2007 state legislative elections analyzed using a Competitiveness Index

2007 Competitiveness Overview
Primary competition (state comparison) ;
Major party challengers (state comparison)
Open seats (state comparisons)
Competitiveness Index • Absolute Index; • Comparisons Between Years
	2007 State Legislative Elections
Competitiveness Studies from Other Years
	2009 • 2010 • 2011

By Geoff Pallay with Kevin Diana, Tyler King and Justin Haas

578 of the country's 7,384 state legislative seats were up for election in the November 6, 2007 elections.

The following states held elections.

This article is an overview of our analysis of the degree of competitiveness in 2007's state legislative elections. The analysis utilized this 3-factor "Competitiveness Index".

Using our 3-factor "Competitiveness Index", we've contrasted three states that held elections.

Status	Senate	House	Total
Seats up	171	407	578
Incumbents running	133	308	441
% with no incumbent	23.2%	24.3%	13.7%
Incumbents with no primary	101	240	341
% with no primary	75.9%	77.9%	77.3%
Candidates with no major party opposition	69	201	270
% with no major party opposition	40.4%	49.4%	46.7%

Overall comparisons

State legislature	Primary contests	Major party competition	Open seats	Overall rank
Louisiana	1	2	1	1
Mississippi	2	3	3	3
New Jersey	3	1	2	2
Virginia	4	4	4	4

Main article: Open seats in the 2007 state legislative elections

The states as ranked based on percentage of open seats are: Louisiana, New Jersey, Mississippi, and Virginia.

Louisiana: 52.1%. In Louisiana, 75 out of 144 seats were open where an incumbent did not run for re-election, which means that 47.9% of the 144 incumbents chose to run for re-election.
New Jersey: 28.3%. In New Jersey, 34 out of 120 seats were open where an incumbent did not run for re-election, which means that 72.7% of the 120 incumbents chose to run for re-election.
Mississippi: 10.3%. In Mississippi, 18 out of 174 seats were open where an incumbent did not run for re-election, which means that 89.7% of the 174 incumbents chose to run for re-election.
Virginia: 7.1%. In Virginia, 10 out of 140 seats were open where an incumbent did not run for re-election, which means that 92.9% of the 140 incumbents chose to run for re-election.

Main article: Incumbents with no primary challenger in the 2007 state legislative elections

The states as ranked based on having the most primary challengers are: Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia.

Louisiana: 43.5%. In Louisiana, 30 out of 69 incumbents running for election in 2007 faced a primary, which means that 56.5% of the 69 incumbents running automatically advanced to the general election.
Mississippi: 29.5%. In Mississippi, 46 out of 156 incumbents running for election in 2007 faced a primary, which means that 70.5% of the 156 incumbents running automatically advanced to the general election.
New Jersey: 18.6%. In New Jersey, 16 out of 86 incumbents running for election in 2007 faced a primary, which means that 81.4% of the 86 incumbents running automatically advanced to the general election.
Virginia: 6.2%. In Virginia, 8 out of 130 incumbents running for election in 2007 faced a primary, which means that 93.9% of the 122 incumbents running automatically advanced to the general election.

Main article: Major party candidates with no major party challengers in the November 2007 state legislative elections

The states as ranked based on fewest no opposition general elections are: New Jersey, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Virginia.

New Jersey: 8.3%. In New Jersey, 10 of 120 seats up for election contain only one major party candidate, meaning in 91.8% of the races there are Democratic and Republican candidates.
Louisiana: 43.1%. In Louisiana, 62 of 144 seats up for election contain only one major party candidate, meaning in 56.9% of the races there are Democratic and Republican candidates.
Mississippi: 60.3%. In Mississippi, 105 of 174 seats up for election contain only one major party candidate, meaning in 39.7% of the races there are Democratic and Republican candidates.
Virginia: 65.7%. In Virginia, 92 of 140 seats up for election contain only one major party candidate, meaning in 34.3% of the races there are Democratic and Republican candidates.