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Election results, 2020: State legislative races decided by fewer than 100 votes

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Thirty (0.5%) of the 5,875 state legislative races in 2020 were decided by fewer than 100 votes. Twenty-nine of the 30 races were in state house chambers, and one was in a state senate chamber. Click here to see a list of all the races.

Partisan control changed in 15 (50%) of the 30 races. Thirteen of the partisan changes (43.3% of the 30 races) were Republican pickups, and 2 (6.67%) were Democratic pickups. Fifteen seats did not change partisan control.

Of the 86 state legislative chambers that held elections in 2020, 14 (16.3%) had at least one race that was decided by fewer than 100 votes.

The New Hampshire House of Representatives had 11 races decided by fewer than 100 votes—more than any other chamber. As of 2010, there were, on average, 3,291 people in each New Hampshire House district, making them the smallest state legislative districts in the country. The Vermont House of Representatives had five races decided by fewer than 100 votes—the second-highest number after the New Hampshire House. As of 2010, there were, on average, 4,172 people in each Vermont House district, making them the second-smallest state legislative districts in the country.

Most of the races took place in districts with small population sizes compared to the rest of the country. Twenty-four races (80%) were in districts with a population of less than 25,000. Districts that size made up 26.3% of all state legislative districts as of 2010.

On this page, you will find:

Analysis

State by state

The chart and map below show the states where state legislative races decided by fewer than 100 votes took place.

State legislative chambers with races decided by fewer than 100 votes, 2020
Chamber Chamber average district population (2010 Census) Races decided by fewer than 100 votes Partisan control of chamber after elections
Alaska House of Representatives 17,756 1 N/A
Arkansas House of Representatives 29,159 2 Republican Party 78-22
Connecticut House of Representatives 23,670 1 Democratic Party 97-54
Florida State Senate 470,033 1 Republican Party 24-16
Kansas House of Representatives 22,825 1 Republican Party 86-39
Maine House of Representatives 8,682 1 Democratic Party 80-67-5
Minnesota House of Representatives 39,582 1 Democratic Party 70-64
Missouri House of Representatives 36,742 1 Republican Party 114-49
New Hampshire House of Representatives 3,291 11 Republican Party 213-187
New Mexico House of Representatives 29,417 1 Democratic Party 46-24
North Dakota House of Representatives 7,155 1 Republican Party 80-14
Vermont House of Representatives 4,172 5 Democratic Party 92-47-11
West Virginia House of Delegates 18,530 1 Republican Party 76-24
Wyoming House of Representatives 9,394 2 Republican Party 51-7-2


Partisan changes

The chart and graph below show the partisan changes associated with state legislative races decided by fewer than 100 votes. Republican and Democratic pickups refer to single-member districts that flipped party control or multi-member districts where a party gained a net of at least one or more seats.

Partisan changes in state legislative races decided by fewer than 100 votes, 2020
Partisan change Seats Percentage
Republican pickup 13 43.33%
Democratic pickup 2 6.67%
No change 15 50%
Total 30 100%


Chamber type

The chart and graph below show the type of chamber where state legislative races decided by fewer than 100 votes typically took place.

Chambers of state legislative races decided by fewer than 100 votes, 2020
Partisan change Seats Percentage
State House seats 29 96.67%
State Senate seats 1 3.33%
Total 30 100%


Population buckets

The chart and graph below show the population size of the districts where state legislative races decided by fewer than 100 votes took place.

Population size of state legislative races decided by fewer than 100 votes, 2020
Population bucket Seats decided by fewer than 100 votes Percentage of seats decided by fewer than 100 votes Percentage of all state legislative seats
0-25,000 24 80.0% 26.3%
25,000-50,000 5 16.7% 24.0%
50,000-75,000 0 0.0% 15.0%
75,000-100,000 0 0.0% 8.3%
100,000+ 1 3.3% 26.5%


List of races

The chart below shows the 30 state legislative races decided by fewer than 100 votes in 2020. In two districts (marked with footnotes), the margin was between candidates of the same party running in multi-member districts.

State legislative races decided by fewer than 100 votes, 2020
Winner Party Office Winner votes Loser votes Difference Did it flip?
Timothy Fontneau Democratic Party New Hampshire House of Representatives Strafford 7 1405 1409 4 No
Craig Fishbein Republican Party Connecticut House of Representatives District 90 7048 7055 7 No
Dick Marston Republican Party New Hampshire House of Representatives Hillsborough 19 2009 2019 10 Yes
Liz Snyder Democratic Party Alaska House of Representatives District 27 4563 4574 11 Yes
Jerry Knirk Democratic Party New Hampshire House of Representatives Carroll 3 2233 2244 11 Yes[1]
Carlton Wing Republican Party Arkansas House of Representatives District 38 7083 7099 16 No
Corey Mock Democratic Party North Dakota House of Representatives District 18 2416 2432 16 No
Erika Connors Democratic Party New Hampshire House of Representatives Hillsborough 15 2437 2454 17 No
Melbourne Moran Jr. Democratic Party New Hampshire House of Representatives Hillsborough 34 1787 1805 18 No
Nick White Republican Party New Hampshire House of Representatives Merrimack 20 2636 2656 20 Yes
Michael Morgan Republican Party Vermont House of Representatives Grand Isle-Chittenden District 2607 2627 20 Yes
Mary Mayville Republican Party New Hampshire House of Representatives Hillsborough 21 6894 6916 22 Yes[1]
Lisa Post Republican Party New Hampshire House of Representatives Hillsborough 4 2626 2648 22 Yes
Joseph Pitre Republican Party New Hampshire House of Representatives Strafford 2 1548 1571 23 No
Ashley Hudson Democratic Party Arkansas House of Representatives District 32 8380 8404 24 Yes
Julie Sandstede Democratic Party Minnesota House of Representatives District 6A 10747 10777 30 No
Jason Probst Democratic Party Kansas House of Representatives District 102 3337 3368 31 No
Ileana Garcia Republican Party Florida State Senate District 37 104598 104630 32 Yes
Sally Achey Republican Party Vermont House of Representatives Rutland-Bennington District 1385 1417 32 Yes
Ember Oakley Republican Party Wyoming House of Representatives District 55 2026 2058 32 No
John Williams Democratic Party West Virginia House of Delegates District 51 17704 17737 33 Yes
Joshua Query Democratic Party New Hampshire House of Representatives Hillsborough 16 1785 1820 35 No
Willie Madrid Democratic Party New Mexico House of Representatives District 53 3323 3361 38 No
Samantha Lefebvre Republican Party Vermont House of Representatives Orange 1 District 1734 1774 40 Yes
Arthur Peterson Republican Party Vermont House of Representatives Rutland 2 District 2150 2192 42 Yes
John Arrison Democratic Party Vermont House of Representatives Windsor 2 District 1059 1101 42 No
Robert Sauls Democratic Party Missouri House of Representatives District 21 7637 7682 45 No
Marjorie Porter Democratic Party New Hampshire House of Representatives Hillsborough 1 2183 2229 46 No
John Romero-Martinez Republican Party Wyoming House of Representatives District 44 1504 1552 48 Yes
Randall Greenwood Republican Party Maine House of Representatives District 82 2658 2707 49 Yes

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Multi-member district where vote was between two candidates of the same party.
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