Uncontested State Legislative Seats

In 6 Southern states, more than 50% of seats went uncontested in the latest state legislature election.

Uncontested seats in state legislatures

2022-2023 election cycles

Source: Ballotpedia, compiled from each state’s election administration. Notes: The data here includes state legislative seats up for election in 2022, except for 4 states (LA, MS, NJ, VA), which held state legislative elections in 2023. In FL, HI, LA, OK, and TX, elections were canceled if only one candidate filed for a seat or advanced from the primary election, and in LA, a candidate could win the election outright by receiving more than 50% of the vote in the primary. In any case where the general election race was canceled, for our purposes, that seat was considered uncontested.

Uncontested elections, meaning elections with only one candidate option, are widespread in the United States, particularly at the state level.^[1] In the 2022-2023 state legislative election cycle, 11 states had only one candidate for a majority of their state legislature races.

Research shows state legislators elected in unopposed elections tend to perform more poorly, showing up to vote less often and introducing fewer bills compared to their colleagues elected in competitive contests.^[2] And scholars say that lack of political competition may result in more poorly functioning legislatures that are less responsive and less reflective of the citizens they serve — including on key issues such as climate action.^[2] According to a March 2023 survey, 58% of U.S. adults say their state elected officials are doing too little to address climate change.^[3]

1. Burden, B. C., & Snyder, R. (2020). Explaining Uncontested Seats in Congress and State Legislatures. American Politics Research, 49(3), 247–258. https://doi.org/10.1177/1532673x20960565

2. Konisky, D. M., & Ueda, M. (2011). The Effects of Uncontested Elections on Legislator Performance. Legislative Studies Quarterly, 36(2), 199–229. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23053266

3. Tyson, A., Funk, C., & Kennedy, B. (2023, August 9). What the data says about Americans’ views of climate change. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/08/09/what-the-data-says-about-americans-views-of-climate-change/