Primary election competitiveness in state and federal government, 2022

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Last updated on August 5, 2025

2022 State Legislative Competitiveness
2024 » « 2020
2022 State legislative competitiveness
Term limits • Open seats • Contested primaries • Incumbents in contested primaries • Major party competition • Incumbents defeated Primary statistics
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2022 Elections
2022 Election Analysis Hub • State legislative • Battleground chambers • U.S. Senate • U.S. House • State executive officials
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Ballotpedia's 2022 state primary election competitiveness data analyzes all state legislative, state executive, and congressional elections that took place in 2022. This analysis provides an understanding of how competitive the year's primary elections were using metrics including the number of incumbents who did not seek re-election, the total number of contested primaries, and the number of incumbents with primary challengers. Historical comparisons are also provided for context.

Ballotpedia has published comprehensive competitiveness data from each election cycle since 2010. In 2022, this includes data from state legislative, state executive, and congressional filings.

HIGHLIGHTS

An average of 2.4 candidates filed per seat, the second-highest rate compared to the four preceding election cycles behind 2018.

Of the 7,021 seats and offices up for election, 23.5% were open. This was the largest percentage of open seats compared to the four preceding election cycles, none of which had an open seat rate higher than 20%.

Of all possible primaries, 24.3% were contested, the highest rate compared to the four preceding election cycles.

Of the 5,454 incumbents who filed for re-election, 30.2% faced contested primaries, the highest rate compared to the four preceding election cycles, none of which had a rate higher than 30%.

On this page you will find:

• Aggregate primary competitiveness data, including historical comparisons with even-year election cycles since 2014. Click here to view the most recent odd-year analysis.
• Primary competitiveness by office type

Overview

The following statistics are an aggregate of primary election competitiveness data across all states with completed filing deadlines unless otherwise noted. Corresponding data from 2020, 2018, 2016, and 2014 are provided for comparative purposes. For state-specific competitiveness data in 2022, click here.

The table below shows aggregate primary competitiveness and incumbency statistics by office in 2022. You may need to move the table horizontally using the scrollbar at the bottom of the table depending on your screen size.

2022 aggregate primary competitiveness data
Office	Districts/ offices	Seats	Open seats	Candidates	Possible primaries	Contested Democratic primaries	Contested Republican primaries	Contested top-two primaries	% of contested primaries	Incumbents in contested primaries	% of incumbents in contested primaries
U.S. Senate	34	34	6	335	64	23	26	4	82.8%	21	75.0%
U.S. House	435	435	60	2,138	795	165	230	67	58.1%	228	59.8%
State executive	271	274	89	1,167	516	91	137	27	49.4%	97	50.3%
State legislature	5,862	6,278	1,492	13,443	11,419	821	1,387	126	20.4%	1,299	26.8%
Totals	6,602	7,021	1,647	17,083	12,794	1,100	1,780	224	24.3%	1,645	30.2%

2020

Click [show] on the table below to view aggregate primary competitiveness data from 2020.

2020 aggregate primary competitiveness data
Office	Districts/ offices	Seats	Open seats	Candidates	Possible primaries	Contested Democratic primaries	Contested Republican primaries	Contested top-two primaries	% of contested primaries	Incumbents in contested primaries	% of incumbents in contested primaries
U.S. Senate	33	33	4	242	65	22	22	1	69.2%	15	53.6%
U.S. House	435	435	41	2,052	794	198	200	63	58.1%	198	50.3%
State executives	144	144	49	510	256	36	43	21	39.1%	35	36.5%
State legislature	5,497	5,875	876	12,353	10,746	836	882	109	17.0%	1,006	20.1%
Totals	6,109	6,487	970	15,157	11,861	1,092	1,147	194	20.5%	1,254	22.7%

2018

Click [show] on the table below to view aggregate primary competitiveness data from 2018.

2018 aggregate primary competitiveness data
Office	Districts/ offices	Seats	Open seats	Candidates	Possible primaries	Contested Democratic primaries	Contested Republican primaries	Contested top-two primaries	% of contested primaries	Incumbents in contested primaries	% of incumbents in contested primaries
U.S. Senate	33	33	3	249	64	14	29	2	70.3%	15	50.0%
U.S. House	435	435	60	2,015	796	241	170	55	58.5%	190	50.8%
State executives	264	264	100	1,029	490	96	106	21	45.5%	67	40.4%
State legislature	5,612	6,065	1,194	13,297	10,977	1,005	1,011	107	19.3%	1,082	22.2%
Totals	6,344	6,797	1,357	16,590	12,327	1,356	1,316	185	23.2%	1,354	24.9%

2016

Click [show] on the table below to view aggregate primary competitiveness data from 2016.

2016 aggregate primary competitiveness data
Office	Districts/ offices	Seats	Open seats	Candidates	Possible primaries	Contested Democratic primaries	Contested Republican primaries	Contested top-two primaries	% of contested primaries	Incumbents in contested primaries	% of incumbents in contested primaries
U.S. Senate	36	36	5	266	69	20	22	3	65.2%	18	58.1%
U.S. House	435	435	45	1,588	799	133	170	55	44.8%	196	50.4%
State executives	91	91	42	300	170	28	29	9	38.8%	20	39.2%
State legislature	5,538	5,916	1,032	11,918	10,827	752	940	108	16.6%	985	20.2%
Totals	6,100	6,478	1,124	14,072	11,865	933	1,161	175	19.1%	1,219	22.8%

2014

Click [show] on the table below to view aggregate primary competitiveness data from 2014.

2014 aggregate primary competitiveness data
Office	Districts/ offices	Seats	Open seats	Candidates	Possible primaries	Contested Democratic primaries	Contested Republican primaries	Contested top-two primaries	% of contested primaries	Incumbents in contested primaries	% of incumbents in contested primaries
U.S. Senate	31	31	6	191	61	15	23	1	63.9%	14	56.0%
U.S. House	435	435	43	1,471	799	119	161	53	41.7%	167	42.6%
State executives	211	211	68	728	413	71	79	8	38.3%	51	36.4%
State legislature	5,598	6,051	1,019	12,046	10,949	646	958	94	15.5%	983	19.5%
Totals	6,275	6,728	1,136	14,436	12,222	851	1,221	156	18.2%	1,215	21.7%

Breakdown by office

The tables below show primary competitiveness statistics overall and broken down by office type. Figures are shown as percentages with overall figures shown first. Click [show] on the bars beneath the table to view statistics by office type.

Comparison of overall primary competitiveness percentages, 2010-2022
	2010	2012	2014	2016	2018	2020	2022	Average
Open seats (%)	18.7%	21.9%	16.9%	17.4%	20.0%	15.0%	23.5%	19.0%
Total primaries (%)	18.3%	18.5%	18.2%	19.1%	23.2%	20.5%	24.3%	20.3%
Inc. in contested primaries (%)	20.0%	23.3%	21.7%	22.8%	24.9%	22.7%	30.2%	23.6%

U.S. Senate
	2010	2012	2014	2016	2018	2020	2022	Average
Open seats (%)	-	-	19.4%	13.9%	9.1%	12.1%	17.6%	14.4%
Total primaries (%)	-	-	63.9%	65.2%	70.3%	69.2%	82.8%	67.9%
Inc. in contested primaries (%)	-	-	56.0%	58.1%	50.0%	53.6%	75.0%	58.5%

U.S. House
	2010	2012	2014	2016	2018	2020	2022	Average
Open seats (%)	-	-	9.9%	10.3%	13.8%	9.4%	13.8%	11.4%
Total primaries (%)	-	-	41.7%	44.8%	58.5%	58.1%	58.1%	52.2%
Inc. in contested primaries (%)	-	-	42.6%	50.4%	50.8%	50.3%	59.8%	50.8%

State executive
	2010	2012	2014	2016	2018	2020	2022	Average
Open seats (%)	-	-	32.2%	46.2%	37.9%	34.0%	32.5%	36.6%
Total primaries (%)	-	-	38.3%	38.8%	45.5%	39.1%	49.4%	42.2%
Inc. in contested primaries (%)	-	-	36.4%	39.2%	40.4%	36.5%	50.3%	40.5%

State legislative
	2010	2012	2014	2016	2018	2020	2022	Average
Open seats (%)	18.7%	21.9%	16.8%	17.4%	19.7%	14.9%	23.8%	19.0%
Total primaries (%)	18.3%	18.5%	15.5%	16.6%	19.3%	17.0%	20.4%	18.0%
Inc. in contested primaries (%)	20.0%	23.3%	19.5%	20.2%	22.2%	20.1%	26.8%	21.7%

The charts below show primary competitiveness statistics broken down by office type. The figures shown are total numbers. This analysis uses the following definitions:

• Total candidates: the total number of major party candidates running in primary elections.
• Total seats: the total number of seats or offices up for election with the possibility of a primary election.
• Open seats: the total number of seats, out of the total seats figure, where the incumbent did not file to run for re-election or filed to run for re-election but withdrew before the primary filing deadline.
• Incumbents contested: the total number of incumbents in contested primaries.
• Democratic/Republican/Top-two primaries: the total number of these types of primaries where at least one candidate could have failed to advance to the general election.
• Total primaries: a combination of all Democratic, Republican, and top-two primaries where at least one candidate could have failed to advance to the general election.

See also

• United States Senate elections, 2022
• United States House of Representatives elections, 2022
  • Annual Congressional Competitiveness Report, 2022
• State executive official elections, 2022
  • Annual State Executive Competitiveness Report, 2022
• State legislative elections, 2022
  • Annual State Legislative Competitiveness Report: Vol. 12, 2022
• Ballotpedia's Candidate Filing Analysis Hub, 2022

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