2007 United States state legislative elections

For related races, see 2007 United States elections.
2007 United States state legislative elections
← 2006 November 6, 2007 2008 →
8 legislative chambers
4 states
  Majority party Minority party Third party
 
Party Democratic Republican Coalition
Chambers before 56 42[a] 1[c]
Chambers after 58 39[b] 1[c]
Overall change Increase 2 Decrease 3 Steady
Map of upper house elections:
     Democrats gained control      Democrats retained control
     No regularly-scheduled elections
Map of lower house elections:
     Democrats retained control
     Republicans retained control
     No regularly-scheduled elections

Elections to state legislatures were held on November 6, 2007. Seven legislative chambers in four states held regularly-scheduled elections. These off-year elections coincided with other state and local elections, including gubernatorial elections in three states.[1] Both chambers of the Northern Mariana Islands were up as well.

Democrats held control of both chambers of the New Jersey and Louisiana legislatures, and held control of the Mississippi House of Representatives. Meanwhile, Republicans held control of the Virginia House of Delegates. Meanwhile, Democrats gained control of the Virginia and Mississippi Senates, however, Democrats had only lost control of the latter chamber at the beginning of the year when Senators James Walley and Tommy Gollott switched parties from Democratic to Republican.[2]

Additionally, Republicans lost control of the Tennessee Senate when Republican Senator Michael R. Williams became an Independent and the chamber became evenly divided with no one party in control.[3]

Summary table

Regularly-scheduled elections were held in 8 of the 99 state legislative chambers in the United States. Nationwide, regularly-scheduled elections were held for 578 of the 7,383 legislative seats. This table only covers regularly-scheduled elections; additional special elections took place concurrently with these regularly-scheduled elections.

State Upper House Lower House
Seats up Total % up Term Seats up Total % up Term
Louisiana 39 39 100 4 105 105 100 4
Mississippi 52 52 100 4 122 122 100 4
New Jersey 40 40 100 2/4[d] 80 80 100 2
Virginia 40 40 100 4 100 100 100 2

State summaries

Louisiana

Main articles: 2007 Louisiana Senate election and 2007 Louisiana House of Representatives election

All seats of the Louisiana State Senate and the Louisiana House of Representatives were up for election to four-year terms in single-member districts. Democrats maintained control of both chambers.

Louisiana State Senate
Party Before After Change
Democratic 24 23 Decrease 1
Republican 15 16 Increase 1
Total 39 39
Louisiana House of Representatives
Party Before After Change
Democratic 66 53 Decrease 13
Republican 37 50 Increase 13
Independent 2 2 Steady
Total 105 105

Mississippi

Main articles: 2007 Mississippi Senate election and 2007 Mississippi House of Representatives election

All seats of the Mississippi State Senate and the Mississippi House of Representatives were up for election to four-year terms in single-member districts. Democrats maintained control of the lower house, and they regained control of the upper house, which they had lost due to party switching earlier in the year.

Mississippi State Senate
Party Before After Change
Democratic 25 27 Increase 2
Republican 27 25 Decrease 2
Total 52 52
Mississippi House of Representatives
Party Before After Change
Democratic 75 75 Steady
Republican 47 47 Steady
Total 122 122

New Jersey

Main articles: 2007 New Jersey Senate election and 2007 New Jersey General Assembly election

All seats of the New Jersey Senate and the New Jersey General Assembly were up for election. In 2007, senators were elected to two-year terms in single-member districts, while Assembly members were elected to two-year terms in two-member districts.[4] Democrats retained majority control in both chambers.

Senate
Party Before After Change
Democratic 22 23 Increase 1
Republican 18 17 Decrease 1
Total 40 40
General Assembly
Party Before After Change
Democratic 49 48 Decrease 1
Republican 31 32 Increase 1
Total 80 80

Virginia

Main articles: 2007 Virginia Senate election and 2007 Virginia House of Delegates election

All seats of the Senate of Virginia and the Virginia House of Delegates were up for election in single-member districts. Senators were elected to four-year terms, while delegates serve terms of two years. Republicans maintained control of the lower chamber and but lost control of the upper chamber to the Democrats.

Senate of Virginia
Party Before After Change
Democratic 16 21 Increase 5
Republican 24 19 Decrease 5
Total 40 40
Virginia House of Delegates
Party Before After Change
Republican 57 64 Decrease 3
Independent 2 2 Decrease 1
1
Democratic 40 44 Increase 4
Total 100 100

Territorial and federal district summaries

Northern Mariana Islands

All seats of the Northern Mariana Islands House of Representatives and half of the Northern Mariana Islands Senate are up for election. Senators are elected to four-year terms and Representatives are elected to two-year terms.

House of Representatives
Party Before After Change
Republican 7 12 Increase 5
Coalition 11 8 Decrease 3
Total 20 20
Senate
Party Before After Change
Republican 3 3 Steady
Coalition 6 6 Steady
Total 10 10

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Following the defection of two Senators to the Republican party, Republicans took control of the Mississippi Senate in early 2007.
  2. ^ Following the defection of Senator Micheal R. Williams from the Republican party, no party controlled the Tennessee Senate. Thus the chamber is not included in the total here.
  3. ^ a b The Alaska Senate was controlled by a coalition of Democrats and Republicans. The minority caucus consists of Republicans who were not part of the majority coalition.
  4. ^ The upper houses of Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Texas use a 2-4-4 term length system.

References

  1. ^ "State legislative elections, 2007". Ballotpedia. Retrieved February 7, 2023.
  2. ^ Nash, Jere; Taggart, Andy (Apr 9, 2007). "Can Republicans retain Senate, gain House in 2007?". The Mississippi Business Journal. 29 (15): 6 – via ProQuest.
  3. ^ Whitehouse, Ken. "Tennessee Republicans win slim majority in State House". Nashville Post. Retrieved 2023-02-07.
  4. ^ "New Jersey Secretary of State". state.nj.us.