The 2026 elections in November will see more than 80% of the nation’s legislative seats and nearly 150 statewide ballot measures on the ballot. We sat down with two NCSL elections experts -- Katy Owens Hubler, director of NCSL’s Elections and Redistricting Program, and Helen Brewer, who tracks statewide ballot measures—to find out where things stand about a month before Election Day.
The 2026 elections will see 6,139 of the nation’s 7,386 legislative seats on the ballot. There will be 146 measures on the November ballot, and including measures voted on earlier in 2026 the total for the year is 165 measures. Voters also will cast ballots for governor in 36 states.
We sat down with two NCSL elections experts -- Katy Owens Hubler, director of NCSL’s Elections and Redistricting Program, and Helen Brewer, who tracks statewide ballot measures—to find out where things stand about a month before Election Day.
Hubler discussed how the election may affect governing trifectas, where one party controls both houses and the legislature and the governor’s mansion; how many states will still have divided legislative control after the voting; and where supermajorities might be won or lost.
Brewer noted that measures related to taxes, bonds and funding are the most numerous, including a number around housing. There also a notable number of measures related to education, and others on election administration, including the ballot measure process itself.
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ES: (00:12):
Hello and welcome to “Our American States,” a podcast from the National Conference of State Legislatures. I'm your host, Ed Smith.
KOH: (00:20):
So right now, we're sitting a few weeks before the election and it has been a pretty eventful election period in a wide variety of ways already. And who knows what the next few weeks will bring. So, I would say that my crystal ball is still kind of hazy.
ES: (00:35):
That was Katy Owens Hubler, director of NCSL's Elections and Redistricting Program. She's my guest on the podcast along with her colleague, Helen Brewer, who tracks statewide ballot measures for NCSL.
The 2026 election will see 6,139 of the nation's 7,386 legislative seats on the ballot. There'll be 146 measures on the November ballot and, including measures voted on earlier in 2026, the total for the year is 165 measures. Voters also will cast ballots for governor in 36 states.
Hubler discussed how the election may affect growing trifectas, where one party controls both houses of the legislature and the governor's mansion, how many states will have a divided legislative control after the voting, and where super majorities might be won or lost.
Brewer noted that measures related to taxes, bonds, and funding are the most numerous, including a number that deal with housing. There also are a notable number of measures related to education and others on election administration, including the ballot measure process itself.
ES: (01:50):
Here's our discussion starting with Katy Owens Hubler.
Katy, hi. Great to have you back on the podcast.
KOH: (01:58):
Hi Ed. Yeah, thanks for having me. Appreciate it.
ES: (02:02):
So, we're here to talk about state legislative elections and a little later in the podcast with your colleague, Helen Brewer, about statewide ballot measures, which are also fascinating to those of us who pay attention to these things. But to start, why don't you set the scene for us in terms of where things stand right now, legislatures controlled by Democrats, by Republicans, all that sort of thing. So, fill us in.
KOH: (02:28):
First of all, to set up this election that we're just a few weeks away from now coming up in November, this is a big one in terms of legislative seats and gubernatorial seats as well. So, we have 6,139 of the 7,386 legislative seats that are up this year. So, it's a total of 83% of the seats in the country. And that's 88 of the 99 chambers and governor's races in 36 states. So, quite a big election in terms of pure numbers and candidates on the ballot. Then at the moment, Republicans control more legislatures. They control more chambers and more legislatures as a whole. They have both chambers in 28 states, whereas Democrats control both chambers in 18 and three states are divided with Republicans controlling one chamber and Democrats the other. Breaking that down by chamber, Republicans control 58 and Democrats 39. And then there's one chamber that doesn't have a majority at the moment, that's the Minnesota House.
KOH: (03:27):
So, if you're doing some quick math, you'll notice that it adds up to 98 chambers. Nebraska, of course, is the 99th and it is unicameral and nonpartisan.
ES: (03:36):
Well, it looks like the Democrats have lots of open field to go for then. That's one way to look at it. You mentioned governors in there. I didn't realize three dozen governors up for election. How does that break down?
KOH: (03:51):
Yeah, so again, looking kind of at the state and the chambers, they are pretty skewed to the Republicans at the moment. When you bring the governor's mansions in, it's a little more evenly split. There are 26 Republican governors and 24 democratic governors. And so, then when you look at overall partisan control of the states, which is one party holding power over both the legislature and the governorship, sometimes those are referred to as a trifecta. We've got 23 states where Republicans hold sway, 16 where Democrats have a trifecta, and then 10 states that are divided. And again, we don't include Nebraska in this because it is nonpartisan. And I should also note that pure numbers of Democrats and Republicans in a state doesn't always tell the whole story. For example, we count the Alaska legislature as being controlled by Republicans, and that is true numerically, but there really is a governing coalition of Republicans, Democrats, and independents there.
ES: (04:41):
So anytime a national election comes along, there's lots of conversation about swing states, ones that can go either way, either party might be able to make progress. I wonder if you could talk about that topic and also with so many people expecting or some people anyhow expecting a blue wave this election, does that create more swing states, create a situation where more states are up for grabs at the state legislative level, of course?
KOH: (05:11):
At the state legislative level, there's a few different things that we kind of look at. So, one is just numerically, how closely divided are some of those chambers. And so, I can talk a little bit about those ones that we're looking at, but there's also a lot happening within states. The national picture doesn't always tell the whole story. These states that I'm kind of going to touch on, it's also because of things we just kind of know about what's happening within the states and state politics, some of the dynamics there. So, the one that's perhaps the most competitive right now is Minnesota, and that's because neither party has a majority in the House and Democrats control the Senate by one seat. And Minnesota has been one that we've watched over the last several election cycles as well, again, just because it has been pretty evenly split over the last several cycles.
KOH: (05:54):
And then there's two other states that are split with Democrats controlling one chamber and Republicans the other, and that's Michigan and Pennsylvania. So of course, those are two other states to keep a close eye on. And that's been true again over the last couple of cycles too. I did mention Alaska already and that's both chambers have Republicans in the numerical majority, but there's that governing coalition and the advantage is type. So, both chambers there are on the list to watch as well. And then the Maine house is currently controlled by Democrats. That margin is slim. There is a feeling that this may be a good year for Democrats. We can talk about that a little bit more later, but that one is one that is currently in the Democratic kind of column, but that's a slim margin there. And then states where both chambers are currently controlled by Republicans, but the numbers are pretty close and those are worth keeping an eye on, and that's Arizona, New Hampshire and Wisconsin.
ES: (06:46):
So, as anyone who pays even a little bit of attention to elections, they know midterm elections are different from presidential election years. And probably a lot of people know that when it comes to the federal Congress, the shift toward the party that is not in power in the White House is often fairly significant. So, talk about those historical trends and how does that play out for state legislatures?
KOH: (07:13):
Yeah, so that is true in the state legislatures as well, that the party of the president in midterm elections does tend to lose seats. So, the opposition party, if you will, the party that is not the president in power does tend to do pretty well. There are a couple of exceptions to that. In 2002, Republicans maintained seats, in fact gained some seats. That was right after 9/11 when George W. Bush was president. And so, Republicans did do well in that particular election. And then before that, you have to go all the way back to FDR and his first term as president during the Great Depression when Democrats won big as well. So, the historical trends during midterm years are pretty, they do point to the party of the president losing seats for the most part. So given that, and also the fact that there has been quite a bit of enthusiasm from the Democratic side, that's been true in primary elections this year, that's been true in special elections.
KOH: (08:07):
So, all of that does point to probably a good year for the Democratic Party in terms of legislative seats gained.
ES: (08:14):
Let me ask you about super majorities. This is something that probably some people aren't that familiar with, though probably most of the people in our audience are. And that has been a significant factor in recent years. Some states that have super majorities and also some states that are close. And wonder if you could talk a little bit about that and do we think that there's going to be some changes when we get past election day?
KOH: (08:40):
One way to look at this is sort of individual chambers and which of those have super majorities, but kind of at a higher level, what we often look at is where there's a super majority in both chambers that results in then a veto-proof majority because that affects then that interaction between the governor's office and the legislature, so where one party has sufficient numbers to override a veto. And of course, that's more important where you've got a governor of a different party than the legislature. So, at the moment there are eight states where Democrats have a veto-proof majority and 16 where Republicans have a veto-proof majority. And of those that the Republicans have a veto-proof majority, Kentucky and Kansas, are the only two with the governor of the opposite party. So, they have Democratic governors. And Kentucky's governor isn't up for election this year. They have odd year elections, so it's not a year that the governor is up.
KOH: (09:28):
The Kansas governor's race is up and that is a competitive one. That's one of the ones that we are kind of keeping an eye on. And at the moment it is leaning towards the Republican candidate. So, Kansas currently has a Democratic governor, but it's leaning a little more towards the Republican side. So that is kind of one veto-proof majority to look at. Another one of note is Nevada. So, there's currently a Republican governor and the legislature is Democratic. Democrats are actually pretty close to obtaining a veto-proof majority in the legislature, so in both chambers. So that may be one to watch as well if the governor's office stays with the Republicans or if maybe that shifts to the Democrats or if the Democrats in legislature get a veto-proof majority. And then another one to look at is North Carolina where the governor's a Democrat is not on the ballot this year and the Republicans are close to a veto-proof majority there.
ES: (10:19):
Split control, a situation where one chamber's held by one party, one's held by another party. I think when I started at NCSL almost 20 years ago, there were quite a few and I watched it dwindle over particularly the last several years to a pretty low point. Can you talk about that? Are we going to end up with no states with split control?
KOH: (10:42):
Yeah. So, there was a low point. We're at a little bit of an uptick from the lowest point though. So, throughout the 20th century, there were a lot more split legislatures. And then starting in about 2000, we did see parties consolidate control of their kind of respective legislatures, if you will. So, we saw fewer and fewer split legislatures. So, there was a low between. So, it was 2018, 2020 and 2022, there was only one split legislature. So that's kind of the low point that we've had. And we did bump back up in 2024, so we're now sitting at three. So that's not exactly as low as we have been. We're going up a little bit. So, I don't know. It's hard to say where that trend line is going. Is it kind of sneaking back up a little bit? I don't know. There's always a lot going on, especially in internal kind of state dynamics.
KOH: (11:31):
It's really kind of tough even a few weeks before the election to really know what's going on and what we're going to see in the tea leaves.
ES: (11:38):
Fair enough. We'll have this conversation after the election and see what your postmortem is on that. I wonder as we close up, what else do you want to share with people here a few weeks before the election? And feel free to make predictions because I'd be happy to talk with you about them after the election.
KOH: (11:59):
Well, I have a line that my crystal ball is hazy, and I think that's particular too. So right now, we're sitting a few weeks before the election and it has been a pretty eventful election period in a wide variety of ways already and who knows what the next few weeks will bring. So, I would say that my crystal ball is still kind of hazy. There is a lot of attention to elections this year. There has been a lot of enthusiasm for both sides of the aisle. So, my hope for the next few weeks is that early voting is actually already starting. Absentee and mailed ballots have already started. So, as we're going into the election, I hope that enthusiasm continues to be high and that we've got a good turnout midterm election year.
ES: (12:40):
Well, Katy, this is always one of my favorite podcasts every year. I just could talk about elections forever and I really treasure the opportunity to do it with someone as well informed as you are about it. So, thanks very much. Take care.
KOH: (12:53):
Yeah, thank you.
ES: (12:56):
I'll be right back after this short break with Helen Brewer.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
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ES: (14:21):
Helen, welcome back to the podcast. Great to see you again.
HB: (14:25):
Thanks for having me back.
ES: (14:27):
So, before we get into some of the specific issues on statewide ballot measures this year, maybe you could give us an overall look at the situation, like how many ballot measures will voters be seeing this year?
HB: (14:38):
So, in total, in 2026, there will be 165 measures appearing on the ballot in 40 states and one measure in the Northern Marianas Islands. 146 of these measures will be on the November ballot. The others have been voted on already in primaries or special elections throughout the year. So, within this bucket of 165 total measures, there are 108 legislative referrals, which are measures that are referred to the ballot by the legislature, and there are 51 citizen initiatives, which are measures that citizens and organization, a group of people typically collects a bunch of petition signatures for and gets on the ballot themselves. And then you might notice that those two numbers don't add up to 165. There's a small handful of a few other types of ballot measures, but as usual, as we always see, most of the measures are legislative referrals and citizens initiatives. And then I will just take a second to point out the states with the most measures on the ballot in November's election.
HB: (15:47):
California and Colorado are tied at the top with 14 ballot measures in each state with Louisiana not too far behind with 10 measures. These numbers are pretty typical for California and Louisiana, and Colorado is also a state that often sees lots of ballot measures. So those three states are up there in numbers again this year.
ES: (16:09):
How does this compare to previous years? Is this a high point, low point, kind of the average?
HB: (16:13):
This year is kind of interesting to look at. If we look at elections, the general elections in even numbered years, stretching back a decade, so back to 2016, 2016 and 2018 had some really high numbers of ballot measures, and then that number dipped pretty far down in 2020 and since then has been climbing back up. And of course, as the years go on, we can see more and more about trends. And this year in 2026, the total number of ballot measures is creeping back closer to 2016 and 2018, increasing over 2024 and 22. And then within that trend, there is an interesting shift in the proportion of legislatively referred measures as it relates to citizen initiatives. This year there are by far more legislative referrals in proportion to citizens initiatives, and we've seen that trend increasing from 2022 through 24 and into this year. That's a little bit different than 2016 and 2018 when we saw high numbers of ballot measures, but not such a large split between how many legislative referrals and how many citizens initiatives there are.
HB: (17:25):
So, it will be interesting to see if this is indeed some kind of a trend as we go through the next four years and a couple more of the big general elections.
ES: (17:35):
So, what are the hot topics? You mentioned a couple things. What do you think when you look at the ballot measures this year? What strikes you as something that seems to be more popular maybe this year than you've seen in past years?
HB: (17:46):
Sure. I'll give you four topics that are pretty hot on this year's ballot. As always, taxes, bonds, and budgets are by far the most common topic on this year's ballot measures. There are 50 ballot questions on those topics this year. Another topic I'll point out that is certainly of interest for us at NCSL on the ballot are measures related to state legislatures and the state government. There are 16 of these measures on the ballot this year, so a lot less than taxes, but every category is a lot less than taxes. So, this is still a pretty common category this year. A couple of these have to do with legislative term limits, some have to do with legislative salaries, and a few have to do with the governor's veto authority. How far does that extend? How much and under what circumstances can a governor veto a law the legislature passes?
HB: (18:37):
Another hot topic that is definitely a continuing trend from the last few years is elections, including campaign finance redistricting and measures related to the ballot measure process itself. Again, if we look back over the last 10 years of even numbered elections, so back to 2016 and even before, the number of measures on the ballot each year having to do with elections has increased pretty significantly, and this year has reached a new high even over 2024, which itself had reached a new high. There are 39 election related measures on the ballot this year across many different states compared to 33 in 2024. The last topic that has caught my attention in tracking ballot measures this year is education, both K through 12 and higher education. There are 19 education related measures on this year's ballot across the states, which is pretty close to the peak of education related measures we've seen in the last 10 years, which was 21 measures in 2018.
HB: (19:42):
After that, education related measures took a really sharp downturn until this year when it's ballooned. So, this has been an interesting change to see ballot measures related to bonds or other spending on education are pretty common, but this year there's a handful of measures related to school sports and some of the day-to-day classroom routine, what's included in that kind of thing, like the pledge of allegiance, so on and so forth. So, education measures have made kind of a comeback for the topic on this year's ballot.
ES: (20:15):
So, you mentioned taxes and budget always the most popular item for statewide ballot measures. Any particular reason why we're seeing so much of this year? 50 is, it seems like a lot.
HB: (20:28):
Yes, it is a lot. And while, like I said, this is always the most common ballot measure topic, 50 measures on the topic is high this year, even compared to what we've seen in recent even numbered election years. So as always, I can't know exactly what legislators have in mind or what groups of citizens have in mind when they propose initiatives or propose ballot measures, but I think that this trend this year and this high number of tax and budget related ballot measures seems reflective of what's going on broadly when it comes to the economy and the cost of living. As I'm sure we all know, the economy is of course on voters and lawmakers' minds, especially with international events abroad seeming to affect the cost of living up and down from day to day very recently, but in addition, of course, to much longer term in the last year or so, fluctuations of all sorts, focus on inflation, those types of issues.
HB: (21:27):
I also think the cost of living, we've seen that a hot topic in general in news coverage, I think in political discourse. Anytime you go online, you see something about the cost of living, specifically when it comes to housing affordability. I think we can see that reflected in this year's measures on taxes and budgetary matters. There are a few states that have measures specifically related to affordable housing or mortgage assistant programs, and we haven't seen too many housing specific measures in recent years. There's still only a few this year, but I thought that was noteworthy because of the focus that we're seeing just in day-to-day life on these issues. And then lastly, of course, there have been significant fluctuations and changes and reductions to federal funding that has historically been available to states, including for really large programs like Medicaid, SNAP, and so on. So, this, of course, requires state legislators to take close looks at their budgets, decide where to raise money, to fill in gaps, where to cut things all together, how to restructure spending, and all while keeping an eye on their rainy day funds or similar state funds.
HB: (22:40):
I think we see all those things from tax cuts in general, to the cost of living, to state budgets reflected on the ballot this year as those topics are so roiled in day-to-day life.
ES: (22:54):
Let me ask you about those measures related to elections, and particularly the measures also affecting the ballot measure process itself. It sounds like those have really grown over the last few election cycles. Go into a little more detail about what you're seeing, maybe some of the ones you find most interesting, whether it's trying to cut back on the flexibility people have to introduce these measures from the public. What else is going on there?
HB: (23:22):
When it comes to ballot measures related to ballot measures, so ballot measures, proposing laws that will govern the initiative and referendum process moving forward, we have a couple of states this year, North Dakota and South Dakota, that will have measures on the ballot seeking to raise the passage threshold or the voter approval threshold for constitutional amendments. So, both North Dakota and South Dakota have measures that would require 60% voter approval to pass a constitutional amendment instead of the typical simple majority we're used to seeing in elections. And then earlier this year, Missouri voters rejected a ballot measure that would have required not only statewide majority approval of a constitutional amendment, but also a majority of voters in each congressional district within the state to vote to approve a ballot measure. This would have been the only law of its kind on the books, and we will not be seeing how that plays out because voters did reject that measure, but that was also part of this trend this year.
HB: (24:24):
We see measures seeking to raise the passage threshold for constitutional amendments fairly often. Right now, only Colorado and Florida have those laws on the books. Both of those adopted, I believe, via ballot measure themselves. So, in Colorado, 55% of voters have to approve a constitutional amendment for it to become law, and Florida has a 60% threshold. So, like I said, while those two states have passed higher thresholds via ballot measure in the past, a lot of other similar measures in recent years in various other states have failed multiple times. Missouri's measure failed earlier this year, so it will be interesting to see how voters in the Dakotas decide in November. The other side of the ballot measures related to ballot measures that we're seeing this year are a few measures about the legislature's authority over the initiative and referendum process. Both Missouri and Montana have ballot measures that would establish a fundamental right to initiative is how they phrase it in the state constitution.
HB: (25:30):
Missouri's measure goes on into a lot of additional details that would restrict the legislature's ability to change or amend a law that was recently adopted via ballot measure, restrict the legislature's ability to change laws related to petition signature collecting or petition circulation for ballot measures. And Montana's measure is that is a bit of a more general phrasing of a fundamental right to initiative and referendum. So, these two will also be interesting to watch. I think it's fair to say voters in states with the Citizens Initiative often feel fairly possessive of their right to the initiative. And we do sometimes see frustration, which can lead to protracted legal battles or just policymaking battles when legislatures do look to amend a law passed via ballot measure really soon after it's adopted. But again, we do sometimes see voters decide to add requirements like the higher passage thresholds in Colorado and Florida.
HB: (26:32):
So, we will see how voters are feeling about their initiative process in these states this November.
ES: (26:41):
Yeah. Living here in Colorado, it's hard to miss some of the many stories about battles over ballot measures over the years. And you're right, I think people feel a great deal of possessiveness about their ability or at least the option to try to get a measure onto the ballot. Really interesting stuff, Helen. Kind of tell us what else, just from your unique perspective of somebody who really pays attention to these all over the country, what else do you see that's interesting, surprising, or I don't know, just kind of fascinating on this year's measure as we close up here?
HB: (27:15):
As people are probably aware, we are over a year out from the beginning of the mid-decade redistricting saga that started in the summer of 2025, and redistricting remains a hot topic, and it will be on the ballot in three states in November. Earlier in 2026, Virginia voters adopted new maps via ballot measure by a fairly narrow margin, although the state Supreme Court ultimately struck those maps down. And then looking ahead to November, Colorado, Maryland, and Missouri will each have redistricting related measures on the ballot. In Colorado, there would be a measure that would require, among other things, public hearings and redistricting commission approval of any mid-decade changes to district maps. And then Maryland will have a measure that would clarify or change some language in the state laws to apply certain redistricting criteria to state legislative districts, but not to congressional districts and make a few other kinds of procedural changes.
HB: (28:23):
The broadly accepted and fairly explicit understanding of this measure is that although it does not itself propose new maps, it is understood to clear the way or set the table for 2027 redistricting of the congressional map in Maryland. The Maryland legislature considered new congressional maps earlier this year, but rejected the effort and again, looks likely to take it back up in 2027, especially if this measure passes. And then in Missouri, there will be a popular referendum on the ballot, which is one of the two other types of measures I mentioned earlier, one of the few other types of measures I mentioned. The referendum on Missouri's ballot will ask voters if they want to repeal the congressional maps that their legislature adopted in 2025. There has been a long litigation battle over this ballot measure over the maps and over what maps are even in effect for the congressional elections in November in Missouri right now, whether it's those new 2025 maps or whether it's their original 2022 maps while the referendum is awaiting its verdict from voters.
HB: (29:35):
As of recording right now, this question is with the United States Supreme Court. I think there were briefings due literally two hours ago from when we're recording on September 23rd. So, to be determined what maps are in effect, the measure will be on the ballot and by the time this is out and someone's listening to it, there will be more answers. So, these redistricting measures are obviously an ongoing piece of what has been a really hot political topic for the last year or so. And it will be interesting to see what voters decide. California, back in the winter of 2025, passed new maps with a huge and unexpectedly huge margin of voter approval. Virginia voters also passed new maps earlier this year, but by a much narrower margin. And I think what happens with these measures in Colorado, Maryland, and Missouri will be driven at least in part by voter energy and turnout, voter frustration, whether they're either frustrated with what they see as maybe unfair redistricting elsewhere and how do they want their state to react, or frustration with the attention on redistricting in general, they might want their state to get out of the fight.
HB: (30:51):
And also depending on how voters are focusing on Congress, these issues are playing out for the state legislatures and on the state ballot, but it's about the congressional districts. And, of course, there are plenty of campaigns focusing on those issues since we will also have congressional elections this fall. So, it will be very interesting to see where voter opinion is on redistricting at this moment.
ES: (31:17):
I guess if you thought the redistricting drama was over, you ain't seen nothing yet from what you've just told us. So that will be a great storyline to watch in 2027. And Helen, thank you so much. I really appreciate you taking the time to run this down for us. Take care.
HB: (31:33):
Thank you. You too.
ES: (31:38):
I've been talking with Katy Owens Hubler and Helen Brewer of NCSL about the upcoming election for state legislative seats and statewide ballot measures. Thanks for listening.
Search for NCSL podcasts wherever you get your podcasts. This podcast, Our American States, dives into some of the most challenging public policy issues facing legislators. Also, check out our special series, Building Democracy on the history of legislatures.