2019 United States elections

Elections were held in the United States, in large part, on Tuesday, November 5, 2019. This off-year election included gubernatorial elections in Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi; regularly scheduled state legislative elections in Louisiana, Mississippi, Virginia, and New Jersey; and special elections for seats in various state legislatures. Numerous citizen initiatives, mayoral races, and a variety of other local elections also occurred. Three special elections to the United States House of Representatives also took place in 2019 as a result of vacancies.

Democrats regained the governorship of Kentucky and held the office in Louisiana, despite strong campaign efforts by President Donald Trump for the Republican candidates. Democrats also took control of the state legislature in Virginia. Republicans held the governor's mansion in Mississippi and expanded their control of the Louisiana state legislature and gained seats in the New Jersey state legislature. A major theme in the election results was a suburban revolt against Trump and the Republican Party in general, as these areas swung heavily towards Democratic candidates in local, state, and federal elections.

Federal special elections

Three special elections were held in 2019 to fill vacancies during the 116th United States Congress:

• Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district: Republican Tom Marino resigned on January 23, 2019, to take a private sector job. The district has a partisan index of R+17. Republican state Rep. Fred Keller defeated Democrat Marc Friedenberg in the May 21 election, keeping the seat in Republican hands.
• North Carolina's 3rd congressional district: Republican Walter B. Jones Jr. died on February 10, 2019. The district has a partisan index of R+12. Republican state Rep. Greg Murphy was elected, defeating Democrat Allen M. Thomas and Libertarian Tim Harris.
• North Carolina's 9th congressional district: Due to allegations of election fraud, the results for the 9th congressional district were not certified for the 2018 election, leaving the seat vacant once the 116th Congress began (the seat was previously held by Republican Robert Pittenger, who lost his party's nomination in 2018). On February 21, 2019, the North Carolina State Board of Elections voted unanimously to hold a new election. The district has a partisan index of R+8. Republican state Sen. Dan Bishop was narrowly elected, defeating Democrat Dan McCready, Libertarian Jeff Scott, and Green Loran Allen Smith.

Additional vacancies occurred in Wisconsin's 7th Congressional district following the resignation of Republican Sean Duffy in September 2019; New York's 27th Congressional district following the October 2019 resignation of Republican Chris Collins ahead of his pleading guilty to insider trading; California's 25th Congressional district following the resignation of Democrat Katie Hill in November 2019; and Maryland's 7th Congressional district following the death of Democrat Elijah Cummings on October 17, 2019. Georgia Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson announced in August 2019 that he would resign on December 31, 2019, due to deteriorating health. Special elections to fill the seats occurred in 2020.

Party switchers

Also during 2019, changes in partisan balance in the House of Representatives happened as the result of members of Congress switching their party affiliation. On July 4, 2019, Rep. Justin Amash declared he would leave the Republican Party but continue to serve in Congress as an independent, turning an evenly split Michigan delegation into a Democratic majority delegation. Following a week of speculation, on December 19, the day after voting against the impeachment of Donald Trump, Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey officially left the Democratic Party to become a Republican.

State elections

Gubernatorial

Three states held gubernatorial elections in 2019:

• Kentucky: In the May 21 primaries, one-term incumbent Republican Matt Bevin faced a strong challenge from three opponents in the Republican primary but managed to win with 52.4%; Democratic attorney general Andy Beshear also faced a strong competition from two other challengers in the Democratic primary but managed to win with 37.9%. In the November 5 general election, Andy Beshear defeated Matt Bevin by just 0.4 percent of the vote; however, the Associated Press declared the race too close to call, and Bevin refused to concede on election night, requesting a recanvass. The recanvass showed little change in the vote totals, and Bevin conceded the election on November 14.
• Louisiana: One-term Democrat John Bel Edwards defeated Eddie Rispone in a run-off election, securing a second term. In the state's October blanket primary, Edwards faced Republicans U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham and businessman Eddie Rispone, along with three minor candidates. While Edwards received 46.6% of the vote, he did not win a majority and therefore faced a Saturday, November 16 runoff election against Rispone, who received 27.4% of the vote. The runoff election was held on November 16. Despite Republican Donald Trump winning the state by 20 points in 2016, John Bel Edwards was able to narrowly win re-election with 51.3% of the vote against Eddie Rispone's 48.7%.
• Mississippi: Two-term Republican Phil Bryant was term-limited in 2019 and therefore ineligible to seek re-election. In the August 6 primary elections, Attorney General Jim Hood won the Democratic primary, and on August 27, Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves defeated Mississippi Supreme Court Chief Justice Bill Waller Jr. to win the Republican nomination. Though the Associated Press described Hood as the "best-funded Democratic nominee for Mississippi governor since 2003," Reeves won the Mississippi gubernatorial race by a comfortable 51.9% to 46.8% margin.

In addition, in Puerto Rico, Gov. Ricardo Rosselló resigned as part of the territory's 2019 leadership crisis. He was eventually replaced by Wanda Vázquez Garced. Rosselló and Vázquez are both members of the New Progressive Party, but nationally Rosselló is affiliated with the Democratic Party while Vázquez is affiliated with the Republican Party.

Attorney General

Regularly scheduled elections were held in 3 of 43 states that elect attorneys general. The previous Attorney General elections for this group of states took place in 2015. One state attorney general ran for reelection and won, while Democrat Jim Hood of Mississippi and Andy Beshear of Kentucky did not run for re-election to run for Governor.

Republicans won every seat in this election, with a net gain of two.

Legislative

Legislative elections were held for both houses of the Louisiana Legislature, the Mississippi Legislature, and the Virginia General Assembly, as well as the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Republicans expanded their control of the Mississippi Legislature, while Democrats kept control of the New Jersey General Assembly, despite Republicans picking up a handful of seats. Democrats gained majorities of both houses of the Virginia General Assembly, giving them control of the legislature for the first time in 20 years. In Louisiana, Republicans expanded their control of the Louisiana Legislature, gaining a supermajority in the state Senate and falling two seats shy of a supermajority in the Louisiana House.

Special elections were also held during the year to fill state legislative seats vacated due to retirement, death, resignation, election to another office, or other reasons. During 2019, special elections were set or run for 77 vacated seats — 39 held by Democrats and 38 held by Republicans. Of the 74 special elections held by year-end, five seats flipped from Democratic to Republican, two flipped from Republican to Democratic, and one flipped from Republican to Independent. None of these changes impacted partisan control of the state legislature.

Judicial

Three states held supreme court elections in 2019.

• Kentucky held a special election for the Kentucky Supreme Court to fill a vacancy caused by the retirement of Chief Justice Bill Cunningham, for a term to expire in 2022. Judge Christopher S. Nickell defeated state senator Whitney Westerfield in the November general election.
• Louisiana held a special election for the Louisiana Supreme Court to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Justice Greg G. Guidry, for a term to expire in 2029. Attorney William J. Crain defeated Hans J. Liljeberg in the November general election.
• In Wisconsin, incumbent Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Shirley Abrahamson did not seek re-election to a 5th ten-year term. In the April general election, Republican-backed Judge Brian Hagedorn defeated Democrat-backed Judge Lisa Neubauer by a small margin.

State trifectas and redistricting

In the 2019 elections, Republicans successfully defended their trifecta (unified control of the governorship and the state legislature) in Mississippi, while Democrats defended their trifecta in New Jersey and prevented Republicans from gaining a trifecta in Louisiana. Republicans lost their trifecta in Kentucky, while Democrats gained a trifecta in Virginia. These state elections were to impact the redistricting that followed the 2020 United States census, as many states task governors and state legislators with drawing new boundaries for state legislative and congressional districts.