November 9, 2005
State Political Landscape Remains Unchanged After Off-Year Elections
Initiatives and referenda mostly suffer defeat
DENVER - The partisan composition of state government remains virtually unchanged after the 2005 off-year elections. Voters in New Jersey and Virginia opted to stay with Democratic governors and left control of legislative chambers to the parties that held them before the election.
"The big picture really remains the same," said NCSL election analyst Tim Storey. "Sure, you could try to read into the election and find a larger meaning but the fact of the matter is that the political landscape is no different than it was on Monday."
Based on unofficial returns, Democrats appear to have picked up one seat in the New Jersey Assembly and two seats in the Virginia House of Delegates.
Republicans continue to control 20 state legislatures and Democrats 19. Ten states have split control. Control of the nation's governors mansions remains the same - 28 Republicans, 22 Democrats. Democrat gains on Tuesday do give them the symbolic advantage of having more state legislative seats than their GOP counterparts by a five seat margin out of a total 7,382 state legislative seats.
Meanwhile, voters in eight states were not particularly enamored by the initiatives and referenda on the ballot. A mere 11 percent of questions on the ballot received the approval of voters compared to an average 51 percent rate of approval over the past five years.
Most significantly, California and Ohio voters soundly rejected efforts to strip legislatures of their power to draw Congressional district maps. In both states, voters decided by wide margins that they preferred redistricting be done by accountable elected officials rather than a small number of non-elected commissioners.
"Election Day 2005 was not a good day to be an initiative," said Jennie Drage Bowser, NCSL's expert on initiatives and referenda. "Facing an unusually high number of odd-year citizen-initiated measures, it's quite possible that voters just threw up their hands and said 'Enough already!'"
Perhaps the biggest surprise among the initiative and referendum results was the failure of Washington voters to repeal a gas tax increase. With record-high gas prices, many pundits predicted Washington voters would favor their pocketbooks over transportation projects.
Among the measures that passed was a controversial question that would temporarily suspend Colorado's restrictive spending limits. The measure would also allow the state to forego for five years returning any surplus revenues to taxpayers in the form of a refund.
Voters in New Jersey also enacted a constitutional amendment creating the office of lieutenant governor after having several governors in recent history leave office prior to the completion of their term. The lieutenant governor will run on a ticket with the gubernatorial candidates and will first be elected in 2009.
For complete initiative and referendum results, visit NCSL's fully searchable Initiative and Referendum Database.
NCSL is the bipartisan organization that serves the legislators and staffs of the states, commonwealths and territories. It provides research, technical assistance and opportunities for policymakers to exchange ideas on the most pressing state issues and is an effective and respected advocate for the interests of the states in the American federal system.
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