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85 legislative chambers in 44 states | |||||||||||||||||||
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 Map of upper house elections: Democrats gained control Democrats retained control Republicans gained control Republicans retained control Split body formed Non-partisan legislature No regularly-scheduled elections | |||||||||||||||||||
 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 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.[2] Republicans additionally won the Tennessee Senate, for the time since 1870, and the Indiana House of Representatives.[3][4]
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.[2] 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][4] 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.[5]
The Democrats also regained the title of holding the most legislative seats across the country, winning one more seat than the Republicans.[4]
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- ^ "State legislative elections, 2004".
- ^ a b c Prah, Pamela M. (November 15, 2007). "2004 elections set up year of legislative stalemate". stateline.org. Archived from the original on November 7, 2008. Retrieved 2024-08-12.
- ^ a b Madigan, Erin; Kelderman, Eric (November 5, 2004). "GOP Loses Ground in Statehouse Control". pew.org. Retrieved 2023-03-03.
- ^ a b c Storey, Tim (2005). "2004 legislative elections". Spectrum: The Journal of State Government. 78 (1): 8 – via Gale Academic OneFile.
- ^ Robbins, Jim (2004-12-29). "Ruling Puts Democrats in Control in Montana". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-03.