The 2022 United States state legislative elections were held on November 8, 2022, for 88 state legislative chambers in 46 states. Across the fifty states, approximately 56 percent of all upper house seats and 92 percent of all lower house seats were up for election. Additionally, six territorial chambers were up in four territories and the District of Columbia. These midterm elections coincided with other state and local elections, including gubernatorial elections in multiple states.

Prior to the elections, Democrats held 14 trifectas (control of the governor's office and legislative chambers), Republicans held 23 trifectas, and 13 states held a divided government. These were the first elections affected by the 2020 redistricting cycle, which reapportioned state legislatures based on data from the 2020 United States census.

Democrats made unexpected gains in state legislatures across the country, flipping four chambers. This was the first midterm election since 1934 in which the party of the incumbent president did not lose any state legislative chambers to the opposition.

Background

Despite Democrat Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election, Republicans expanded their firm hold on state legislatures across the country in the concurrent legislative elections. With control of decennial redistricting on the line, Democrats had spent heavily in hopes of reversing the advantages Republicans held during the 2010s, but they instead gained control of no new chambers and lose control of both chambers of the New Hampshire General Court. Democrats position weakened further in the 2021 elections, where they lost control of the Virginia House of Delegates and several seats in the New Jersey Legislature.

Entering the 2022 elections, Republicans held government trifectas in 23 states to the Democrats' 14, with 13 states having divided governments. Democrats held no chambers in states won by Donald Trump in the 2020 election, although the Alaska House of Representatives was controlled by a Democratic-led coalition. Conversely, Republicans controlled 14 chambers in states won by Joe Biden.

Issues

The landmark 2022 ruling Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health which overturned the constitutional right to abortion established by Roe v. Wade, upended the landscape of the midterm elections, becoming a primary motivating factor for Democratic voters. Prior to Dobbs, inflation, alongside other economic concerns, had been the primary issues of the midterms, with some focus on immigration as well. Republicans continued to focus on these issues, but Dobbs gave Democrats a concrete motivating policy with which to turn out their voters, which they had previously lacked amid Joe Biden's declining approval ratings. Threats to American democracy remained a secondary motivating factor for Democrats in the wake of the January 6, 2021, United States Capitol attack. Abortion access was on the ballot in several states, either directly through ballot measures or indirectly through gubernatorial and legislative elections.

Summary table Regularly scheduled elections were held in 88 of the 99 state legislative chambers in the United States; nationwide, regularly scheduled elections were held for 6,064 of the 7,383 legislative seats. Most 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. The chambers that were 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 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 Lower house Seats up Total % up Term Seats up Total % up TermAlabama353510041051051004Alaska102050440401002Arizona3030100260601002Arkansas1835512/41001001002California204050480801002 Colorado173549465651002 Connecticut363610021511511002 Delaware1021482/441411002 Florida2040502/41201201002 Georgia565610021801801002 Hawaii1225482/451511002 Idaho3535100270701002 Illinois3959662/41181181002 Indiana25505041001001002 Iowa25505041001001002 Kansas040041251251002 Kentucky19385041001001002 Louisiana03904010504 Maine353510021511511002 Maryland474710041411411004 Massachusetts404010021601601002 Michigan383810041101101002 Minnesota67671002/41341341002 Mississippi05204012204 Missouri17345041631631002 Montana25505041001001002 Nebraska2449494 N/A (unicameral) Nevada112152442421002 New Hampshire242410024004001002 New Jersey04002/408002 New Mexico4242100470701002 New York636310021501501002 North Carolina505010021201201002 North Dakota24475144794504 Ohio163352499991002 Oklahoma24485041011011002 Oregon153050460601002 Pennsylvania25505042032031002 Rhode Island3838100275751002 South Carolina046041241241002 South Dakota3535100270701002 Tennessee173352499991002 Texas1531482/41501501002 Utah142948475751002 Vermont303010021501501002 Virginia04004010002 Washington254949498981002 West Virginia17345041001001002 Wisconsin173352499991002 Wyoming153150462621002 Total1106197356N/A4959541392N/A

Redistricting

The 2022 elections were the first held after redistricting following the 2020 census. All states holding elections in 2022 did so under new maps drawn in accordance with the new census results with the exception of Montana, which implements its new maps four years after the census as opposed to two. In a majority of states, legislative redistricting is controlled by the state legislature, often subject to gubernatorial veto. This allows for widespread gerrymandering, in which the party in power draws legislative boundaries to favor itself. Many states delegate redistricting power to an independent or bipartisan redistricting commission, often with the goal of minimizing or eliminating partisan gerrymandering.

New independent commissions Four states established independent redistricting commissions via citizen-led ballot initiative prior to the 2020 redistricting cycle: Colorado, Michigan, Utah, and Virginia. The new commission in Michigan, especially, was significant due to its implementing of maps seen as fair, replacing maps seen as heavily gerrymandered to favor Republicans, which had been established as a part of Project REDMAP after the 2010 elections. In Utah, Republican legislators voted in 2020 to strip the state's newly established commission of its power, returning control over redistricting to the Republican-led legislature. In Virginia, the state's commission failed to agree on new legislative maps, leading the Supreme Court of Virginia to appoint a special master to draw its maps for use beginning in the 2023 elections.

Litigation In a number of states, lawsuits successfully challenged district maps drawn by state legislatures. In Ohio and North Carolina, the states' respective Supreme Courts rejected the legislature's maps as unconstitutional partisan gerrymanders. In North Carolina, a second set of maps was eventually approved by the courts, but in Ohio, the courts continually rejected the new maps until a federal court forced them to let one set stand due to the impending primary election. In Minnesota and Wisconsin, redistricting fell to state courts after their legislatures and governors deadlocked. Wisconsin's litigation briefly involved the U.S. Supreme Court over concerns on the application of the Voting Rights Act in the state court's prior decision. The New York Court of Appeals overturned the state's new Senate map, drawn by the Democratic-controlled legislature, calling it an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander. Maps for the State Assembly were not overturned. The new Senate maps drawn by a special master substantially changed the districts drawn in New York City, greatly increasing the number of competitive districts.

Gerrymandering In Michigan and Pennsylvania, new maps implemented by independent and bipartisan commissions were seen as much fairer compared to the states' previous maps. In Wisconsin, however, the court's chosen map was seen as favoring Republicans. All three states were severely affected by partisan gerrymandering during the 2010s due to Project REDMAP. Democrats had not won control of any legislative chambers in those states since 2008 despite winning the statewide popular vote multiple times. In Republican-led states such as Texas, Florida, and Georgia, Republican legislatures passed maps seen as gerrymandered and uncompetitive, while states such as Nevada did the same in favor of Democrats.

Electoral predictions Although the 2022 elections were initially expected to be highly Republican-favoring, given the increasing unpopularity of Democratic president Joe Biden, the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June dramatically shifted the national political environment. By the time of the elections, a similar number of Republican- and Democratic-controlled chambers were considered competitive, mostly in states won narrowly by Biden in the 2020 presidential election. Democrats' best chances for gains were seen in states such as Michigan, Arizona, and Pennsylvania, while Republicans' best chances were in Alaska, Maine, Nevada, Colorado, and Oregon. Both chambers of the Minnesota Legislature, one controlled by each party, were seen as highly-competitive. Overall, fewer legislative chambers were seen as competitive compared to previous cycles.

Most election predictors use: "Tossup": No advantage "Tilt": Advantage that is not quite as strong as "lean" "Lean": Slight advantage "Likely": Significant, but surmountable, advantage "Safe" or "Solid": Near-certain chance of victory

State PVI Chamber Lastelection SabatoCNalysisResult Alabama rowspan=2 Senate R 27–8 | | R 27–8 House of Representatives R 77–28 | | R 77–28 Alaska rowspan=2 Senate R 14–6 | | Coal. 17–3 House of Representatives Coal. 21–17–2 | | Coal. 23–16–1 Arizona rowspan=2 Senate R 16–14 | | R 16–14 House of Representatives R 31–29 | | R 31–29 Arkansas rowspan=2 Senate R 27–7–1 | | R 29–6 House of Representatives R 78–22 | | R 82–18 California rowspan=2 State Senate D 31–9 | | D 32–8 State Assembly D 60–19–1 | | D 62–18 Colorado rowspan=2 Senate D 20–15 | | D 23–12 House of Representatives D 41–24 | | D 46–19 Connecticut rowspan=2 State Senate D 23–13 | | D 24–12 House of Representatives D 97–54 | | D 98–53 Delaware rowspan=2 Senate D 14–7 | | D 15–6 House of Representatives D 26–15 | | D 26–15 Florida rowspan=2 Senate R 24–16 | | R 28–12 House of Representatives R 78–42 | | R 85–35 Georgia rowspan=2 State Senate R 34–22 | | R 33–23 House of Representatives R 103–77 | | R 101–79 Hawaii rowspan=2 Senate D 24–1 | | D 23–2 House of Representatives D 47–4 | | D 45–6 Idaho rowspan=2 Senate R 28–7 | | R 28–7 House of Representatives R 58–12 | | R 59–11 Illinois rowspan=2 Senate D 41–18 | | style="background:#99f" data-sort-value=-3.5 | Very Likely D D 40–19 House of Representatives D 73–45 | | style="background:#99f" data-sort-value=-3.5 | Very Likely D D 78–40 Indiana rowspan=2 Senate R 39–11 | | R 40–10 House of Representatives R 71–29 | | R 70–30 Iowa rowspan=2 Senate R 32–18 | | R 34–16 House of Representatives R 60–40 | | R 64–36 Kansas House of Representatives R 86–39 | | R 85–40 Kentucky rowspan=2 Senate R 30–8 | | R 31–7 House of Representatives R 75–25 | | R 80–20 Maine rowspan=2 Senate D 22–13 | | D 22–13 House of Representatives D 82–66–3 | | D 82–67–2 Maryland rowspan=2 Senate D 32–15 | | D 34–13 House of Delegates D 99–42 | | D 102–39 Massachusetts rowspan=2 Senate D 37–3 | | D 37–3 House of Representatives D 130–29–1 | | D 134–25–1 Michigan rowspan=2 Senate R 22–16 | | D 20–18 House of Representatives R 58–52 | | D 56–54 Minnesota rowspan=2 Senate R 34–33 | | D 34–33 House of Representatives D 70–64 | | D 70–64 Missouri rowspan=2 Senate R 24–10 |