2008 United States state legislative elections information
Election in the United States on 2008
For related races, see 2008 United States elections.
2008 United States state legislative elections
← 2007
November 4, 2008
2009 →
85 legislative chambers in 44 states
Majority party
Minority party
Third party
Party
Democratic
Republican
Coalition
Chambers before
58
39[a]
1[b]
Chambers after
61
37
1[b]
Overall change
3
2
Map of upper house elections: Democrats gained control Democrats retained control Republicans gained control Republicans retained control Coalition retained control 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 4, 2008, alongside other elections, in which Democrats scored significant gains in a blue wave election. 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] Seven territorial chambers in four territories and the District of Columbia were up.
The New Hampshire Senate saw the election of the first-ever female majority. This is the first time this has occurred in any chamber of any state legislature in United States history.[2] In New York, the Democrats obtained a trifecta for the first time since 1935, and in Delaware for the first time since 1977.[3]
The Democrats took control of six legislative bodies to the Republicans' four. Democrats took control of the Delaware House of Representatives, for the first time since 1985, the Montana House of Representatives, the Nevada Senate, and the New York State Senate, for the first time since 1966, the Ohio House of Representatives, and the Wisconsin State Assembly. Republicans took control of the Montana Senate; both houses of the Tennessee General Assembly,[4] for the first time since 1870; and the Oklahoma Senate, for the first time in state history. With the Montana Senate and the Montana House of Representatives flipping, this election cycle marked the last time in U.S. history as of 2024 where the upper house and lower house held by different political parties in a state legislature both flipped in the same cycle.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
^"State legislative elections, 2008". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
^"New Hampshire Senate Makes History". ABC News. December 7, 2008.
^"New York - Election Results 2008 - The New York Times". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2022-04-22.
^Whitehouse, Ken. "Tennessee Republicans win slim majority in State House". Nashville Post. Retrieved 2023-02-07.
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