2003 United States state legislative elections

2003 United States state legislative elections

← 2002 November 7, 2003 2004 →

8 legislative chambers in 4 states
  Majority party Minority party
 
Party Republican Democratic
Chambers before 53[a] 43[a]
Chambers after 53 44
Overall change Steady Increase 1

Map of upper house elections:
     Democrats gained control      Democrats retained control
     Republicans retained control
     No regularly-scheduled elections

Map of lower house elections:
     Democrats retained control
     Republicans retained control
     No regularly-scheduled elections

The 2003 United States state legislative elections were held on November 7, 2003, alongside other elections. Elections were held for 8 legislative chambers.[1] Both chambers of the Northern Mariana Islands legislature was up.

Partisan change only occurred in one chamber, as Democrats won control of the New Jersey Senate, which was previously tied.[2] However, Democrats did maintain control of the Mississippi Legislature, the Louisiana Legislature, and the New Jersey General Assembly. Republicans maintained control of the Virginia legislature, bringing a post-Civil War low for the Democratic Party.[3]

Summary table

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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[b] 80 80 100 2
Virginia 40 40 100 4 100 100 100 2

State summaries

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Louisiana

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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 26 24 Decrease 2
Republican 13 15 Increase 2
Total 39 39
Louisiana House of Representatives
Party Before After Change
Democratic 74 66 Decrease 8
Republican 31 37 Increase 6
Independent 0 2 Increase 2
Total 105 105

Mississippi

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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 both houses.

Mississippi State Senate
Party Before After Change
Democratic 34 34 Steady
Republican 18 18 Steady
Total 52 52
Mississippi House of Representatives
Party Before After Change
Democratic 81 76 Decrease 5
Republican 38 46 Increase 8
Total 122 122

New Jersey

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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 control in of the lower house and won control of the upper house.

Senate
Party Before After Change
Democratic 20 22 Increase 2
Republican 20 18 Decrease 2
Total 40 40
General Assembly
Party Before After Change
Democratic 44 47 Increase 3
Republican 36 33 Decrease 3
Total 80 80

Virginia

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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 served terms of two years. Republicans maintained control of both houses.

Senate of Virginia
Party Before After Change
Democratic 19 16 Decrease 3
Republican 21 24 Increase 3
Total 40 40
Virginia House of Delegates
Party Before After Change
Republican 64 61 Decrease 3
Democratic 34 37 Increase 3
Independent 2 2 Steady
Total 100 100

Territorial and federal district summaries

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Northern Mariana Islands

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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.

Senate
Party Before After Change
Republican 5 2 Decrease 3
Democratic 3 2 Decrease 1
Total 20 20
House of Representatives
Party Before After Change
Republican 16 7 Decrease 9
Democratic 1 1 Steady
Total 10 10

Notes

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  1. ^ a b The Oregon Senate, North Carolina House of Representatives, and New Jersey Senate were tied prior to the election. Thus, they are not included in this total.
  2. ^ The upper houses of Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Texas use a 2-4-4 term length system.

References

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  1. ^ https://ballotpedia.org/State_legislative_elections,_2003
  2. ^ "Official List, Candidate Returns for State Senate for November 2003 General Election" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 5, 2016. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
  3. ^ University of Virginia, Center for Politics. Virginia Votes 2003: Not much to remember, not much to forget. [1] Archived 2015-07-20 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "New Jersey Secretary of State". state.nj.us.