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State Legislative Tracker: Mississippi prepares for primaries tomorrow
August 1, 2011
By Jackie Arthur
This week's tracker features the monthly partisan count update, and a section dedicated to the Mississippi primary elections that will be held tomorrow. Mississippi is the second of four states to hold state legislative elections this year.
Partisan breakdown
As of August 1, the following figures represent the cumulative partisan breakdown of the 50 state senates and state houses. In the 50 states, Republicans currently control 53.93% of all seats while Democrats hold 45.28%%. All told, Republicans control 57 chambers while Democrats are the majority in 37 chambers.
| Representation in 50 State Legislatures | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Number of | Percentage |
| Democratic state representatives | 3,319 | 45.28% |
| Republican state representatives | 3,953 | 53.93% |
| Independent state representatives | 68 | 0.93% |
| Third party (and non-voting) representatives | 11 | 0.15% |
| Vacancies | 33 | 0.45% |
Houses
The partisan composition of state houses refers to which party holds the majority of seats in the state house or the lower level of each state legislature. Altogether, in the 49 state houses, there are 5,413 state representatives.
As of August 1, 2011, the breakdown of chamber control by party is as follows:
18 chambers
29 chambers
1 chamber (Oregon)
- See also: Partisan composition of state senates
Cumulative numbers
As of August 1, 2011 5,364 state representatives are affiliated with either the Republican or Democratic parties.
| Party | Number of | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic state representatives | 2,444 | 45.15% |
| Republican state representatives | 2,920 | 53.94% |
| Independent state representatives | 15 | 0.28% |
| Third party (and non-voting) representatives | 9 | 0.17% |
| Vacancies | 25 | 0.46% |
Vacancies
There are 25 state house vacancies in 13 different states as of August 1, 2011. They are as follows:
| State | Vacancies |
|---|---|
| Alabama | 2 |
| Maine | 1 |
| Massachusetts | 1 |
| Missouri | 4 |
| New Hampshire | 3 |
| New Jersey | 1 |
| New York | 6 |
| Ohio | 1 |
| Oklahoma | 1 |
| South Carolina | 2 |
| Texas | 1 |
| Vermont | 1 |
| Wisconsin | 1 |
Independents
There are 24 state representatives in 11 states identifying as independents or parties other than Democratic and Representative as of August 1, 2011. They are as follows:
| State | Independents/Third Party |
|---|---|
| Georgia | 1 (Independent) |
| Louisiana | 4 (Independent) |
| Maine | 3 (2 non-voting Native American representatives, 1 Independent) |
| New Mexico | 1 (Independent) |
| New York | 1 (Independence Party of New York) |
| North Carolina | 1 (Independent) |
| South Dakota | 1 (Independent) |
| Tennessee | 1 (Carter County Republican) |
| Vermont | 8 (5 Vermont Progressive Party, 3 Independent) |
| Virginia | 2 (Independent) |
| Wisconsin | 1 (Independent) |
State Senates
The partisan composition of state senates refers to which political party holds the majority of seats in the state senate. Altogether, in the 50 state senates, there are 1,971 state senators.
As of August 1, 2011, the breakdown of chamber control by party is as follows:
- See also: Partisan composition of state houses
Cumulative numbers
As of August 1, 2011, 1,908 state senators are affiliated with either the Republican or Democratic parties.
| Party | Number of | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic state senators | 875 | 44.39% |
| Republican state senators | 1,033 | 52.41% |
| Nonpartisan state senators | 49 | 2.49% |
| Independent state senators | 4 | 0.20% |
| Third Party state senators | 2 | 0.10% |
| Vacancies | 8 | .41% |
Vacancies
There are 8 state senate vacancies as of August 1, 2011.
| State | Vacancies |
|---|---|
| Florida | 1 |
| Georgia | 1 |
| Minnesota | 2 |
| Mississippi | 1 |
| North Dakota | 1 |
| Oklahoma | 1 |
| Washington | 1 |
Independents
There are 6 state senators in 5 states identifying as independents or parties other than Democratic and Representative as of August 1, 2011. They are as follows:
| State | Independents/Third Party |
|---|---|
| Alabama | 1 (Independent) |
| Kentucky | 1 (Independent) |
| Maine | 1 (Independent) |
| Rhode Island | 1 (Independent) |
| Vermont | 2 (Vermont Progressive Party) |
Sessions
So far this year, 43 out of 50 state legislative sessions have officially adjourned their regular session. This week, no states are scheduled to adjourn their 2011 regular session.
Regular sessions
The following 7 states remain in regular legislative sessions:
- Note: California and Wisconsin are both convened in ongoing special sessions, but are still considered to be in regular session. California began its summer recess on July 15 and will adjourn again on August 15.
- Click here to see a chart of each state's 2011 session information.
Special sessions
Special sessions are expected to be a widespread occurrence in the state legislatures in 2011, in particular due to the necessity of states to conduct the redistricting of state legislative and congressional districts.
This week, California and Wisconsin continue their special sessions. West Virginia begins a special redistricting session today.
Special sessions beginning this week:
- August 1 - West Virginia
Elections
A total of 578 seats will be up for general election in state legislatures in 2011.
Three state legislative primaries remain in Louisiana, Mississippi and Virginia. New Jersey held statewide primaries on June 7, 2011. The next primary will be held tomorrow in Mississippi.
Elections will be held in all 52 of Mississippi's senate districts on November 8, 2011. The signature filing deadline for the election was on June 1. Mississippi's primary election will be held tomorrow, August 2.
On March 17, the NAACP filed an injunction to prevent elections from being held this year. The group alleges that the redistricting process has not produced maps that are current to reflect new population figures.[1][2] A mid-May court ruling ordered the elections proceed under the existing districts, with redistricting taken up again in 2012. Whether special elections would be ordered in 2012 once redistricting was complete was left undecided by the court.
Heading into the 2011 election, the partisan breakdown in Mississippi's two chambers is:
| Mississippi State Senate | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 2011 | After the 2011 Election | |
| Democratic Party | 24 | 21 | |
| Republican Party | 27 | 31 | |
| Vacancy | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 52 | 52 | |
| Mississippi House of Representatives | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 2011 | After the 2011 Election | |
| Democratic Party | 68 | 58 | |
| Republican Party | 54 | 64 | |
| Total | 122 | 122 | |
Mississippi House primary election
Primary competitiveness
Primary contests in the Mississippi House remained fairly constant since the last election. As in 2007, roughly 2/3 of the state's major party candidates will proceed to the general election without a primary challenge. In addition, over 1/4 of possible primaries will not be held, since no candidate is running. Of the 168 party primaries, only 51 feature two or more candidates competing for the nomination. On top of that, 75 party primaries will not be held because no candidate is running.
| Comparing Contested Primaries of past MS Senate Elections | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democrats | Republicans | Total | |||||||
| 2007 | 2011 | 2007 | 2011 | 2007 | 2011 | ||||
| Open Contested | 9 | 8 | 11 | 15 | 20 | 23 | |||
| Open Uncontested | 12 | 21 | 27 | 19 | 39 | 40 | |||
| Incumbent Contested | 23 | 18 | 10 | 10 | 33 | 28 | |||
| Incumbent Uncontested | 51 | 40 | 26 | 37 | 77 | 77 | |||
| No candidates | 27 | 35 | 48 | 41 | 75 | 76 | |||
| Total contested | 32 | 26 | 21 | 25 | 53 | 51 | |||
| Total uncontested | 63 | 61 | 53 | 56 | 116 | 117 | |||
Competitiveness
Retiring incumbents
16 incumbent representatives (13.1% of all incumbents) have chosen not to run for re-election, while 106 incumbents are running for re-election. The following incumbents are not running for re-election to the Mississippi House of Representatives.
- William McCoy District 3
- Larry Baker District 8
- Warner McBride District 10
- Noal Akins District 12
- Jack Gadd District 13
- Daniel Holland District 16
- S. David Norquist District 28
- Dannie Reed District 35
- W.T. Mayhall, Jr. District 40
- Billy Nicholson District 78
- Tad Campbell District 84
- J. Shaun Walley District 105
- Deryk Parker District 107
- Frank Hamilton District 109
- Frances Fredericks District 119
- Joseph Compretta District 122
Primary challenges
Only 28 incumbents (23% of those seeking re-election) face competition in the August 2 primary.
- 18 Democratic incumbents face a primary challenge.
- 10 GOP incumbents face a primary challenge.
Candidates unopposed by a major party
There are 122 seats up for election. 75 candidates (61.5% of seats) face no major party competition in the November 8 general election.
- 40 Democratic candidates faces no major party competition.
- 35 GOP candidates face no major party competition.
Mississippi Senate primary election
Primary competitiveness
Primary contests in the Mississippi Senate remained fairly constant since the last election. As in 2007, roughly 2/3 of the state's major party candidates will proceed to the general election without a primary challenge. In addition, over 1/4 of possible primaries will not be held, since no candidate is running. Of the 75 party primaries, only 26 feature two or more candidates competing for the nomination. On top of that, 29 party primaries will not be held because no candidate is running.
| Comparing Contested Primaries of past MS Senate Elections | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democrats | Republicans | Total | |||||||
| 2007 | 2011 | 2007 | 2011 | 2007 | 2011 | ||||
| Open Contested | 7 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 12 | 15 | |||
| Open Uncontested | 9 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 15 | 15 | |||
| Incumbent Contested | 8 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 13 | 11 | |||
| Incumbent Uncontested | 15 | 17 | 18 | 15 | 33 | 32 | |||
| No candidates | 13 | 18 | 18 | 11 | 31 | 29 | |||
| Total contested | 15 | 10 | 10 | 16 | 25 | 26 | |||
| Total uncontested | 24 | 24 | 24 | 23 | 48 | 47 | |||
Competitiveness
Retiring incumbents
9 incumbent senators (17.3% of all incumbents) have chosen not to run for re-election, while 43 incumbents are running for re-election. The following incumbents are not running for re-election to the Mississippi State Senate.
- Carl Gordon District 8
- Nolan Mettetal District 10
- Lee Yancey District 20
- Walter Michel District 25
- Cindy Hyde-Smith District 39
- George Dickerson District 43
- Thomas King District 44
- David Baria District 46
- Billy Hewes District 49
Primary challenges
Only 11 incumbents (25.6% of those seeking re-election) face competition in the August 2 primary.
- 5 Democratic incumbents face a primary challenge.
- 6 GOP incumbents face a primary challenge.
Candidates unopposed by a major party
There are 52 seats up for election. 20 candidates (38.5% of seats) face no major party competition in the November 8 general election.
- 8 Democratic candidates faces no major party competition.
- 12 GOP candidates face no major party competition.
The next state with a signature filing deadline is Louisiana on September 8. Virginia's signature filing deadline was June 15, however a full and comprehensive candidate list has not yet been released. Virginia's primary has been rescheduled to August 23, 2011 instead of its usual date of June 14, 2011[3] after delays and uncertainty in the redistricting process.[4].[5]
Special elections
There are no special elections taking place this week.
Upcoming special elections include:
- August 9 - New Hampshire House, Strafford 3, Wisconsin State Assembly District 48, and 6 Republican state senate recalls.
Footnotes
- ↑ Fox 40 News, "Redistricting issues lead to lawsuit," March 17, 2011
- ↑ Hattiesburg American, "Suit filed over redistricting," March 17, 2011
- ↑ Ballot Access News, "Virginia House Passes Bill Moving 2011 Primary from June to August," January 20, 2011 (dead link)
- ↑ Virginia General Assembly, "History of House Bill 1507 (2011)"
- ↑ Virginia Public Access Project, "Update:Primaries to be held August 23," January 30, 2011
