2004 United States state legislative elections explained

Elections to state legislatures were held on November 2, 2004, alongside other elections. Elections were held for 85 legislative chambers, with all states but Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, Alabama, Maryland, and Virginia holding elections in at least one house. Michigan and Minnesota held elections for their lower, but not upper houses.^[1] Six chambers in three territories and the District of Columbia were up as well.

The 2004 elections created narrow legislative divisions across the country. Both parties flipped seats and chambers across the country, with most Democratic gains coming from the Northeast and West and most Republican gains coming from the South. Over 20 states featured statehouses controlled by fewer than four seats, and nearly 30 states featured divided governments. Both parties took advantage of heavy spending from 527 organizations.^[2]

Republicans won control of four chambers from the Democrats. The institution of term limits contributed to the Republican takeover of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, and favorable redistricting aided Republicans in winning the Georgia House of Representatives for the first time ever. Republicans additionally won the Tennessee Senate, for the time since 1870, and the Indiana House of Representatives.

Democrats performed better than Republicans overall at the state-legislative level, despite their defeat in the concurrent presidential election, winning control of eight additional chambers. Favorable redistricting enabled the Democratic takeover of the Montana Legislature and their retaking of control of the North Carolina House of Representatives, which was previously tied. Additionally, they took control of the Washington Senate; the Oregon Senate, which was previously tied; both houses of the Colorado General Assembly for the first time since 1963, and the Vermont House of Representatives. The Iowa Senate became tied after previously being controlled by the Republicans prior to the election.^[3] Democrats' takeover of the Montana House only came after the Montana Supreme Court declared a Democrat a victor in a contested election that evenly split the chamber. This gave Democrats control of the chamber with the help of incoming governor Brian Schweitzer.^[4]

The Democrats also regained the title of holding the most legislative seats across the country, winning one more seat than the Republicans.^[5]

Summary table

Regularly-scheduled elections were held in 85 of the 99 state legislative chambers in the United States. Nationwide, regularly-scheduled elections were held for 6,015 of the 7,383 legislative seats. Many legislative chambers held elections for all seats, but some legislative chambers that use staggered elections held elections for only a portion of the total seats in the chamber. The chambers not up for election either hold regularly-scheduled elections in odd-numbered years, or have four-year terms and hold all regularly-scheduled elections in presidential midterm election years.

Note that this table only covers regularly-scheduled elections; additional special elections took place concurrently with these regularly-scheduled elections.

State	Upper House[6]				Lower House
	Seats up	Total	% up	Term	Seats up	Total	% up	Term
Alabama	0	35	0	4	0	105	0	4
Alaska	19	20	95	4	40	40	100	2
Arizona	30	30	100	2	60	60	100	2
Arkansas	35	35	100	2/4	100	100	100	2
California	20	40	50	4	80	80	100	2
Colorado	18	35	51	4	65	65	100	2
Connecticut	36	36	100	2	151	151	100	2
Delaware	21	21	100	2/4	41	41	100	2
Florida	40	40	100	2/4	120	120	100	2
Georgia	56	56	100	2	180	180	100	2
Hawaii	25	25	100	2/4	51	51	100	2
Idaho	35	35	100	2	70	70	100	2
Illinois	59	59	100	2/4	118	118	100	2
Indiana	25	50	50	4	100	100	100	2
Iowa	25	50	50	4	100	100	100	2
Kansas	40	40	100	4	125	125	100	2
Kentucky	19	38	50	4	100	100	100	2
Louisiana	0	39	0	4	0	105	0	4
Maine	35	35	100	2	151	151	100	2
Maryland	0	47	0	4	0	141	0	4
Massachusetts	40	40	100	2	160	160	100	2
Michigan	0	38	0	4	110	110	100	2
Minnesota	0	67	0	2/4	134	134	100	2
Mississippi	0	52	0	4	0	122	0	4
Missouri	17	34	50	4	163	163	100	2
Montana	25	50	50	4	100	100	100	2
Nebraska	25	49	51	4	N/A (unicameral)
Nevada	10	21	48	4	42	42	100	2
New Hampshire	24	24	100	2	400	400	100	2
New Jersey	0	40	0	2/4	0	80	0	2
New Mexico	42	42	100	4	70	70	100	2
New York	62	62	100	2	150	150	100	2
North Carolina	50	50	100	2	120	120	100	2
North Dakota	23	47	49	4	47	94	50	4
Ohio	16	33	48	4	99	99	100	2
Oklahoma	24	48	50	4	101	101	100	2
Oregon	15	30	50	4	60	60	100	2
Pennsylvania	25	50	50	4	203	203	100	2
Rhode Island	38	38	100	2	75	75	100	2
South Carolina	46	46	100	4	124	124	100	2
South Dakota	35	35	100	2	70	70	100	2
Tennessee	16	33	48	4	99	99	100	2
Texas	16	31	52	2/4	150	150	100	2
Utah	15	29	52	4	75	75	100	2
Vermont	30	30	100	2	150	150	100	2
Virginia	0	40	0	4	0	100	0	2
Washington	25	49	51	4	98	98	100	2
West Virginia	17	34	50	4	100	100	100	2
Wisconsin	16	33	48	4	99	99	100	2
Wyoming	15	30	50	4	60	60	100	2
	Total	1280	1971	65	N/A	4595	5411	85	N/A

State summaries

Upper houses

State	Previous UH	Result	Party control
Alaska		R 12-8		R 12-8		Republican hold
Arizona		R 17-13		R 18-12		Republican hold
Arkansas		D 27-8		D 27-8		Democratic hold
California		D 25-15		D 25-15		Democratic hold
Colorado		R 18-17		D 18-17		Democratic Takeover
Connecticut		D 21-15		D 24-12		Democratic hold
Delaware		D 13-8		D 13-8		Democratic hold
Florida		R 26-14		R 24-16		Republican hold
Georgia		R 34-22		R 34-22		Republican hold
Hawaii		D 20-5		D 20-5		Democratic hold
Idaho		R 28-7		R 28-7		Republican hold
Illinois		D 32-26-1		D 31-27-1		Democratic hold
Indiana		R 32-18		R 33-17		Republican hold
Iowa		R 29-21	Split	25-25	Split Takeover
Kansas		R 30-10		R 30-10		Republican hold
Kentucky		R 21-17		R 21-15-1; 1 vac.		Republican hold
Maine		D 18-17		D 18-17		Democratic Hold
Massachusetts		D 34-6		D 34-6		Democratic hold
Missouri		R 20-14		R 23-11		Republican hold
Montana		R 29-21		D 27-23		Democratic Takeover
Nebraska	Unicameral and non–partisan Senate with 49 members
Nevada		R 13-8		R 12-9		Republican Hold
New Hampshire		R 18-6		R 16-8		Republican Hold
New Mexico		D 24-18		D 24-18		Democratic hold
New York		R 37-25		R 35-27		Republican Hold
North Carolina		D 28-22		D 29-21		Democratic Hold
North Dakota		R 31-16		R 30-15		Republican hold
Ohio		R 22-11		R 22-11		Republican hold
Oklahoma		D 28-20		D 26-22		Democratic Hold
Oregon	Split	15-15		D 17-13		Democratic Takeover
Pennsylvania		R 29-21		R 30-20		Republican hold
Rhode Island		D 32-6		D 33-5		Democratic hold
South Carolina		R 26-20		R 26-20		Republican hold
South Dakota		R 26-9		R 25-10		Republican hold
Tennessee		D 18-15		R 17-16		Republican Takeover
Texas		R 19-12		R 19-12		Republican hold
Utah		R 22-7		R 21-8		Republican hold
Vermont		D 19-11		D 21-9		Democratic hold
Washington		R 25-24		D 26-23		Democratic Takeover
West Virginia		D 24-10		D 21-13		Democratic hold
Wisconsin		R 18-15		R 19-14		Republican Hold
Wyoming		R 20-10		R 23-7		Republican hold

Lower houses

State	Previous LH	Result	Party control
Alaska		R 27-13		R 26-14		Republican hold
Arizona		R 39-21		R 38-22		Republican hold
Arkansas		D 70-30		D 72-28		Democratic hold
California		D 48-32		D 48-32		Democratic hold
Colorado		R 37-28		D 35-30		Democratic Takeover
Connecticut		D 94-57		D 99-52		Democratic hold
Delaware		R 29-12		R 26-15		Republican Hold
Florida		R 81-39		R 84-36		Republican hold
Georgia		D 105-74-1		R 99-80-1		Republican Takeover
Hawaii		D 36-15		D 41-10		Democratic hold
Idaho		R 54-16		R 57-13		Republican hold
Illinois		D 66-52		D 66-53		Democratic hold
Indiana		D 51-49		R 52-48		Republican Takeover
Iowa		R 54-46		R 51-49		Republican Hold
Kansas		R 80-45		R 83-42		Republican hold
Kentucky		D 65-35		D 57-43		Democratic hold
Maine		D 80-67-3-1		D 76-73-1-1		Democratic Hold
Massachusetts		D 131-28-1		D 137-23		Democratic hold
Michigan		R 62-48		R 58-52		Republican Hold
Minnesota		R 81-53		R 68-66		Republican Hold
Missouri		R 90-73		R 97-66		Republican hold
Montana		R 53-47		50-50		Democratic takeover
Nebraska	Unicameral and non–partisan Senate with 49 members
Nevada		D 23-19		D 26-16		Democratic hold
New Hampshire		R 278-122		R 249-151		Republican Hold
New Mexico		D 43-27		D 42-28		Democratic hold
New York		D 102-48		D 104-46		Democratic hold
North Carolina	Split	60-60		D 63-57		Democratic Takeover
North Dakota		R 66-28		R 67-27		Republican hold
Ohio		R 62-37		R 61-38		Republican Hold
Oklahoma		D 53-48		R 57-44		Republican Takeover
Oregon		R 35-25		R 33-27		Republican Hold
Pennsylvania		R 110-93		R 110-93		Republican Hold
Rhode Island		D 63-11-1		D 59-16		Democratic hold
South Carolina		R 73-51		R 74-50		Republican hold
South Dakota		R 51-29		R 50-20		Republican hold
Tennessee		D 54-45		D 53-46		Democratic Hold
Texas		R 88-62		R 86-64		Republican hold
Utah		R 56-19		R 56-19		Republican hold
Vermont		R 83-60-6-1		D 93-49-6-2		Democratic Takeover
Washington		D 50-48		D 52-46		Democratic hold
West Virginia		D 68-32		D 68-32		Democratic hold
Wisconsin		R 58-41		R 60-39		Republican Hold
Wyoming		R 45-15		R 46-14		Republican hold

Territorial and federal district summaries

Upper houses

Territory	Previous UH	Result	Party control
American Samoa	Non–partisan Senate with 18 members
Puerto Rico		PPD 19-8-1		PNP 15-11-1		New Progressive Takeover

Lower houses

Territory	Previous LH	Result	Party control
American Samoa	Non–partisan House of Representatives with 21 members
Puerto Rico		PPD 29-21-1		PNP 32-18-1		New Progressive Takeover

Unicameral

Territory	Previous	Result	Party control
Guam		D 9-6		R 9-6		Republican Takeover
Washington D.C.		D 11-1-1		D 11-1-1		Democratic Hold

Notes and References

1. Web site: State legislative elections, 2004 .
2. Web site: Prah . Pamela M. . November 15, 2007 . 2004 elections set up year of legislative stalemate . https://web.archive.org/web/20081107074537/http://www.stateline.org/live/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=136&languageId=1&contentId=15839 . November 7, 2008 . 2024-08-12 . stateline.org.
3. Web site: Madigan . Erin . Kelderman . Eric . November 5, 2004 . GOP Loses Ground in Statehouse Control . 2023-03-03 . pew.org . en.
4. News: Robbins . Jim . 2004-12-29 . Ruling Puts Democrats in Control in Montana . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-03-03 . 0362-4331.
5. Storey . Tim . 2005 . 2004 legislative elections . Spectrum: The Journal of State Government . 78 . 1 . 8 . Gale Academic OneFile.
6. Web site: 2020 Legislative Races by State and Legislative Chamber . National Conference of State Legislatures.