2021 United States Elections

The 2021 United States elections were held in large part on Tuesday, November 2, 2021. This off-year election included the regular gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia. In addition, state legislative elections were held for the New Jersey Legislature and Virginia House of Delegates (the lower house of the Virginia General Assembly), along with numerous state legislative special elections, citizen initiatives, mayoral races, and a variety of other local elections. Six special elections to the United States House of Representatives also took place on November 2 or earlier as a result of either deaths or vacancies. The first of these was held on March 20.

Republican candidates made significant gains up and down the ballot. Glenn Youngkin, the Republican nominee in the Virginia gubernatorial election, prevailed against Democratic nominee Terry McAuliffe in an upset. Youngkin promised to ban the teaching of critical race theory within public schools on day one of his administration, push back against certain COVID-19 mandates and restrictions, and advocate for a low tax and small government agenda within the state of Virginia. Within the factions in the Democratic Party, moderate nominees generally prevailed against left-wing candidates, and progressive policies by and large saw rejection; a proposal to defund and replace the Minneapolis Police Department was defeated. While this election was largely speculated as a prelude to the 2022 midterms, large Republican gains ultimately did not manifest in that election.

The results were interpreted by some political commentators as a backlash against the policies of the Biden administration, and/or cultural liberalism and wokeism within the party. Others saw Democrats' perceived failure to enact their legislative agenda in the United States Congress as the main impetus behind Republican victories, interpreting Democratic losses as public frustration at the Biden administration not following through on its promises to implement transformative policy.

Federal elections

Senate

As part of the 2020 United States Senate elections, Georgia held run-off elections for both of its Senate seats on January 5, 2021. The run-off elections were triggered because of a Georgia law requiring a second round when no individual wins a majority of the vote in most federal, state, and local elections. Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock were the victors in those special elections, which gave the Democrats a total of 48 seats to the Republicans' 50. However, the victories resulted in a shift of power to the Democrats; the other two senators, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine, are both independents who belong to the Democrats' caucus, and since any tied vote is broken by the President of the Senate—in this case Vice President Kamala Harris, also a Democrat—the Democrats technically hold a one-seat majority.

House of Representatives

Six special elections were held throughout 2021 to fill vacancies during the 117th U.S. Congress.

* Louisiana's 5th congressional district: Republican Julia Letlow defeated Democrat Sandra Christophe and fellow Republican Chad Conerly to succeed her husband Luke Letlow after his death from COVID-19 on December 29, 2020, five days before he would have taken office for the next session of Congress. The district has a partisan index of R+17.
* Louisiana's 2nd congressional district: Democrat Troy Carter defeated fellow Democrat Karen Carter Peterson to succeed Cedric Richmond, who resigned on January 15, 2021, to become the director of the Office of Public Liaison and a Senior Advisor to Joe Biden. The district has a partisan index of D+25.
* New Mexico's 1st congressional district: Democrat Melanie Stansbury defeated Republican Mark Moores to succeed Deb Haaland, who resigned on March 16, 2021, to serve as the United States Secretary of the Interior. The district has a partisan index of D+9.
* Texas's 6th congressional district: Republican Jake Ellzey defeated fellow Republican Susan Wright to succeed Ron Wright, who died on February 7, 2021, from COVID-19 during the pandemic in Texas. The district has a partisan index of R+6.
* Ohio's 11th congressional district: Democrat Shontel Brown defeated Republican Laverne Gore to succeed Marcia Fudge, who resigned on March 10, 2021, to serve as United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. The district has a partisan index of D+30.
* Ohio's 15th congressional district: Republican Mike Carey defeated Democrat Allison Russo to succeed Steve Stivers, who resigned on May 16, 2021, to become the president and CEO of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce. The district has a partisan index of R+9.

Puerto Rican shadow delegation

In May, Puerto Rico held a shadow congressional delegation election to elect two senators and four representatives to replace the shadow delegation first appointed in 2017. The shadow senators and representatives are not seated in Congress, but are charged with advancing Puerto Rico's statehood efforts. In the preliminary results from election night, former at-large senator Melinda Romero and lawyer Zoraida Buxo earned the most votes for senator, and conservative commentator Elizabeth Torres, municipal lawmaker Roberto Lefranc Fortuño, former Ponce Mayor María Meléndez, and Junventud PNP director Adriel Vélez earned the most votes for the House delegation. However, former governor Ricardo Rosselló earned enough write-in votes to gain a seat in the House delegation over Vélez. Voter turnout was at a record low level — 3.92% — in the election.

State elections

Gubernatorial

Two states held regularly scheduled gubernatorial elections in 2021, and one more state held a recall election:

* California: A recall petition was launched against first-term Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, mainly for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis scheduled the recall election for September 14, 2021; voters began receiving their mail ballots in August. The election featured two questions: whether to recall Newsom, and who would replace him if he were recalled. A large number of candidates were listed on the replacement ballot, with major candidates including talk show host Larry Elder, financial analyst Kevin Paffrath, businessman John H. Cox, former mayor of San Diego Kevin Faulconer, state assemblyman Kevin Kiley, media personality Caitlyn Jenner, and former U.S. Representative Doug Ose, among others. The recall was unsuccessful and Newsom stayed in office.
* New Jersey: One-term Democratic Governor Phil Murphy was eligible for re-election, and sought a second term. Former State assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli won the Republican primary. The Libertarian Party nominated Gregg Mele, the Green Party Madelyn Hoffman, and the Socialist Workers Party Joanne Kuniansky. Major media sources, including the Associated Press projected that Murphy has won re-election.
* Virginia: Virginia's term limit laws do not allow sitting governors to serve consecutive terms, so incumbent Democratic Governor Ralph Northam is precluded from running again for the office until the next gubernatorial election in 2025. Former governor Terry McAuliffe won the Democratic primary and former co-CEO of The Carlyle Group Glenn Youngkin was nominated at the Republican convention. Liberation Party candidate Princess Blanding ran unsuccessfully in the race as well. Major media sources, including DDHQ projected the Republican Nominee Glenn Youngkin to have won the election.

Lieutenant gubernatorial

One state held a lieutenant gubernatorial election in 2021:

* Virginia: One-term Democratic Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax was eligible to run for a second term, but instead ran unsuccessfully for Governor. State delegate Hala Ayala won the Democratic primary and former state delegate Winsome Sears was nominated at the Republican convention. On November 2, 2021, Republican candidate Sears prevailed and was elected lieutenant governor of Virginia.

Attorney general

One state held an attorney general election in 2021:

* Virginia: Two-term Democratic Attorney General Mark Herring initially ran for governor but withdrew to run for a third term. He defeated state delegate Jay Jones in the Democratic primary. State delegate Jason Miyares was nominated at the Republican convention. On November 3, Miyares defeated Herring, and became the next attorney general of Virginia.

Legislative

Legislative elections were held for both houses of the New Jersey Legislature and the lower house of the Virginia General Assembly. Democrats maintained majority control of the New Jersey Senate and the General Assembly. Republicans regained control of the Virginia House of Delegates, which had been held by Democrats since 2019.

* 2021 New Jersey General Assembly election
* 2021 New Jersey State Senate election
* 2021 Virginia House of Delegates election

Local elections

Mayoral elections

Since the beginning of 2021, various major cities have seen incumbent mayors re-elected, including Birmingham ( Randall Woodfin) and Mobile, Alabama (Sandy Stimpson); Miami (Francis X. Suarez) and North Miami, Florida (Philippe Bien-Aime); New Orleans, Louisiana ( LaToya Cantrell); Detroit (Mike Duggan) and Lansing, Michigan (Andy Schor); Minneapolis ( Jacob Frey) and St. Paul, Minnesota ( Melvin Carter); Jackson, Mississippi ( Chokwe Antar Lumumba); Springfield, Missouri (Ken McClure); Omaha, Nebraska ( Jean Stothert); Manchester, New Hampshire ( Joyce Craig); Jersey City

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