What to know about state legislative seats that changed party control in 2024

Bob LoCicero // Shutterstock In the Nov. 5, 2024, elections, Republicans gained 55 state legislative seats, Democrats lost 54, and Independents and minor party officeholders lost one, Ballotpedia reports. That means the overall partisan composition across all 50 state legislatures changed by 0.7% in favor of Republicans. In 2022, the partisan composition changed 0.4% toward Republicans, with Democrats losing four seats, Republicans gaining 27 seats, and Independents and minor party officeholders losing 20 seats. Both 2024 and 2022 produced a smaller shift than the 2020 elections, when Republicans gained 141 seats, Democrats lost 133, and Independents and minor party officeholders lost eight. Here are the states where each party saw their largest gains in 2024: Republicans lost veto-proof supermajority in Montana Ballotpedia Democrats saw their largest gains in Wisconsin, Montana, Ohio, Connecticut, and Oregon. Notably, while Montana Republicans did maintain majorities in both legislative chambers, they lost their veto-proof supermajority. That means Montana Republicans can no longer override gubernatorial vetoes without the votes of at least some Democratic legislators. Democrats gained that ability in Connecticut, where they won five seats. Republicans saw their largest gains in Vermont, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Maine, and Arizona. Republicans gained 24 seats in Vermont, or 13.3% of the legislature, their most from any state in 2024. This is after the 2022 elections where Democrats gained 17 seats in Vermont (9.4%), their most from any state that year. In 2024, Vermont Democrats maintained majorities in both chambers but lost their veto-proof supermajority. There were also 18 states in 2024 where one party gained seats in both state legislative chambers–six for Democrats and 12 for Republicans. The map below shows those states by party. Republicans gained seats in 20 states, Democrats gained in 13 Ballotpedia Across all 44 states that held legislative elections in 2024, Democrats gained seats in 13 states and lost seats in 21, Republicans gained seats in 20 states and lost seats in 14, and Independents and minor party officeholders gained seats in two states and lost seats in one. In 2022, Democrats gained seats in 16 states and lost seats in 19 states, Republicans gained seats in 21 states and lost seats in 18, and Independents and minor party officeholders gained seats in two states and lost seats in 11. Composition of state legislatures before and after the 2024 elections Ballotpedia The table above shows all 50 state legislative compositions before and after the 2024 elections. This story was produced by Ballotpedia and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.