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U.S. House elections without a Democratic or Republican candidate, 1920-2018

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Every two years, regular elections are held for the full membership of the United States House of Representatives. Over the past 100 years, 14.4% of all U.S. House general elections had only one major party candidate.[1] This page compiles a list of which districts those were and how many there were each cycle from 1920 to 2018.

  • Click here for a list of U.S. House races without major party opposition in 2020.
  • Click here for maps of which U.S. House races did not have major party opposition from 2014 to 2018
  • Click here for a list of U.S. House races without major party opposition organized by state from 2014 to 2018
  • Click here for a list of U.S. House races without major party opposition organized by year from 1920 to 2018
  • Click here for the total number of U.S. House races without major party opposition each year from 1920 to 2018

In 2018, 41 of the 435 U.S. House seats had only one major party candidate on the ballot in the general election. In comparison, there were 61 such seats in 2016 and 76 in 2014. The 2018 cases consisted of three seats with no Democratic candidate on the general election ballot and 38 seats without a Republican candidate. The number of seats without a Democratic candidate dropped over the course of the three election cycles; it fell from 36 in 2014 to three in 2018. In comparison, 40 U.S. House races did not have a Republican candidate in 2014 compared to 38 in 2018.

From 1920 to 2018, there were 2,434 U.S. House races without a Republican candidate in the general election compared to 707 races without a Democratic candidate. During that time span, only the following six states had a Democratic and a Republican candidate for each of their U.S. House elections every cycle: Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, Montana, New Hampshire, and Wyoming. Excluding those states, seven states (Connecticut, Kansas, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Utah) had Republican candidates every cycle, and six states (Hawaii, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and West Virginia) had Democratic candidates every cycle.[2]

Maps of races without a Democratic or Republican candidate (2014-2018)

2014

2016

2018

2014 - 2018

Races without a Democratic or Republican candidate by state (2014-2018)

The following table lists the percentage of districts in each state that had only one major party candidate in at least one general election between 2014 and 2018:

U.S. House districts with only one major party candidate
State Districts with only one major party candidate Total districts in state Percentage with only one major party candidate
Alabama 4 7 57.1%
Alaska 0 1 0.0%
Arizona 3 9 33.3%
Arkansas 3 4 75.0%
California 20 53 37.7%
Colorado 0 7 0.0%
Connecticut 0 5 0.0%
Delaware 0 1 0.0%
Florida 10 27 37.0%
Georgia 10 14 71.4%
Hawaii 0 2 0.0%
Idaho 0 2 0.0%
Illinois 4 18 22.2%
Indiana 1 9 11.1%
Iowa 0 4 0.0%
Kansas 1 4 25.0%
Kentucky 2 6 33.3%
Louisiana 4 6 66.7%
Maine 0 2 0.0%
Maryland 0 8 0.0%
Massachusetts 6 9 66.7%
Michigan 2 14 14.3%
Minnesota 0 8 0.0%
Mississippi 1 4 25.0%
Missouri 0 8 0.0%
Montana 0 1 0.0%
Nebraska 1 3 33.3%
Nevada 0 4 0.0%
New Hampshire 0 2 0.0%
New Jersey 0 12 0.0%
New Mexico 0 3 0.0%
New York 12 27 44.4%
North Carolina 2 13 15.4%
North Dakota 0 1 0.0%
Ohio 1 16 6.3%
Oklahoma 1 5 20.0%
Oregon 1 5 20.0%
Pennsylvania 4 18 22.2%
Rhode Island 0 2 0.0%
South Carolina 2 7 28.6%
South Dakota 0 1 0.0%
Tennessee 1 9 11.1%
Texas 18 36 50.0%
Utah 0 4 0.0%
Vermont 1 1 100.0%
Virginia 4 11 36.4%
Washington 4 10 40.0%
West Virginia 0 3 0.0%
Wisconsin 3 8 37.5%
Wyoming 0 1 0.0%

Races without a Democratic or Republican candidate by year (1920-2018)

Click on the tabs below for lists of which U.S. House district elections did not have a Democratic or a Republican candidate from 1920 through 2018:[3][4]

2018

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

2016

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

2014

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

2012

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

2010

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

2008

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

2006

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

2004

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

2002

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

2000

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1998

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1996

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1994

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1992

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1990

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1988

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1986

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1984

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1982

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1980

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1978

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1976

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1974

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1972

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1970

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1968

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1966

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1964

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1962

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1960

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1958

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1956

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1954

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1952

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1950

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1948

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1946

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1944

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1942

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1940

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1938

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1936

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1934

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1932

Races without Democratic candidates

Every U.S. House race had a Democratic candidate in the general election in 1932.

Races without Republican candidates

1930

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1928

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1926

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1924

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1922

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

1920

Races without Democratic candidates

Races without Republican candidates

Number of races without a Democratic or Republican candidate by year (1920-2018)

The following graph and table show how many U.S. House races did not have a Democratic or a Republican candidate from 1920 through 2018:

Number of races without a major party candidate
Year Races without a Democratic candidate Races without a Republican candidate Total races with only one major party candidate
2018 3 38 41
2016 27 34 61
2014 36 40 76
2012 25 20 45
2010 24 5 29
2008 14 42 56
2006 11 45 56
2004 36 29 65
2002 44 37 81
2000 31 33 64
1998 56 39 95
1996 12 9 21
1994 34 17 51
1992 11 20 31
1990 33 48 81
1988 18 60 78
1986 17 53 70
1984 14 51 65
1982 10 43 53
1980 13 33 46
1978 18 46 64
1976 5 41 46
1974 1 55 56
1972 8 43 51
1970 5 55 60
1968 7 39 46
1966 4 53 57
1964 1 42 43
1962 1 56 57
1960 3 73 76
1958 1 88 89
1956 3 60 63
1954 2 75 77
1952 3 73 76
1950 1 81 82
1948 7 58 65
1946 5 66 71
1944 4 51 55
1942 5 84 89
1940 1 57 58
1938 2 73 75
1936 6 46 52
1934 1 82 83
1932 0 35 35
1930 26 73 99
1928 10 47 57
1926 23 51 74
1924 21 43 64
1922 28 47 75
1920 36 45 81

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The term major party is used in this article to refer to the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.
  2. ↑ Alaska and Hawaii are the only two states that had not gained statehood by 1920. Alaska officially became a state on January 3, 1959, and Hawaii became a state on August 21, 1959. Before they became states, Alaska and Hawaii elected non-voting delegates to Congress. Alaska's first U.S. House election was in 1958, while Hawaii's first was in 1960.
  3. ↑ In California and Washington state, which have top-two primary systems, a race was included if no candidate from a major party advanced to the general election.
  4. ↑ Pennsylvania adopted a new congressional district map beginning in the 2018 election cycle. While district locations and numbers were changed by the new map, data on this page is listed by district number only. As a result, Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District was listed as having no Democratic candidate in 2014 and 2016 while having no Republican candidate in 2018.
  5. ↑ All eight of Alabama's congressional seats were at-large districts in the 1962 election. There was a Democratic candidate for each of these districts while there were four seats that did not have a Republican candidate. This was counted as four seats without a Republican candidate.
  6. ↑ In 1952 in North Dakota, two at-large seats were on the ballot, but there was only one Democrat who filed to run. This was counted as one seat without a Democratic candidate.
  7. ↑ In 1948 in North Dakota, two at-large seats were on the ballot, but there was only one Democrat who filed to run. This was counted as one seat without a Democratic candidate.
  8. ↑ In 1932, Virginia had nine at-large U.S. House seats. There were nine Democrats and six Republicans who ran. This was counted as three seats without a Republican candidate.
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