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Political Party Strength in U.S. States

The following table shows all the U.S. states and to what party (Democratic or Republican) their state governors belong.

Also indicated is the majority party of the state legislatures' upper and lower houses. (Nebraska's legislature has only one house and is officially "nonpartisan," but the vast majority of its members are members of one of the two major parties.)

Throughout most of the 20th century, although the Republican party often held power at a national level, the Democratic party held almost uncontested power at the state level, especially in the solid South, where the Republican party was virtually nonexistent. (For much of the 20th century, North Dakota was a one-party Republican state, the only one in the country.)

However, in the 1970s and 1980s, the Republicans slowly increased their strength in the state legislatures, especially in the South, where the increasingly Republican party took the place of the Democrats, who had been tainted by their party's support for the Civil Rights Movement starting in the 1940s. In the 1990s, the Republicans finally overtook the Democrats in holding majorities in statehouses and governorships.

The Republican lead, however, is based on a slim majority overall, with Democrats holding 3,639 elected seats, only 79 fewer than the Republicans' 3,718.

Current Party Strength

State	Governor	Upper House Majority	Lower House Majority
Alabama	Republican	Democratic 25-10	Democratic 63-42
Alaska	Republican	Republican 11-8-1	Republican 27-13
Arizona	Democratic	Republican 17-13	Republican 39-21
Arkansas	Republican	Democratic 27-8	Democratic 70-30
California	Republican	Democratic 25-15	Democratic 48-32
Colorado	Republican	Republican 18-17	Republican 37-28
Connecticut	Republican	Democratic 21-15	Democratic 94-57
Delaware	Democratic	Democratic 13-8	Republican 29-12
Florida	Republican	Republican 26-14	Republican 81-39
Georgia	Republican	Republican 30-26	Democratic 106-73-1
Hawaii	Republican	Democratic 20-5	Democratic 36-15
Idaho	Republican	Republican 28-7	Republican 54-16
Illinois	Democratic	Democratic 32-27	Democratic 66-52
Indiana	Democratic	Republican 32-18	Democratic 51-49
Iowa	Democratic	Republican 29-21	Republican 54-46
Kansas	Democratic	Republican 30-10	Republican 80-45
Kentucky	Republican	Republican 22-16	Democratic 65-35
Louisiana	Democratic	Democratic 26-13	Democratic 68-36-1
Maine	Democratic	Democratic 18-17	Democratic 80-67-4
Maryland	Republican	Democratic 33-14	Democratic 98-43
Massachusetts	Republican	Democratic 34-6	Democratic 136-23-1
Michigan	Democratic	Republican 22-16	Republican 63-47
Minnesota	Republican	Democratic 35-31-1	Republican 82-52
Mississippi	Republican	Democratic 29-22	Democratic 74-45-2
Missouri	Democratic	Republican 20-14	Republican 90-73
Montana	Republican	Republican 29-21	Republican 53-47
Nebraska	Republican	Republican 34-13-2	(none)
Nevada	Republican	Republican 13-8	Democratic 23-19
New Hampshire	Republican	Republican 18-6	Republican 281-119
New Jersey	Democratic	Democratic 22-18	Democratic 47-33
New Mexico	Democratic	Democratic 24-18	Democratic 43-27
New York	Republican	Republican 37-25	Democratic 103-47
North Carolina	Democratic	Democratic 28-22	split 61R-59D
North Dakota	Republican	Republican 31-16	Republican 66-28
Ohio	Republican	Republican 22-11	Republican 62-37
Oklahoma	Republican	Democratic 28-20	Democratic 53-48
Oregon	Democratic	Democratic 15-15	Republican 35-25
Pennsylvania	Democratic	Republican 29-21	Republican 109-94
Rhode Island	Republican	Democratic 32-6	Democratic 63-11-1
South Carolina	Republican	Republican 25-21	Republican 73-51
South Dakota	Republican	Republican 26-9	Republican 49-21
Tennessee	Democratic	Democratic 18-15	Democratic 54-45
Texas	Republican	Republican 19-12	Republican 88-62
Utah	Republican	Republican 22-7	Republican 56-19
Vermont	Republican	Democratic 19-11	Republican 74-69-7
Virginia	Democratic	Republican 24-16	Republican 61-37-2
Washington	Democratic	Republican 25-24	Democratic 52-46
West Virginia	Democratic	Democratic 24-10	Democratic 68-32
Wisconsin	Democratic	Republican 18-15	Republican 58-41
Wyoming	Democratic	Republican 20-10	Republican 46-14

Totals

Governor

• Democratic: 21
• Republican: 29

Upper House Majority

• Democratic: 22 (963 seats)
• Republican: 28 (1,003 seats)

Lower House Majority

• Democratic: 23 (2,676 seats)
• Republican: 25 (2,715 seats)
• Split: 1
• No lower house: 1

Regional Breakdowns

Because local and regional political circumstances often have an influence on party strength, it can be interesting to analyze party strength on a regional basis.

Historical Party Strength

The following table shows how many legislatures were controlled outright by each party.

Year	Democrats	Republicans	Split
2004	17	21	11
2003	16	21	12
2002	18	17	14
2000	16	18	15
1998	20	17	12
1996	20	18	11
1994	18	19	12
1992	25	8	16
1990	30	6	13
1988	29	8	12
1986	28	9	12
1984	26	11	12
1982	34	11	4
1980	29	15	5
1978	31	11	7
1976	35	4	10
1974	37	4	8
1972	26	16	7
1970	23	16	9
1968	20	20	8
1966	23	16	9
1964	32	6	10
1962	25	17	6
1960	27	15	6
1958	30	7	11
1956	22	19	5
1954	19	20	7
1952	16	26	4
1950	19	21	6
1948	19	16	11
1946	17	25	4
1944	19	24	3
1942	19	24	3
1940	21	17	8
1938	21	19	6

See also:

• Political Party Strength in Ohio