Political party strength in U.S. states

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The following table shows all the U.S. states and to what party (Democratic or Republican) their state governors belong. Also indicated is the majority party of the state legislatures' upper and lower houses. (Nebraska's legislature is unicameral, i.e., it has only one legislative house and is officially non-partisan, though party affiliation still has an unofficial influence on the legislative process.)

Throughout most of the 20th century, although the Republican party often held power at a national level, the Democratic party held almost uncontested power at the state level, especially in the solid South, where the Republican party was virtually nonexistent. (For much of the 20th century, North Dakota was a one-party Republican state, the only one in the country.)

However, in the 1970s and 1980s, the Republicans slowly increased their strength in the state legislatures, especially in the South, where the increasingly conservative Republican party took the place of the Democrats, who had been tainted by their party's support for the Civil Rights Movement starting in the 1940s. In the 1990s, the Republicans finally overtook the Democrats in holding majorities in statehouses and governorships.

Currently, who controls a majority of overall seats in the state legislature has been changing every few years. As of the U.S. gubernatorial elections of 2006, the Democratic party holds an outright majority of 662 with 3,986 seats over the Republican party's 3,324. Of the 7,382 seats in all of the state legislatures combined, independents and third parties account for only 18 members.

[edit] Current Party Strength

State Governor Upper House Majority Lower House Majority
Alabama Republican Democratic 23-12 Democratic 62-43
Alaska Republican Republican 11-9 Republican 23-17
Arizona Democratic Republican 18-12 Republican 32-28
Arkansas Democratic Democratic 27-8 Democratic 75-25
California Republican Democratic 24-16 Democratic 48-32
Colorado Democratic Democratic 20-15 Democratic 39-26
Connecticut Republican Democratic 24-12 Democratic 106-45
Delaware Democratic Democratic 13-8 Republican 23-18
Florida Republican Republican 26-14 Republican 78-42
Georgia Republican Republican 34-22 Republican 106-74
Hawaii Republican Democratic 20-5 Democratic 43-8
Idaho Republican Republican 28-7 Republican 51-19
Illinois Democratic Democratic 37-22 Democratic 66-52
Indiana Republican Republican 33-17 Democratic 51-49
Iowa Democratic Democratic 29-21 Democratic 54-45-1(a)
Kansas Democratic Republican 30-10 Republican 77-48
Kentucky Republican Republican 21-16-1 Democratic 61-39
Louisiana Democratic Democratic 24-15 Democratic 63-41-1
Maine Democratic Democratic 18-17 Democratic 89-60-2
Maryland Democratic Democratic 33-14 Democratic 106-35
Massachusetts Democratic Democratic 35-5 Democratic 141-19
Michigan Democratic Republican 21-17 Democratic 58-52
Minnesota Republican Democratic 44-23 Democratic 85-49
Mississippi Republican Democratic 27-23-2 Democratic 74-46-2(a)
Missouri Republican Republican 21-13 Republican 92-71
Montana Democratic Democratic 26-24 Democratic 50-49-1
Nebraska Republican Unicameral legislature:
Non-partisan (official)
Republican 32-13-2 (unofficial)
Nevada Republican Republican 11-10 Democratic 27-15
New Hampshire Democratic Democratic 14-10 Democratic 239-161
New Jersey Democratic Democratic 22-18 Democratic 49-31
New Mexico Democratic Democratic 24-18 Democratic 42-28
New York Democratic Republican 34-28 Democratic 105-45
North Carolina Democratic Democratic 31-19 Democratic 68-52
North Dakota Republican Republican 26-21 Republican 61-33
Ohio Democratic Republican 21-12 Republican 53-46
Oklahoma Democratic Democratic 24-24 Republican 56-45
Oregon Democratic Democratic 17-11-2 Democratic 31-29
Pennsylvania Democratic Republican 29-21 Republican 102-101
Rhode Island Republican Democratic 33-5 Democratic 60-15
South Carolina Republican Republican 26-20 Republican 73-51
South Dakota Republican Republican 20-15 Republican 50-20
Tennessee Democratic Republican 17-16 Democratic 53-46
Texas Republican Republican 20-11 Republican 81-69
Utah Republican Republican 21-8 Republican 56-19
Vermont Republican Democratic 23-7 Democratic 93-49-6-2
Virginia Democratic Republican 23-17 Republican 57-40-3
Washington Democratic Democratic 32-17 Democratic 63-35
West Virginia Democratic Democratic 23-11 Democratic 72-28
Wisconsin Democratic Democratic 18-15 Republican 53-46
Wyoming Democratic Republican 23-7 Republican 43-17

(a) Vacant (as of 8 December 2005)

Totals
Governor Upper House Majority Lower House Majority
Democratic 28-22 Democratic 27-23 (1,009-908 seats) Democratic 30-19 (2,977-2,416 seats)

(b) Nebraska has no lower house.

[edit] Regional Breakdowns

Because local and regional political circumstances often have an influence on party strength, it can be interesting to analyze party strength on a regional basis.

Governor Upper
Governor's Party Upper House majority
Lower
Lower House majority

[edit] Historical Party Strength

The following table shows how many legislatures were controlled outright by each party.

Year Democrats Republicans Split
2007 24 16 9
2005 20 20 9
2004 17 21 11
2003 16 21 12
2002 18 17 14
2000 16 18 15
1998 20 17 12
1996 20 18 11
1994 18 19 12
1992 25 8 16
1990 30 6 13
1988 29 8 12
1986 28 9 12
1984 26 11 12
1982 34 11 4
1980 29 15 5
1978 31 11 7
1976 35 4 10
1974 37 4 8
1972 26 16 7
1970 23 16 9
1968 20 20 8
1966 23 16 9
1964 32 6 10
1962 25 17 6
1960 27 15 6
1958 30 7 11
1956 22 19 5
1954 19 20 7
1952 16 26 4
1950 19 21 6
1948 19 16 11
1946 17 25 4
1944 19 24 3
1942 19 24 3
1940 21 17 8
1938 21 19 6

See also:

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