According to the nonprofit organization Ballotpedia’s 10th Annual State Legislative Competitiveness Report, more than half of state legislative seats are guaranteed to one of the two major parties in the 2020 elections in 12 states.
“When a candidate from only one of the two major parties runs for a state legislative seat, it is all but guaranteed to be won by that party,” the report states. “Nationally, roughly one-third of the 5,875 state legislative seats up for election this year will be won by one of the two major parties due to a lack of major party competition.”
The 12 states where more than half of all state legislative elections feature only one major party candidate include:
The number of seats without major party competition in all even-year elections since 2010 are:
On the other hand, Michigan, Minnesota, and New Hampshire feature the highest percentage of seats with major party competition, all over 90 percent. In Michigan, 109 of the 110 seats up for reelection have major party competition in the general election.
Nationally, Democrats and Republicans are contesting a nearly-equal number of seats in the 2020 Election, with a 35-seat difference between the two parties. “This is the most parity in the number of seats contested by each of the two major parties since 2010,” Ballotpedia reports.
This is a revised article first published by the Center Square.
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