2015 United States state legislative elections
The 2015 United States state legislative elections were held on November 3, 2015. 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]
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7 legislative chambers 4 states | |||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() Map of upper house elections: Republicans retained control No regularly-scheduled elections | |||||||||||||||||||||
![]() Map of lower house elections: Democrats retained control Republicans retained control No regularly-scheduled elections |
Republicans maintained control of both chambers of the Louisiana, Mississippi, and Virginia legislatures, while Democrats maintained control of the New Jersey General assembly.
Summary table
Regularly-scheduled elections were held in 7 of the 99 state legislative chambers in the United States. Nationwide, regularly-scheduled elections were held for 538 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 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 2/4[lower-alpha 2] | 80 | 80 | 100 | 2 |
Virginia | 40 | 40 | 100 | 4 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 2 |
State summaries
Louisiana
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. Republicans retained majority control in both chambers.
Party | Leader | Before | After | Change | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | John Alario | 26 | 25 | ![]() | |
Democratic | Eric LaFleur | 14 | 12 | ![]() | |
Total | 39 | 39 | ![]() |
Party | Leader | Before | After | Change | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Chuck Kleckley | 58 | 61 | ![]() | |
Democratic | Gene Reynolds | 43 | 42 | ![]() | |
Independent | 2 | 2 | ![]() | ||
Total | 105 | 105 | ![]() |
Mississippi
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. Republicans retained majority control in both chambers.
Party | Leader | Before | After | Change | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Giles Ward | 32 | 32 | ![]() | |
Democratic | Steve Hale | 20 | 20 | ![]() | |
Total | 52 | 52 | ![]() |
Party | Leader | Before | After | Change | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Philip Gunn | 67 | 73 | ![]() | |
Democratic | Robert Moak | 54 | 49 | ![]() | |
Total | 122 | 122 | ![]() |
New Jersey
All seats of the New Jersey General Assembly were up for election to two-year terms in coterminous two-member districts. The New Jersey Senate did not hold regularly-scheduled elections. Democrats maintained majority control in the lower house.
Party | Leader | Before | After | Change | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Vincent Prieto | 48 | 52 | ![]() | |
Republican | Jon Bramnick | 32 | 28 | ![]() | |
Total | 80 | 80 | ![]() |
Virginia
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 both legislative chambers.
Party | Leader | Before | After | Change | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Dick Saslaw | 19 | 19 | ![]() | |
Republican | Tommy Norment | 21 | 21 | ![]() | |
Total | 40 | 40 | ![]() |
Party | Leader | Before | After | Change | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | David Toscano | 33 | 34 | ![]() | |
Republican | William J. Howell | 67 | 66 | ![]() | |
Total | 100 | 100 | ![]() |
Notes
- In the Washington State Senate, one Democrat caucused with Republicans to form the Majority Coalition Caucus
- The upper houses of Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Texas use a 2-4-4 term length system.
References
- "State legislative elections, 2015". Ballotpedia. Retrieved December 25, 2022.