1998 United States state legislative elections

November 3, 1998

86 legislative chambers in 46 states

	Majority party	Minority party	Third party

Party	Democratic	Republican	Coalition
Last election	50	47	1
Chambers before	48	49^[a]	1
Chambers after	50	46^[b]	1
Overall change	2	3

Map of upper house elections:
     Democrats gained control      Democrats retained control
     Republicans gained control      Republicans retained control
     Coalition retained control
     No regularly-scheduled elections

Map of lower house elections:
     Democrats gained control      Democrats retained control
     Republicans gained control      Republicans retained control
     Split body formed
     No regularly-scheduled elections

The 1998 United States state legislative elections were held on November 3, 1998, alongside other elections. Elections were held for 86 legislative chambers in 46 states.

Despite hopes of winning a majority of state legislatures for the first time since 1954 after a decade of steady gains, Republicans only flipped two chambers in the Midwest while losing control of six. Democrats flipped five of those, while the Washington House of Representatives becoming tied.^[1]^[2] Republicans had also forced a tie in the Virginia House of Delegates and gained control of the Virginia Senate early in the year in special elections.^[3]

Notes

↑ Republicans took control of the Virginia Senate and Wisconsin Senate, as forcing a tie in the Virginia House of Delegates, early in the year through special elections.
↑ The Washington House of Representatives became controlled by a power-sharing agreement between Democrats and Republicans.

References

↑ Jr, B. Drummond Ayres (November 5, 1998). "THE 1998 ELECTIONS: THE STATES -- STATEHOUSES; Small Strides for Democrats Could Be Big After Census". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 27, 2015. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
↑ Oldham, Kit (July 20, 2009). "Clyde Ballard and Frank Chopp are elected co-Speakers of the state Ho". www.historylink.org. Retrieved June 18, 2026.
↑ Southern Politics in the 1990s. LSU Press. ISBN 978-0-8071-4181-6.

(1997 ←) 1998 United States elections (→ 1999)
U.S. Senate	Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maryland Missouri Nevada New Hampshire New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania South Carolina South Dakota Utah Vermont Washington Wisconsin
U.S. House	Alabama Alaska Arkansas Arizona California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
Governors	Alabama Lt. Gov Alaska Arizona Arkansas Lt. Gov California Lt. Gov Colorado Connecticut District of Columbia Florida Georgia Lt. Gov Hawaii Idaho Illinois Iowa Kansas Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Mexico New York Ohio Oklahoma Lt. Gov Oregon Pennsylvania Lt. Gov Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Lt. Gov Vermont Wisconsin Wyoming
Attorneys General	Alabama Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Florida Maryland Michigan Minnesota New York Ohio Rhode Island Texas
State legislatures	Arizona House Senate California Assembly Senate Delaware Senate Iowa Senate Maryland House Senate Minnesota House North Carolina House Senate Pennsylvania House Senate Texas House Senate West Virginia Senate Wyoming Senate
State officials	California Secretary of State Connecticut Secretary of State Michigan Secretary of State Minnesota Secretary of State New York Comptroller
Mayors	Long Beach, CA Louisville, KY New Orleans, LA Oakland, CA Providence, RI San Jose, CA Sioux Falls, SD Washington, DC
Local	Jefferson County, KY Judge/Executive Orange County, FL Chairman St. Charles County, MO Executive St. Louis County, MO Executive
States generally	Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
Ballot measures	South Carolina Amendment 4

Legislatures of the United States
United States Congress	United States House of Representatives United States Senate
State legislatures	Alabama (H, S) Alaska (H, S) Arizona (H, S) Arkansas (H, S) California (A, S) Colorado (H, S) Connecticut (H, S) Delaware (H, S) Florida (H, S) Georgia (H, S) Hawaii (H, S) Idaho (H, S) Illinois (H, S) Indiana (H, S) Iowa (H, S) Kansas (H, S) Kentucky (H, S) Louisiana (H, S) Maine (H, S) Maryland (H, S) Massachusetts (H, S) Michigan (H, S) Minnesota (H, S) Mississippi (H, S) Missouri (H, S) Montana (H, S) Nebraska Nevada (A, S) New Hampshire (H, S) New Jersey (GA, S) New Mexico (H, S) New York (A, S) North Carolina (H, S) North Dakota (H, S) Ohio (H, S) Oklahoma (H, S) Oregon (H, S) Pennsylvania (H, S) Rhode Island (H, S) South Carolina (H, S) South Dakota (H, S) Tennessee (H, S) Texas (H, S) Utah (H, S) Vermont (H, S) Virginia (H, S) Washington (H, S) West Virginia (H, S) Wisconsin (A, S) Wyoming (H, S)
Other legislatures	District of Columbia American Samoa (H, S) Guam Northern Mariana Islands (H, S) Puerto Rico (H, S) U.S. Virgin Islands
Legislative elections	1961 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
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