Political party strength in U.S. states

Political party strength in U.S. states is the level of representation of the various political parties in the United States in each statewide elective office providing legislators to the state and to the U.S. Congress and electing the executives at the state (U.S. state governor) and national (U.S. President) level.

Map of relative party strengths in each U.S. state after the 2020 presidential election

History

Throughout most of the 20th century, although the Republican and Democratic parties alternated in power at a national level, some states were so overwhelmingly dominated by one party that nomination was usually tantamount to election. This was especially true in the Solid South, where the Democratic Party was dominant for the better part of a century, from the end of Reconstruction in the late 1870s, through the period of Jim Crow Laws into the 1960s. Conversely, the rock-ribbed New England states of Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire were dominated by the Republican Party, as were some Midwestern states like Iowa and North Dakota.

However, in the 1970s and 1980s the increasingly conservative Republican Party gradually overtook the Democrats in the southeast. The Democrats' support in the formerly Solid South had been eroded during the vast cultural, political, and economic upheaval that surrounded the 1960s. By the 1990s, the Republican Party had completed the transition into the southeast's dominant political party, despite typically having fewer members due to the prevalence of Republican voting generational Democrats. In New England, the opposite trend occurred; the former Republican strongholds of Maine and Vermont became solidly Democratic, as did formerly Republican areas of New Jersey, New York, California, and Connecticut.

In the U.S. state legislative elections of 2010, the Republican Party held an outright majority of 3,890 seats (53% of total) compared to the Democratic party's 3,450 (47% of total) seats elected on a partisan ballot.^[1] Of the 7,382 seats in all of the state legislatures combined, independents and third parties account for only 16 members, not counting the 49 members of the Nebraska Legislature, which is the only legislature in the nation to hold non-partisan elections to determine its members. As a result of the 2010 elections, Republicans took control of an additional 20 state legislative chambers, giving them majority control of both chambers in 25 states versus the Democrats' majority control of both chambers in only 17 states, with 7 states having split or inconclusive control of both chambers (not including Nebraska). Before the 2010 elections, it was Democrats who controlled both chambers in 27 states versus the Republican party having total control in only 14 states, with 8 states divided, and Nebraska being nonpartisan.^[2]

Since this election, Republicans have maintained a majority of state legislative chambers and seats, as well as governorships nationwide. As of 2024, there are 23 Republican trifectas, 17 Democratic trifectas, and 10 divided governments with both parties holding either legislative chambers or the governorship. However, following the 2022 elections, Democratic trifectas represent a majority of the national population.^[3]

Current party strength

Cook Partisan Voting Index (PVI)

Another metric measuring party preference is the Cook Partisan Voting Index (PVI). Cook PVIs are calculated by comparing a state's average Democratic Party or Republican Party share of the two-party presidential vote in the past two presidential elections to the nation's average share of the same. PVIs for the states over time can be used to show the trends of U.S. states towards, or away from, one party or the other.^[4]

Gallup

On December 17, 2020, Gallup polling found that 31% of Americans identified as Democrats, 25% identified as Republicans, and 41% as Independent.^[5] Additionally, polling showed that 50% are either "Democrats or Democratic leaners" and 39% are either "Republicans or Republican leaners" when Independents were asked, "do you lean more to the Democratic Party or the Republican Party?"^[5]

In 2018, the number of competitive states according to opinion polling dropped down to 10, the lowest number since 2008. From 2017 to 2018, New Hampshire, Nevada, and Pennsylvania moved from competitive to lean Democratic, while West Virginia, Louisiana, and Indiana moved from competitive to lean Republican, and Nebraska moved from lean Republican to competitive.^[6]

As of 2018, Massachusetts was the most Democratic state, with 56% of residents identifying as Democrats, while only 27% of residents identified as Republicans. However, it is important to note that Washington D.C. (while not a state) has 3 electoral votes and 76% of residents identify as Democrats, while 6% identify as Republicans. Wyoming was the most Republican state, with 59% of residents identifying as Republican, and only 25% of residents identifying as Democrat.^[6]

Partisan lean of U.S. states according to Gallup polling^[6]

	Number of U.S. States
Year	Solid Dem	Lean Dem	Competitive	Lean GOP	Solid GOP	Net Dem
2008	29	6	10	1	4	+30
2009	23	10	12	1	4	+28
2010	13	9	18	5	5	+12
2011	11	7	15	7	10	+1
2012	13	6	19	3	9	+7
2013	12	5	19	2	12	+3
2014	11	6	18	5	10	+2
2015	11	3	16	8	12	−6
2016	13	1	15	7	14	−7
2017	15	4	15	3	13	+3
2018	14	8	10	5	13	+4

Voter registration

The state Democratic or Republican Party controls the governorship, the state legislative houses, and U.S. Senate representation. Nebraska's legislature is unicameral (i.e., it has only one legislative house) and is officially non-partisan, though party affiliation still has an unofficial influence on the legislative process.

The simplest measure of party strength in a state voting population is the affiliation totals from voter registration from the websites of the Secretaries of State or state Boards of Elections for the 30 states and the District of Columbia that allow registered voters to indicate a party preference when registering to vote. 20 states^{[lower-alpha 1]} do not include party preference with voter registration. The party affiliations in the party control table are obtained from state party registration figures where indicated.^[7]

As of 2024, a plurality of voters in California, Nevada, New Mexico, Louisiana, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Maine are Democratic, while a majority of voters in Maryland and Washington DC are Democratic. Meanwhile, a plurality of voters in Arizona, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Florida are Republicans. A majority of voters in Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, South Dakota, and Oklahoma are Republicans. In Oregon, Colorado, North Carolina, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Alaska, and New Hampshire, a plurality of voters are Independents. While in Massachusetts, a majority of voters are independents.^[8]

Voter Registration Totals^[9]

Party name	Total
Democratic	48,019,985
Republican	35,732,180
Independent	34,699,567
American Independent	715,712
Libertarian	710,123
Independence Party of New York	388,779
Green	240,198
Independent Party of Florida	195,333
Independent Party of Oregon	134,996
Constitution	131,901
Independent Party of Louisiana	110,653
Peace & Freedom	110,576
Independent American Party	58,331
Working Families	55,352
United Independent	20,976
Alaskan Independence	18,983
Common Sense Party	17,322
New Jersey Conservative	16,104
Independent Party of Delaware	9,807
Socialist Party USA	9,198
Natural Law	6,549
Reform	5,900
Women's Equality	4,468
Approval Voting	4,046
Independent American Party of New Mexico	3,889
Unity	3,215
Better for America	3,180
Oregon Progressive	2,928
Working Class	2,693
United Utah	2,285
Party for Socialism and Liberation	1,369
Bread and Roses	1,127
Ecology Party of Florida	1,108

Party strength by state

Local and regional political circumstances often influence party strength.

U.S. state party control as of November 2024

See also: Government trifecta § State government trifectas

State	2020 presidential election	Governor	State Senate	State House	Senior U.S. Senator	Junior U.S. Senator	U.S. House of Representatives
Alabama	Republican	Republican	Republican 27–8	Republican 76–29	Republican	Republican	Republican 6–1
Alaska	Republican	Republican	Coalition 17–3[lower-alpha 2]	Coalition 23–17[lower-alpha 2]	Republican	Republican	Democratic 1–0
Arizona	Democratic	Democratic	Republican 16–14	Republican 31–29	Independent[lower-alpha 3]	Democratic	Republican 6–3
Arkansas	Republican	Republican	Republican 29–6	Republican 82–18	Republican	Republican	Republican 4–0
California	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic 32–8	Democratic 62–18	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic 40–12
Colorado	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic 23–12	Democratic 46–19	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic 5–3
Connecticut	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic 24–12	Democratic 98–53	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic 5–0
Delaware	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic 15–6	Democratic 26–15	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic 1–0
Florida	Republican	Republican	Republican 28–12	Republican 84–36	Republican	Republican	Republican 20–8
Georgia	Democratic	Republican	Republican 33–23	Republican 101–79	Democratic	Democratic	Republican 9–5
Hawaii	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic 23–2	Democratic 45–6	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic 2–0
Idaho	Republican	Republican	Republican 28–7	Republican 59–11	Republican	Republican	Republican 2–0
Illinois	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic 40–19	Democratic 78–40	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic 14–3
Indiana	Republican	Republican	Republican 40–10	Republican 70–30	Republican	Republican	Republican 7–2
Iowa	Republican	Republican	Republican 34–16	Republican 64–36	Republican	Republican	Republican 4–0
Kansas	Republican	Democratic	Republican 29–11	Republican 85–40	Republican	Republican	Republican 3–1
Kentucky	Republican	Democratic	Republican 31–7	Republican 80–20	Republican	Republican	Republican 5–1
Louisiana	Republican	Republican	Republican 27–12	Republican 71–33–1	Republican	Republican	Republican 5–1
Maine	Democratic/ Republican (2nd District)	Democratic	Democratic 22–13	Democratic 81–68–2	Republican	Independent[lower-alpha 3]	Democratic 2–0
Maryland	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic 34–13	Democratic 102–39	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic 7–1
Massachusetts	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic 36–4	Democratic 134–25–1	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic 9–0
Michigan	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic 20–18	Democratic 56–54	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic 7–6
Minnesota	Democratic (DFL)	Democratic (DFL)	DFL 34–33	DFL 70–64	Democratic (DFL)	Democratic (DFL)	Tied 4–4
Mississippi	Republican	Republican	Republican 36–16	Republican 79–41–2	Republican	Republican	Republican 3–1
Missouri	Republican	Republican	Republican 24–10	Republican 111–52	Republican	Republican	Republican 6–2
Montana	Republican	Republican	Republican 34–16	Republican 68–32	Democratic	Republican	Republican 2–0
Nebraska	Republican/ Democratic (2nd District)	Republican	Unicameral Nonpartisan Legislature[lower-alpha 4] (De facto Republican 32–17)		Republican	Republican	Republican 3–0
Nevada	Democratic	Republican	Democratic 13–8	Democratic 28–14	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic 3–1
New Hampshire	Democratic	Republican	Republican 14–10	Republican 201–196–3	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic 2–0
New Jersey	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic 25–15	Democratic 52–28	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic 9–3
New Mexico	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic 27–15	Democratic 45–25	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic 3–0
New York	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic 42–21	Democratic 101–49	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic 16–10
North Carolina	Republican	Democratic	Republican 30–20	Republican 72–48	Republican	Republican	Tied 7–7
North Dakota	Republican	Republican	Republican 43–4	Republican 82–12	Republican	Republican	Republican 1–0
Ohio	Republican	Republican	Republican 26–7	Republican 67–31	Democratic	Republican	Republican 10–5
Oklahoma	Republican	Republican	Republican 40–8	Republican 81–20	Republican	Republican	Republican 5–0
Oregon	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic 17–12–1	Democratic 35–25	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic 4–2
Pennsylvania	Democratic	Democratic	Republican 28–22	Democratic 102–101	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic 9–8
Rhode Island	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic 33–5	Democratic 65–10	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic 2–0
South Carolina	Republican	Republican	Republican 30–16	Republican 88–36	Republican	Republican	Republican 6–1
South Dakota	Republican	Republican	Republican 31–4	Republican 63–7	Republican	Republican	Republican 1–0
Tennessee	Republican	Republican	Republican 27–6	Republican 75–24	Republican	Republican	Republican 8–1
Texas	Republican	Republican	Republican 19–12	Republican 86–64	Republican	Republican	Republican 25–13
Utah	Republican	Republican	Republican 21–8	Republican 61–14	Republican	Republican	Republican 4–0
Vermont	Democratic	Republican	Democratic 22–7–1	Democratic 104–38–5–3	Independent[lower-alpha 3]	Democratic	Democratic 1–0
Virginia	Democratic	Republican	Democratic 21–19	Democratic 51-49	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic 6–5
Washington	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic 29–20	Democratic 58–40	Democratic	Democratic	Democratic 8–2
West Virginia	Republican	Republican	Republican 31–3	Republican 89–11	Independent[lower-alpha 3]	Republican	Republican 2–0
Wisconsin	Democratic	Democratic	Republican 22–11	Republican 64–35	Republican	Democratic	Republican 6–2
Wyoming	Republican	Republican	Republican 28–2	Republican 57–5	Republican	Republican	Republican 1–0

Totals
Presidency (after 2020 Election)	U.S. Senate (after 2022 Elections)	U.S. House of Representatives (after 2022 Elections)	Governorships (after 2023 Elections)	Majority in State Senate (after 2023 Elections)	Majority in State House (after 2023 Elections)
Democratic 306–232	Democratic 51–49[lower-alpha 3]	Republican 222–213	Republican 27–23	Republican 29–20–1[lower-alpha 2]	Republican 27–21–1[lower-alpha 2]

1. Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
2. A coalition of 19 Republicans, 2 Democrats, and 2 Independents make up the majority caucus in the Alaska House of Representatives, while a grand coalition of 9 Democrats and 8 Republicans make up the majority caucus in the Alaska Senate.
3. Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Angus King (I-ME), Joe Manchin (I-WV), and Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), are Independent Democrats and, as such, are included in Democrats' total number of Senators for the purposes of calculating partisan breakdown in this article.
4. While the Nebraska Legislature is technically non-partisan, the majority of its senators are de facto Republicans.

State government

Governor	Governors and Legislatures
US state governors by political party as of 5 November 2024   Democratic   Republican   New Progressive	US state governments (governor and legislature) by party control as of 5 November 2024   Democratic control   Republican control   Split control

Historical party strength

The number of state legislatures controlled by each party.^[10]

Year	Democrats	Republicans	Split
1938	21	19	6
1940	21	17	8
1942	19	24	3
1944	19	24	3
1946	17	25	4
1948	19	16	11
1950	19	21	6
1952	16	26	4
1954	19	20	7
1956	22	19	5
1958	30	7	11
1960	27	15	6
1962	25	17	6
1964	32	6	10
1966	23	16	9
1968	20	20	8
1970	23	16	9
1972	26	16	7
1974	37	4	8
1976	35	4	10
1978	31	11	7
1980	29	15	5
1982	34	11	4
1984	26	11	12
1986	28	9	12
1988	29	8	12
1990	30	6	13
1992	25	8	16
1994	18	19	12
1996	20	18	11
1998	20	17	12
2000	16	18	15
2002	18	17	14
2003	16	21	12
2004	17	21	11
2005	20	20	9
2007	24	16	9
2008	23	15	12
2009	27	15	8
2010	27	15	8
2011	15	27	8
2012	15	29	6
2013	17	28	5
2014	17	28	5
2015	11	31	8
2016	11	31	8
2017	12	32	6
2018	13	32	5
2019	18	30	2
2020	19	29	2
2021	18	30	2
2022	17	30	3
2023	19	28	3
2024	20	28	2

The state governorships controlled by each party.^[10]

Year	Democrats	Republicans	Independent
1922	26	22
1923	27	21
1924	23	25
1926	20	28
1927	19	29
1928	16	32
1930	24	22	2
1931	26	20	2
1932	36	10	2
1934	37	9	2
1936	38	7	3
1937	39	6	3
1938	29	19
1940	28	20
1942	24	24
1943	22	26
1944	25	23
1946	23	25
1947	24	24
1948	28	20
1950	22	26
1952	18	30
1953	19	29
1954	27	21
1956	28	20
1958	35	15
1960	34	16
1962	34	16
1964	33	17
1966	25	25
1967	24	26
1968	19	31
1969	18	32
1970	29	21
1971	30	20
1972	31	19
1973	32	18
1974	36	13	1
1976	37	12	1
1978	32	18
1979	31	19
1980	27	23
1982	34	16
1983	35	15
1984	34	16
1986	26	24
1988	28	22
1989	29	21
1990	28	20	2
1992	30	18	2
1993	29	19	2
1994	19	30	1
1995	18	31	1
1996	17	32	1
1998	17	31	2
1999	18	30	2
2000	19	29	2
2001	21	27	2
2002	24	26
2004	22	28
2006	28	22
2008	29	21
2009	26	24
2010	26	23	1
2011	20	29	1
2012	20	29	1
2013	20	30
2014	21	29
2015	18	31	1
2016	18	31	1
2017	15	34	1
2018	16	33	1
2019	23	27
2020	24	26
2021	23	27
2022	22	28
2023	24	26
2024	23	27

State government full or split control, by party.

Year	Democrats	Republicans	Split
1977	27	1	22
1978	27	1	22
1979	19	5	26
1980	18	5	27
1981	16	8	26
1982	16	8	26
1983	24	4	22
1984	24	4	22
1985	17	4	29
1986	17	4	29
1987	15	7	28
1988	14	6	30
1989	15	5	30
1990	16	5	29
1991	16	3	31
1992	15	3	32
1993	18	3	29
1994	16	4	30
1995	8	15	27
1996	6	14	30
1997	5	12	33
1998	5	13	32
1999	8	15	27
2000	9	16	25
2001	8	14	28
2002	9	12	29
2003	8	12	30
2004	8	12	30
2005	8	12	30
2006	8	12	30
2007	15	10	25
2008	14	10	26
2009	18	10	22
2010	17	10	23
2011	11	22	17
2012	11	24	15
2013	13	25	12
2014	13	24	13
2015	7	24	19
2016	7	23	20
2017	5	25	20
2018	7	25	18
2019	14	22	14
2020	15	21	14
2021	15	23	12
2022	14	23	13
2023	17	22	11
2024	17	23	10

Graphical summary

References

1. "Republicans Exceed Expectations in 2010 State Legislative Elections". National Conference of State Legislatures. November 3, 2010. Retrieved 2014-12-03.
2. Hansen, Karen (December 2010). "Red Tide: December 2010 – A GOP wave washed over state legislatures on Election Day". National Conference of State Legislatures. Retrieved 2014-12-03.
3. Rakich, Nathaniel (November 17, 2022). "The Midterms Made State Governments Bluer". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
4. "Partisan Voter Index by State, 1994–2014" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-11-27. Retrieved 2014-12-23.
5. "Gallup Historical Trends: Party Affiliation". Gallup News. September 20, 2007. Retrieved 2020-05-14. In politics, as of today, do you consider yourself a Republican, a Democrat or an independent?
6. "Democratic States Exceed Republican States by Four in 2018". Gallup.com. Gallup Inc. February 22, 2019. Retrieved 2019-10-20.
7. For example, for earlier 2014 registration figures, see: Blumenthal, Mark; Edwards-Levy, Ariel (May 27, 2014). "HUFFPOLLSTER: A State-By-State Guide To Party Registration". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2014-12-23..
8. "Partisan affiliations of registered voters". March 16, 2023. Retrieved 2023-03-16..
9. Winger, Richard (December 1, 2021). "Chart on Page Five". Ballot Access News. 37 (7): 3, 5.
10. "U.S. Census Bureau, The 2012 Statistical Abstract, The National Data Book, Elections: Gubernatorial and State Legislatures (see: Tables 416 and 418)" (PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. August 2011. pp. 260–261. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2017-03-22. Retrieved 2020-05-14.