
Total	562	602	105	1,193	915	54	76	86	23.6%	112	22.3%

See also

• Competitiveness reports: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011
• Elections
• Elections calendar
• State executive official elections, 2019
• State legislative elections, 2019

Footnotes

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