NCSLnet: President's Party

Fate of the President's Party in
State Legislative Elections, 1960-96

Last Update: 11/14/96

State legislative elections tend to turn more on local issues, but national trends also have an effect. In presidential election years, the party that wins the presidency tends to gain seats, although not always. The Johnson and Reagan landslides of 1964 and 1984 generated major state legislative gains for their parties, but the large margins won by Nixon in 1972 and Bush in 1988 did not. The Democrats actually lost seats in state legislatures in the elections of Carter in 1976 and Clinton in 1992.

In midterm elections, on the other hand, the president's party has lost state legislative seats in every election. These patterns in state legislative elections are generally consistent with outcomes in congressional races in presidential vs. midterm years.

Presidential Party Gains (Losses)					Presidential Party Gains (Losses)
in Midterm Elections					in Presidential Elections
Election	Pres	House	Senate	Total	Election	Pres	House	Senate	Total
1962	D	(76)	(36)	(112)	1964	D	425	103	528
1966	D	(633)	(129)	(762)	1968	R	38	53	91
1970	R	(204)	(60)	(264)	1972	R	45	(52)	(7)
1974	R	(482)	(146)	(628)	1976	D	(21)	(1)	(22)
1978	D	(313)	(44)	(357)	1980	R	170	70	240
1982	R	(140)	(18)	(158)	1984	R	293	23	316
1986	R	(158)	10	(148)	1988	R	23	(15)	8
1990	R	(18)	(11)	(29)	1992	D	(88)	(62)	(150)
1994	D	(394)	(120)	(514)	1996	D	74	(21)	53

Average		(253)	(54)	(307)			107	11	117

Note: States with odd year elections are included in the succeeding even-numbered year.

For more information on Elections - contact Jennie Drage Bowser or Tim Storey elections-info@ncsl.org.