Elections were held in the United States, in large part, on November 7, 2023. The off-year election included gubernatorial and state legislative elections in a few states, as well as numerous citizen initiatives, mayoral races, and a variety of other local offices on the ballot. At least three special elections to the United States Congress were scheduled as either deaths or vacancies arose. The Democratic Party retained control of the governorship in Kentucky, flipped the Wisconsin Supreme Court and held a seat on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, gained six seats in the New Jersey General Assembly, and won back unified control of the Virginia General Assembly, while Republicans also flipped the governorship in Louisiana and narrowly retained Mississippi's governorship. The election cycle also saw Ohio voting to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution and legalize cannabis for recreational use. The results were widely seen as a success for the Democratic Party.
The election cycle was generally marked by a trend of strong Democratic overperformances in special elections. Daily Kos and FiveThirtyEight analyses of at least 38 races in September 2023 determined that the party outperformed the partisan lean by an average of 10 percent. In comparison, Democrats outperformed by an average of 4 percent in elections held between the 2018 and 2020 elections, and an average of 7.6 percent in elections held in 2020. The 2023 overperformances consisted of unusually larger margins of victory in races held in safely Democratic areas and unusually smaller margins of defeat in races held in safely Republican areas. The results indicate a suburban shift among affluent, college-educated voters that started as an underlying reaction to Donald Trump's election in 2016. While the results were generally in line with predictions, Democrats still outperformed expectations despite the low approval ratings of incumbent Democratic president Joe Biden and polls indicating his middling prospects in the 2024 presidential election.
Both Democratic and Republican operatives attributed the Democrats' overperformance streak to general support of broad abortion rights in the wake of the Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision. This marked a continuing trend of bipartisan voter support for ballot initiatives on abortion rights since the June 2022 decision. Many conservative political analysts and commentators called a continued Republican alliance with the anti-abortion movement "untenable" and an "electoral disaster", and urged the party to favor abortion rights. Young voters in particular gave overwhelming support for abortion rights. Among voters between 18 and 29 years old in increasingly Republican Ohio, an estimated 77% voted for Ohio Issue 1, including a majority of Republicans. Exit polling indicated Ohioans believed abortion should be "mostly legal" by a margin of 61–36%.
Federal elections House of Representatives
Three special elections were held in 2023 to fill vacancies during the 118th U.S. Congress. Virginia's 4th congressional district: Democrat Jennifer McClellan defeated Republican Leon Benjamin in the February special election, to succeed Donald McEachin who died on November 28, 2022, of colorectal cancer. The district has a partisan index of D+16. Rhode Island's 1st congressional district: Democrat Gabe Amo defeated Republican Gerry Leonard Jr. to succeed David Cicilline, who resigned on May 31, 2023, to become the president and CEO of the Rhode Island Foundation. The district has a partisan index of D+14. Utah's 2nd congressional district: Republican Celeste Maloy defeated State Senator Kathleen Riebe, as well as five independent candidates, to succeed Republican Chris Stewart, who resigned on September 15, 2023, due to his wife's ongoing health issues. The district has a partisan index of R+11.
State elections
Gubernatorial elections
Three states held gubernatorial elections in 2023: Kentucky: One-term Democrat Andy Beshear won re-election, defeating Republican nominee Daniel Cameron by a margin of 52.5% to 47.5%. Louisiana: Republican attorney general Jeff Landry won outright with 51.6% of the vote, beating his closest competitor, Democrat Shawn Wilson, who earned 25.9%, in a 14-candidate jungle primary, succeeding term-limited Democratic governor John Bel Edwards. Mississippi: One-term Republican Tate Reeves won re-election, narrowly defeating Democrat Brandon Presley by a 3.2-point margin of 50.9% to 47.7%.
Lieutenant gubernatorial elections
Two states held lieutenant gubernatorial elections in 2023: Louisiana Mississippi
Attorney general elections
Three states held attorney general elections in 2023: Kentucky: One-term Republican Daniel Cameron retired to run for governor. Republican Russell Coleman defeated Democrat Pamela Stevenson by a margin of 58% to 42%. Louisiana: Republican Liz Murrill defeated Democrat Lindsey Cheek in the November 18 runoff to succeed incumbent Jeff Landry, who retired to run for governor. Mississippi: One-term Republican Lynn Fitch won re-election, defeating Democratic nominee Greta Kemp Martin by a margin of 58.7% to 41.3%.
Secretary of state elections
Three states held secretary of state elections in 2023: Kentucky: One-term Republican Michael Adams won re-election, defeating Democratic nominee Buddy Wheatley by a margin of 60.6% to 39.3%. Louisiana: Republican Nancy Landry defeated Democrat Gwen Collins Greenup in a runoff election, succeeding two-term Republican Kyle Ardoin, who retired. Mississippi: One-term Republican Michael Watson ran for re-election, defeating Democratic nominee Ty Pinkins by a margin of 60.1% to 39.9%.
State treasurer elections
Three states held state treasurer elections in 2023: Kentucky: Republican Mark Metcalf defeated Democrat Michael Bowman by a margin of 57.2% to 42.8%, succeeding two-term Republican Allison Ball who was term-limited and therefore ran for state auditor. Louisiana: Republican John Fleming defeated Democrat Dustin Granger in a runoff to succeed incumbent two-term Republican John Schroder, who retired to run for governor. Mississippi: One-term Republican David McRae ran for re-election, defeating Democrat Addie Green by a margin of 59% to 41%.
State auditor elections Two states held state auditor elections in 2023:
Kentucky: Republican Allison Ball defeated Democrat Kim Reeder by a margin of 60.7 % to 30.3%. Mississippi: Republican Shad White defeated Democrat Larry Bradford by a margin of 58.6% to 41.4%.
State agriculture commissioner elections Three states held agriculture commissioner elections in 2023: Kentucky: Republican Jonathan Shell defeated Democrat Sierra Enlow by a margin of 59.3% to 40.7%, succeeding two-term Republican Ryan Quarles, who was term-limited and ran for governor. Louisiana: Four-term Republican Michael G. Strain won re-election unopposed. Mississippi: Two-term Republican Andy Gipson won re-election, defeating Democrat Robert Bradford by a margin of 58.4% to 41.6%.
State supreme court elections Two states, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, held state Supreme Court elections in 2023: Wisconsin: Incumbent justice Patience Roggensack retired. The election for a new justice was held on April 4, 2023. Janet Protasiewicz defeated Daniel Kelly by a margin of 11.02%. Pennsylvania: Justice Max Baer died in September 2022. The election for a new justice was held on November 7, 2023. Democratic nominee Daniel McCaffery defeated GOP nominee Carolyn Carluccio by a margin of 6.02%.
Legislative
Legislative elections were held for both houses of the Louisiana State Legislature, the Mississippi Legislature, the New Jersey Legislature, and the Virginia General Assembly. Kentucky, which holds gubernatorial elections in off-years, holds state legislative elections concurrent with presidential and midterm elections.
In addition, other states held special elections to fill open legislative seats vacated for various reasons (death, retirement, resignation for personal reasons, expulsion, or election to a higher office).
The Democratic Party flipped control of Virginia's lower house, the House of Delegates, which it had lost two years earlier, and retained its majority in Virginia's upper house, the Senate. Democrats also expanded their majority in the lower house of the New Jersey legislature. The Republican Party strengthened its majorities in the Mississippi and Louisiana legislatures.
Ballot measures
41 ballot measures were held in statewide referendums across eight states: Colorado, Louisiana, Maine, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wisconsin. In a March special election, Oklahoma voters rejected State Question 820, a ballot initiative that would have legalized the recreational use of marijuana by people 21 and older. In an April special election, Wisconsin voters approved three measures all by landslides: Question 1 and Question 2, expanding judges' criteria for setting cash bail; and Question 3, a non-binding question regarding welfare benefits. In an August special election, Ohio voters, with more than 57% voting No, rejected a measure that would have required future amendments to the Ohio Constitution to be approved by 60% of the electorate in a referendum rather than a simple majority. In November, the following referendums were on the ballot in their respective states. Maine voters rejected a ballot initiative to establish a public power company, but approved a constitutional amendment to require Article X, Sections 1, 2, and 5, to be included in all official printings of the state constitution. The three sections have not been included since 1876, but were never formally repealed. Sections 1 and 2 deal with the convening of the first Maine Legislature; Section 5 deals with the state's obligations to indigenous tribes, among other details of the separation of Maine from Massachusetts. New York voters approved two proposals on the ballot, Proposal One, concerning small city school districts, and Proposal Two, which concerns sewer systems. Ohio voters approved two measures, one that codified abortion rights in the state's constitution, and another, which legalized marijuana for recreational use. Both received more than 56% Yes votes, mirroring the August special election results. Texas voters statewide voted on 14 proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution. All except one passed. In addition, some Texas counties, cities, and school and other special districts had other ballot issues, such as bond proposals.
Local elections Mayoral elections Since the beginning of 2023, elections were held for the office of mayor, as well as several other municipal and county-level positions. Major U.S. cities saw incumbent mayors re-elected, including Montgomery, Alabama (Steven Reed); Tucson, Arizona (Regina Romero); Aurora, Colorado (Mike Coffman); New Haven, Connecticut (Justin Elicker); Orlando (Buddy Dyer) and Tampa, Florida (Jane Castor); Savannah, Georgia (Van R. Johnson); Boise, Idaho (Lauren McLean); Fort Wayne (Tom Henry), Indianapolis (Joe Hogsett), and South Bend, Indiana (James Mueller); Springfield (Domenic Sarno), Worcester, Massachusetts (Joseph Petty); Kansas City, Missouri (Quinton Lucas); Lincoln, Nebraska (Leirion Gaylor Baird); Charlotte, North Carolina (Vi Lyles); Columbus, Ohio (Andrew Ginther); Greenville, South Carolina (Knox H. White); Knoxville, Tennessee (Indya Kincannon); Arlington (Jim Ross), Dallas (Eric Johnson), Fort Worth (Mattie Parker), and San Antonio, Texas (Ron Nirenberg); Salt Lake City, Utah (Erin Mendenhall); Green Bay (Eric Genrich) and Madison, Wisconsin (Satya Rhodes-Conway).