2001 United States state legislative elections

The 2001 United States state legislative elections were held on November 6, 2001, during President George W. Bush's first term in office. Elections were held for four legislative chambers in two states, simultaneous to those states' gubernatorial elections.[1] Both chambers of the Northern Mariana Islands legislature were up as well.

2001 United States state legislative elections

← 2000 November 6, 2001 2002 →

4 legislative chambers in 2 states
  Majority party Minority party Third party
 
Party Republican Democratic Coalition
Chambers before 50[a] 46[a] 1[c]
Chambers after 48[b] 48 1[c]
Overall change Decrease 2 Increase 2 Steady

Map of upper house elections:
     Republicans retained control
     Split body formed
     No regularly-scheduled elections

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

These were the first elections affected by the 2000 redistricting cycle, which reapportioned state legislatures based on data from the 2000 United States census.

Republicans maintained control of both houses of the Virginia General Assembly, while Democrats won control of the New Jersey General Assembly, and evenly split the State Senate.[2] Democrats additionally won control of the Washington House of Representatives through special elections.[3][4][5]

Summary table

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Regularly-scheduled elections were held in 4 of the 99 state legislative chambers in the United States. Nationwide, regularly-scheduled elections were held for 260 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
New Jersey 40 40 100 2/4[d] 80 80 100 2
Virginia 40 40 100 4 100 100 100 2

State summaries

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New Jersey

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All seats of the New Jersey Senate and the New Jersey General Assembly were up for election. In 2001, senators were elected to two-year terms in single-member districts, while Assembly members were elected to two-year terms in two-member districts.[6] Democrats won control of the General Assembly and created a split body in the Senate.

New Jersey Senate
Party Before After Change
Democratic 16 20   4
Republican 24 20   4
Total 40 40
New Jersey General Assembly
Party Before After Change
Democratic 35 44   9
Republican 45 36   9
Total 80 80

Virginia

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All seats of the Virginia Senate and the Virginia House of Delegates were up for election in 2001. Senators were elected to four-year terms, while delegates serve terms of two years. Republicans held both the House of Delegates and the Senate.

Virginia Senate
Party Before After Change
Democratic 19 19  
Republican 21 21  
Total 40 40
Virginia House of Delegates
Party Before After Change
Democratic 47 34   13
Republican 52 64   12
Independent 1 2   1
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 6 4   2
Democratic 2 3   1
Total 10 10
House of Representatives
Party Before After Change
Republican 11 16   5
Democratic 6 1   5
Total 18 18

Notes

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  1. ^ a b The Washington House of Representatives and Maine Senate were tied, and they were controlled by a power-sharing agreement between Democrats and Republicans. They are not counted towards either total here.
  2. ^ The New Jersey Senate became tied. The Maine Senate remained tied, and they were controlled by a power-sharing agreement between Democrats and Republicans. They are not counted towards either total here.
  3. ^ a b The Arizona Senate was controlled by a coalition of Democrats and Republicans. The minority caucus consists of Republicans who were not part of the majority coalition.
  4. ^ 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. ^ "State legislative elections, 2002". Ballotpedia.
  2. ^ "Democrats Grab Control of Two Chambers--Earn Tie in a Third. (On First Reading)". State Legislatures. 27 (10): 7. December 2001 – via Gale General OneFile.
  3. ^ admin (2001-10-22). "House race could end Washington's legislative gridlock • Daily Journal of Commerce". Daily Journal of Commerce. Retrieved 2023-03-03.
  4. ^ Neurath, Peter (September 21, 2001). "Control of House still teeters in the balance". Puget Sound Business Journal. 22 (20): 7 – via Gale Business: Insights.
  5. ^ "Democrats Cut Into Republican Control Of State Legislatures". Congress Daily AM. The Atlantic Monthly Group LLC. November 9, 2001 – via Gale General OneFile.
  6. ^ "New Jersey Secretary of State". state.nj.us.