2008 United States state legislative elections

2008 United States state legislative elections
85 legislative chambers in 44 states
	320px Map of upper house elections:; Democrats gained control Democrats retained control; Republicans gained control Republicans retained control; Coalition retained control; Non-partisan legislature; No regularly-scheduled elections
	320px Map of lower house elections:; Democrats gained control Democrats retained control; Republicans gained control Republicans retained control; Non-partisan legislature; No regularly-scheduled elections

Elections to state legislatures were held on November 4, 2008, alongside other elections, in which Democrats scored significant gains in a blue wave election. 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] Seven territorial chambers in four territories and the District of Columbia were up.

The New Hampshire Senate saw the election of the first-ever female majority. This is the first time this has occurred in any chamber of any state legislature in United States history.^[2] In New York, the Democrats obtained a trifecta for the first time since 1935, and in Delaware for the first time since 1977.^[3]

The Democrats took control of six legislative bodies to the Republicans' four. Democrats took control of the Delaware House of Representatives, for the first time since 1985, the Montana House of Representatives, the Nevada Senate, and the New York State Senate, for the first time since 1966, the Ohio House of Representatives, and the Wisconsin State Assembly. Republicans took control of the Montana Senate; both houses of the Tennessee General Assembly,^[4] for the first time since 1870; and the Oklahoma Senate, for the first time in state history. With the Montana Senate and the Montana House of Representatives flipping, this election cycle marked the last time in U.S. history as of 2025 where the upper house and lower house held by different political parties in a state legislature both flipped in the same cycle.

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 5,948 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.^[5] 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^[5]				Lower House^[5]
State	Seats up	Total	% up	Term	Seats up	Total	% up	Term
Alaska	19	20	95	4	40	40	100	2
Arizona	30	30	100	2	60	60	100	2
Arkansas	35	35	100	2/4^{[lower-alpha 3]}	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^{[lower-alpha 3]}	41	41	100	2
Florida	40	40	100	2/4^{[lower-alpha 3]}	120	120	100	2
Georgia	56	56	100	2	180	180	100	2
Hawaii	25	25	100	2/4^{[lower-alpha 3]}	51	51	100	2
Idaho	35	35	100	2	70	70	100	2
Illinois	59	59	100	2/4^{[lower-alpha 3]}	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	0	100	2/4^{[lower-alpha 3]}	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^{[lower-alpha 4]}	49^{[lower-alpha 4]}	51^{[lower-alpha 4]}	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^{[lower-alpha 3]}	0	80	0	2
New Mexico	42	42	100	4	70	70	100	2
New York	63	63	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^{[lower-alpha 3]}	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	1281	1972	65	N/A	4595	5411	85	N/A

File:USStateControl2008postelections.svg

Partisan control of state governments after the 2008 elections:

Democrats maintained trifecta

Democrats gained trifecta

Republicans maintained trifecta

Divided government maintained

Divided government established

Officially non-partisan legislature

State summaries

Upper houses

State	Previous UH	Result	Party control
Alaska	Coal. 15-5	Coal. 16-4	Coalition 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	D 20-15	D 21-14	Democratic hold
Connecticut	D 23-13	D 24-12	Democratic hold
Delaware	D 13-8	D 16-5	Democratic hold
Florida	R 26-14	R 26-14	Republican hold
Georgia	R 34-22	R 34-22	Republican hold
Hawaii	D 20-5	D 23-2	Democratic hold
Idaho	R 28-7	R 28-7	Republican hold
Illinois	D 37-22	D 37-22	Democratic hold
Indiana	R 33-17	R 33-17	Republican hold
Iowa	D 30-20	D 32-18	Democratic hold
Kansas	R 30-10	R 31-9	Republican hold
Kentucky	R 22-15-1	R 21-16-1	Republican hold
Maine	D 28-17	D 20–15	Democratic Hold
Massachusetts	D 35-5	D 35-5	Democratic hold
Missouri	R 21-13	R 23-11	Republican hold
Montana	D 26-24	R 27-23	Republican Takeover
Nebraska	Unicameral and non–partisan Senate with 49 members
Nevada	R 11-10	D 12-9	Democratic Takeover
New Hampshire	D 14-10	D 14-10	Democratic Hold
New Mexico	D 24-18	D 27-15	Democratic hold
New York	R 32-30	D 32-30	Democratic takeover
North Carolina	D 31-19	D 30-20	Democratic Hold
North Dakota	R 26-21	R 26-21	Republican hold
Ohio	R 21-12	R 21-12	Republican hold
Oklahoma	D 24-24^{[lower-alpha 5]}	R 26-22	Republican Takeover
Oregon	D 19-11	D 18-12	Democratic hold
Pennsylvania	R 29-21	R 30-20	Republican hold
Rhode Island	D 33–5.	D 33-4-1	Democratic hold
South Carolina	R 27-19	R 27-19	Republican hold
South Dakota	R 20-15	R 21-14	Republican hold
Tennessee	16-16-1^{[lower-alpha 2]}	R 19-14	Republican Takeover
Texas	R 20-11	R 19-12	Republican hold
Utah	R 21-8	R 21-8	Republican hold
Vermont	D 23-7	D 23-7	Democratic hold
Washington	D 31-18	D 31-18	Democratic hold
West Virginia	D 23-11	D 26-8	Democratic hold
Wisconsin	D 18-15	D 18-15	Democratic Hold
Wyoming	R 23-7	R 23-7	Republican hold

Lower houses

State	Previous LH	Result	Party control
Alaska	R 23-17	R 22-18	Republican hold
Arizona	R 33-27	R 36-24	Republican hold
Arkansas	D 72-28	D 71-27-1	Democratic hold
California	D 48-32	D 50-29-1	Democratic hold
Colorado	D 39-26	D 38-27	Democratic Hold
Connecticut	D 107-44	D 114-37	Democratic hold
Delaware	R 23-18	D 24-17	Democratic Takeover
Florida	R 77-43	R 76-44	Republican hold
Georgia	R 106-74	R 105-74-1	Republican hold
Hawaii	D 43-8	D 45-6	Democratic hold
Idaho	R 51-19	R 52-18	Republican hold
Illinois	D 67-51	D 70-48	Democratic hold
Indiana	D 51-49	D 52-48	Democratic Hold
Iowa	D 54-46	D 57-43	Democratic Hold
Kansas	R 78-47	R 77-48	Republican hold
Kentucky	D 63-37	D 65-35	Democratic hold
Maine	D 90-59-2	D 95-55-1	Democratic Hold
Massachusetts	D 144-15-1	D 144-15-1	Democratic hold
Michigan	D 58-52	D 67-43	Democratic Hold
Minnesota	D 85-48-1	D 87-47	Democratic Hold
Missouri	R 97-66	R 92-71	Republican hold
Montana	R 50-49-1	50-50 ^{[lower-alpha 6]}	Democratic takeover
Nebraska	Unicameral and non–partisan Senate with 49 members
Nevada	D 27-15	D 28-14	Democratic hold
New Hampshire	D 239-160-1	D 225-175	Democratic Hold
New Mexico	D 42-28	D 45-25	Democratic hold
New York	D 106-42-1-1	D 107-41-1-1	Democratic hold
North Carolina	D 68-52	D 68-52	Democratic Hold
North Dakota	R 61-33	R 58-36	Republican hold
Ohio	R 53-46	D 53-46	Democratic takeover
Oklahoma	R 57-44	R 61-40	Republican hold
Oregon	D 31-29	D 36-24	Democratic Hold
Pennsylvania	D 102-101	D 104-99	Democratic Hold
Rhode Island	D 60-15	D 69-6	Democratic hold
South Carolina	R 73-51	R 73-51	Republican hold
South Dakota	R 50-20	R 46-24	Republican hold
Tennessee	D 53-46	R 50-49	Republican Takeover
Texas	R 77-71	R 76-74	Republican hold
Utah	R 55-20	R 53-22	Republican hold
Vermont	D 93-49-6-2	D 95-48-5-2	Democratic hold
Washington	D 63-35	D 62-36	Democratic hold
West Virginia	D 72-28	D 71-29	Democratic hold
Wisconsin	R 52-47	D 52-46-1	Democratic takeover
Wyoming	R 43-17	R 41-19	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	PNP 15-11-1	PNP 22-9	New Progressive Hold

Lower houses

Territory	Previous LH	Result	Party control
American Samoa	Non–partisan House of Representatives with 21 members
Puerto Rico	PNP 32-18-1	PNP 37-17	New Progressive Hold

Unicameral

Territory	Previous	Result	Party control
Guam	D 8-7	D 10-5	Democratic Hold
US Virgin Islands	D 9-6	D 10-5	Democratic Hold
Washington D.C.	D 11-1-1	D 11-2	Democratic Hold

Notes

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References

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v t e (2007 ←) 2008 United States elections (→ 2009)
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U.S. Senate	Alabama Alaska Arkansas Colorado Delaware District of Columbia (shadow) Georgia Idaho Illinois Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Mississippi (special) Montana Nebraska New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico North Carolina Oklahoma Oregon Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Virginia West Virginia Wyoming Wyoming (special)
U.S. House (election ratings)	Alabama Alaska American Samoa Arizona Arkansas California 12th sp Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia delegate shadow Florida Georgia Guam Hawaii Idaho Illinois 14th sp Indiana 7th sp Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana 1st sp 6th sp Maine Maryland 4th sp Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi 1st sp Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Northern Mariana Islands Ohio 11th sp Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas U.S. Virgin Islands Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
Governors	American Samoa Delaware Lt. Gov Indiana Missouri Lt. Gov Montana New Hampshire North Carolina Lt. Gov North Dakota Puerto Rico Utah Vermont Washington West Virginia
Attorneys General	North Carolina Pennsylvania Washington Ohio (special)
State legislatures	California Assembly Senate Connecticut Senate Delaware House Senate Iowa House Senate Massachusetts House Senate Michigan House Montana House New Mexico House Senate New York Assembly North Carolina House Senate South Carolina Senate Texas House Senate Washington (state) House Senate
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States	Alabama Alaska American Samoa Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Guam Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas U.S. Virgin Islands Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

v t e Legislatures of the United States
United States Congress	United States House of Representatives United States Senate
State legislatures	Alabama (H, S) Alaska (H, S) Arizona (H, S) Arkansas (H, S) California (A, S) Colorado (H, S) Connecticut (H, S) Delaware (H, S) Florida (H, S) Georgia (H, S) Hawaii (H, S) Idaho (H, S) Illinois (H, S) Indiana (H, S) Iowa (H, S) Kansas (H, S) Kentucky (H, S) Louisiana (H, S) Maine (H, S) Maryland (H, S) Massachusetts (H, S) Michigan (H, S) Minnesota (H, S) Mississippi (H, S) Missouri (H, S) Montana (H, S) Nebraska Nevada (A, S) New Hampshire (H, S) New Jersey (GA, S) New Mexico (H, S) New York (A, S) North Carolina (H, S) North Dakota (H, S) Ohio (H, S) Oklahoma (H, S) Oregon (H, S) Pennsylvania (H, S) Rhode Island (H, S) South Carolina (H, S) South Dakota (H, S) Tennessee (H, S) Texas (H, S) Utah (H, S) Vermont (H, S) Virginia (H, S) Washington (H, S) West Virginia (H, S) Wisconsin (A, S) Wyoming (H, S)
Other legislatures	District of Columbia American Samoa (H, S) Guam Northern Mariana Islands (H, S) Puerto Rico (H, S) U.S. Virgin Islands

2008 United States state legislative elections

Contents

Summary table

State summaries

Upper houses

Lower houses

Territorial and federal district summaries

Upper houses

Lower houses

Unicameral

Notes

References

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