The 2011 United States elections were held (for the most part) on Tuesday, November 8. This was an off-year election, in which the only seats up for election in the United States Congress were special elections. There were also four gubernatorial races, including a special election in West Virginia. There were also state legislative elections in four states and judicial elections in three states; as well as numerous citizen initiatives, mayoral races, and a variety of other local offices on the ballot.
Federal elections.
Congressional elections.
No regularly scheduled elections for the United States Congress occurred in 2011, and instead only four special elections were held. Eventually, there was no net seat changes by the political parties.
In addition, a primary election was held in Oregon's 1st congressional district on November 8, for the seat left open after the resignation of David Wu; the special election for this seat then occurred on January 31, 2012. Democrat Suzanne Bonamici was elected on that date to replace Wu.
State elections.
Gubernatorial elections.
There were three regularly scheduled elections and one special election for governorships in 2011. None of these four changed party hands.
Other statewide elections.
In the first three of the aforementioned states, elections for state executive branch offices of Lieutenant Governor (in a separate election in Louisiana and Mississippi and on the same ticket as the gubernatorial nominee in Kentucky), Secretary of state, state Treasurer, state Auditor, state Attorney General, and Commissioners of Insurance and Agriculture were held. In addition, there were elections for Kentucky and Mississippi's state appellate courts, respectively.
State and territorial legislative elections.
Four states – Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey and Virginia – and one U.S. territory, the Northern Mariana Islands, elected their state or territorial legislators in 2011.
These were the first elections to be affected by redistricting after the 2010 census. Additionally, the first wave of recall elections occurred in Wisconsin, while Republicans lost seats, they maintained a narrow majority. A second wave would occur in 2012.
Republicans flipped control of the Virginia Senate, thereby establishing a trifecta. In Mississippi, Republicans won the state House for the first time since 1876, and solidified control of the state Senate after several Democrats switched parties earlier in the year, giving Republicans control of the chamber. Republicans obtained a trifecta in the state for the first time since 1876 as a result. In Louisiana, Republicans solidified control of both houses of the legislature after several Democrats switched parties at the beginning of the year, which gave Republicans control of both chambers and a trifecta for the first time since 1873.
Initiatives and referendums.
Nine states, Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, New Jersey, Ohio, Texas, and Washington state, had measures certified for the 2011 ballot. Among those that attracted the most attention were an Ohio referendum that repealed legislation that limits collective bargaining for public employees, and a failed constitutional amendment in Mississippi that would have defined "personhood" as beginning at the fertilization of an embryo.
Judicial elections.
Four states, Louisiana, New York, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, had judicial elections in 2011. Additional states such as Arizona, Nevada and Ohio had municipal judicial elections in 2011.
Municipal elections.
Nationwide, various cities, counties, school boards, special districts and others elected officers in 2011. Some were held on November 8 while others were held at other times throughout the year.
Some of the high-profile mayoral elections included the following:
Tables of partisan control results.
These tables show the partisan results of the Congressional special elections and gubernatorial races in 2011. Bold indicates a change in control.
References.
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