The 2014 Election: A Summary

The story of the 2014 election is very simple. At each elected level of the Federal and State governments...with the exception of the White House, which was not on the ballot...the Republicans won handily, increasing their margin of control. Turnout (on a percentage basis) was the worst it has been since the 1942 national election.

A Summary: Cook Political Report

Votes Received as of 11/14/14

Republicans: 39,582,779 (51.77%)
Democrats: 34,720,906 (45.41%)
Others: 2,149,804 (2.8%)

Republicans:

• 8 U.S. Senate seats (1 Senate race still undecided)
• 13 U.S. House seats (Assumes results of 5 house races that are still undecided
• 2 Governors
• 292 state legislators
• 5 state assemblies
• 6 state senates
• 3 additional states in which they control both legislative bodies
• 0 additional states in which they control governorship and both picked up: Net gains legislative bodies

U.S. Senate

Republicans picked up 8 Senate seats. One seat remains undecided, Louisiana.*

• Before the election – 53 Democrats, 45 Republicans, 2 Independents*
• After the election – 44 Democrats, 53 Republicans, 2 Independents* (Based on pre-election 2 way polling, Cassidy leads Landrieu)
• 4 Democratic senators who stood for re-election lost
• 0 Republican senators who stood for re-election lost
• 5 the number of open seats

*There were 3 special elections in 2014, due to Hawaii Senator Inouye’s death, Oklahoma Senator Coburn’s retirement, and South Carolina Senator DeMint’s resignation.

U.S. House

Republicans picked up 13 House seats

• Before the election – 201 Democrats, 234 Republicans
• After the election – 188 Democrats, 244 Republicans (3 races undecided)
• 3 races are still undecided: AZ 2nd (recount will start Dec. 1), CA 7th, and CA 16th
• [If Republicans reach the 247 member mark, this will be the largest number of Republicans in the House since 1931. At 246 members it is the largest number since 1947]

Of the Democratic House seats that flipped:

• 3 were in states won by Mitt Romney in 2012
• 11 Democratic House members who stood for re-election lost
• 3 Republican House members who stood for re-election lost

Using “The Cook Political Report’s” Partisan Voting Index (PVI) as the comparison device, 8 of the seats lost by the Democrats had a Republican PVI; 2 were rated as even; and 5 were rated Democratic. Of the 3 Republican-held seats that flipped, 1 had a Democratic PVI.

Governors

Republicans picked up 2 (net) Governorships

An independent picked up 1 Governorship (AK)

• Before the election – 21 Democrats, 29 Republicans
• After the election – 17 Democrats, 31 Republicans, 1 Independent

*1 race still undecided – Vermont (probably will remain Democratic, but since no candidate won over 50% of the vote, and the Republican candidate did not concede, the decision goes to the State General Assembly, which will decided the election in a secret ballot in January 2015)

State Legislatures

(Nebraska legislature is unicameral and non-partisan and therefore is not included below)

Republicans picked up 292 State legislators

• Before the election – 3,418 Democrats, 3,820 Republicans, 145 other
• After the election – 3,164 Democrats, 4,112 Republicans, 80 other

[Note: 29 races undecided]

Republicans picked up control of 5 State Houses

• Before the election – 21 under Democratic control – 28 under Republican control
• After the election – 16 under Democratic control – 33 under Republican control

Republicans picked up control of 6 State Senates

• Before the election– 20 under Democratic control – 29 under Republican control
• After the election – 14 under Democratic control – 35 under Republican control

Republicans picked up control of 11 legislative bodies (out of a total 99)

• Before the election – 41 under Democratic control – 57 under Republican control
• After the election – 30 under Democratic control – 68 under Republican control

Republicans picked up control of both Houses of a State legislature in 3 additional States

Before the election

• Democrats controlled 19 state legislatures
• Republicans controlled 27 state legislatures
• Split 3 state legislatures

After the election

• Democrats control 11 state legislatures
• Republicans control 30 state legislatures
• Split 8 state legislatures

The number of States in which Republicans control both houses of a State Legislature and the Governorship did not increase. However, the number of States in which Democrats control both houses and the Governorship, dropped.

Before the election

• Democrats controlled the legislature and Governor in 15 States
• Republicans controlled the legislature and Governor in 23 States
• 11 states were split

After the election

• Democrats control the legislature and Governor in 7 States
• Republicans control the legislature and Governor in 23 States
• 18 States are split

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