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    Open seats in the 2010 state legislative elections

    From Ballotpedia - Reading time: 2 min
    2010 Competitiveness Overview
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    Primary competition (state comparison)
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    Open seats (state comparisons)
    Impact of term limits on # of open seats
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    By Geoff Pallay and Leslie Graves

    There were 6,127 state legislative seats, in 46 states, up for election on November 2, 2010. We took a look at each of the 46 states to see how many state legislative incumbents chose to run for re-election in 2010.

    Our main findings:

    • In 1,143 (18.7%) of the 6,127 seats up for election on November 2, the incumbent did not run for re-election, either because he or she voluntarily chose not to run again, or because of term limits.
    • In 4,984 (81.3%) of the 6,127 seats up for election on November 2, the incumbent ran for re-election.
    • Adjusting for term limits, 86.6% of state legislative incumbents who were legally able to run again in 2010 chose to run again.

    Comparing states:

    • New Mexico, Texas, Kentucky, Delaware, and Kansas had the lowest ratio of open seats; that is, they had the highest ratio of incumbents running for re-election.
    • The five states with the highest ratio of open seats were Michigan, Nevada, Arkansas, Arizona, and Missouri. All 5 have term limits. In fact, the 10 most competitive states in 2010 as defined by the ratio of open seats all have term limits.
    • The most competitive states without terms limits were New Hampshire, North Dakota, Wyoming, Wisconsin, and Massachusetts.

    The score that states received based on their ratio of open seats was one of 3 factors used in evaluating which states had the highest, and which had the lowest, overall competitiveness in the 2010 state legislative elections.

    States compared by open seats[edit]




    The state that was least competitive as defined by the percentage of its seats where the incumbent did not run for re-election in 2010 is defined as #46, while the state that was most competitive as defined by the percentage of its seats where the incumbent did not run for re-election is defined as #1; that is, 1 = "most competitive", 46 = "least competitive".

    Open state legislative seats, 2010
    State Senate House Total Open seats rank Overall competitiveness rank
    At stake Open % At stake Open % At stake Open %
    Nationwide 1,169 274 23.4% 4,958 869 17.5% 6,127 1,143 18.7%
    Alabama 35 8 22.9% 105 11 10.5% 140 19 13.6% 22 30
    Alaska 10 1 10.0% 40 4 10.0% 50 5 10.0% 33 36
    Arizona 30 15 50.0% 60 24 40.0% 90 39 43.3% 4 3
    Arkansas 17 13 76.5% 100 40 40.0% 117 53 45.3% 3 32
    California 20 10 50.0% 80 28 35.0% 100 38 38.0% 7 7
    Colorado 19 6 31.6% 65 14 21.5% 84 20 23.8% 12 16
    Connecticut 36 4 11.1% 151 15 9.9% 187 19 10.2% 32 26
    Delaware 11 0 0.0% 41 4 9.8% 52 4 7.7% 43 28
    Florida 23 12 52.2% 120 34 28.3% 143 46 32.2% 9 21
    Georgia 56 11 19.6% 180 27 15.0% 236 38 16.1% 20 44
    Hawaii 15 3 20.0% 51 5 9.8% 66 8 12.1% 26 6
    Idaho 35 1 2.9% 70 8 11.4% 105 9 8.6% 39 29
    Illinois 21 1 4.8% 118 11 9.3% 139 12 8.6% 39 33
    Indiana 25 3 12.0% 100 9 9.0% 125 12 9.6% 36 23
    Iowa 25 3 12.0% 100 14 14.0% 125 17 13.6% 22 27
    Kansas No elections 125 10 8.0% 125 10 8.0% 42 31
    Kentucky 19 2 10.5% 100 5 5.0% 119 7 5.9% 44 35
    Maine 35 9 25.7% 151 34 22.5% 186 43 23.1% 13 11
    Maryland 47 3 6.4% 141 23 16.3% 188 26 13.8% 21 5
    Massachusetts 40 8 20.0% 160 26 16.3% 200 34 17.0% 18 41
    Michigan 38 29 76.3% 110 51 46.4% 148 80 54.1% 1 1
    Minnesota 67 9 13.4% 134 15 11.2% 201 24 11.9% 28 12
    Missouri 17 10 58.8% 163 65 39.9% 180 75 41.7% 5 14
    Montana 26 17 65.4% 100 34 34.0% 126 51 40.5% 6 8
    Nebraska 24 3 12.5% N/A[1] 24 3 12.5% 25 37
    Nevada 11 8 72.7% 42 19 45.2% 53 27 50.9% 2 2
    New Hampshire 24 5 20.8% 400 97 24.3% 424 102 24.1% 11 4
    New Mexico No elections 70 3 4.3% 70 3 4.3% 46 43
    New York 62 6 9.7% 150 19 12.7% 212 25 11.8% 29 17
    North Carolina 50 8 16.0% 120 10 8.3% 170 18 10.6% 31 20
    North Dakota 24 4 16.7% 48 11 22.9% 72 15 20.8% 14 25
    Ohio 17 8 47.1% 99 21 21.2% 116 29 25.0% 10 10
    Oklahoma 24 8 33.3% 101 14 13.9% 125 22 17.6% 17 42
    Oregon 16 2 12.5% 60 5 8.3% 76 7 9.2% 37 13
    Pennsylvania 25 3 12.0% 203 18 8.9% 228 21 9.2% 37 34
    Rhode Island 38 5 13.2% 75 10 13.3% 113 15 13.3% 24 15
    South Carolina No elections 124 12 9.7% 124 12 9.7% 35 45
    South Dakota 35 13 37.1% 70 21 30.0% 105 34 32.4% 8 21
    Tennessee 17 2 11.8% 99 8 8.1% 116 10 8.6% 39 39
    Texas 16 1 6.3% 150 8 5.3% 166 9 5.4% 45 46
    Utah 15 1 6.7% 75 8 10.7% 90 9 10.0% 33 24
    Vermont 30 5 16.7% 150 16 10.7% 180 21 11.7% 30 40
    Washington 25 4 16.0% 98 16 16.3% 123 20 16.3% 19 19
    West Virginia 17 3 17.6% 100 11 11.0% 117 14 12.0% 27 8
    Wisconsin 17 3 17.6% 99 20 20.2% 116 23 19.8% 16 18
    Wyoming 15 4 26.7% 60 11 18.3% 75 15 20.0% 15 38

    Impact of term limits[edit]

    See also: Impact of term limits on state legislative elections in 2010

    There are 15 term-limited states. Of those, only Louisiana did not hold elections in 2010. Of the 14 term-limited states that held elections, 35.13% of all seats were open. In non-term-limited states, that number fell to 12.90%.

    The discrepancy was largest in the Senate. In term limited states, 48.81% of seats were open. However, that number fell to only 13.24% for states without term limits. That means 721 of the 831 Senators ran for re-election in states without term limits.

    See also[edit]

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    Editorial Content
    Geoff Pallay, Director of Editorial Content and Editor-in-Chief • Ken Carbullido, Vice President of Election Product and Technology Strategy • Daniel Anderson, Managing Editor • Ryan Byrne, Managing Editor • Cory Eucalitto, Managing Editor • Mandy Gillip, Managing Editor • Doug Kronaizl, Local Elections Project Manager • Jaclyn Beran • Marielle Bricker • Joseph Brusgard • Emma Burlingame • Kelly Coyle • Thomas Ellis • Frank Festa • Nicole Fisher • Brianna Hosea • Joseph Greaney • Thomas Grobben • Jaime Healy-Plotkin • Tyler King • Glorie Martinez • Nathan Maxwell • Ellie Mikus • Jackie Mitchell • Ellen Morrissey • Mackenzie Murphy • Kaley Platek • Samantha Post • Adam Powell • Ethan Rice • Spencer Richardson • Victoria Rose • Briana Ryan • Myj Saintyl • Maddy Salucka • Maddie Sinclair Johnson • Abbey Smith • Ethan Sorell • Janie Valentine • Joel Williams • Samuel Wonacott • Trenton Woodcox • Mercedes Yanora
    v • e
    Ballotpedia
    About
    Editorial Content
    Geoff Pallay, Director of Editorial Content and Editor-in-Chief • Ken Carbullido, Vice President of Election Product and Technology Strategy • Daniel Anderson, Managing Editor • Ryan Byrne, Managing Editor • Cory Eucalitto, Managing Editor • Mandy Gillip, Managing Editor • Doug Kronaizl, Local Elections Project Manager • Jaclyn Beran • Marielle Bricker • Joseph Brusgard • Emma Burlingame • Kelly Coyle • Thomas Ellis • Frank Festa • Nicole Fisher • Brianna Hosea • Joseph Greaney • Thomas Grobben • Jaime Healy-Plotkin • Tyler King • Glorie Martinez • Nathan Maxwell • Ellie Mikus • Jackie Mitchell • Ellen Morrissey • Mackenzie Murphy • Kaley Platek • Samantha Post • Adam Powell • Ethan Rice • Spencer Richardson • Victoria Rose • Briana Ryan • Myj Saintyl • Maddy Salucka • Maddie Sinclair Johnson • Abbey Smith • Ethan Sorell • Janie Valentine • Joel Williams • Samuel Wonacott • Trenton Woodcox • Mercedes Yanora
    1. ↑ Nebraska does not have a House.
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