The 2007 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 6. During this
off-year election, the only seats up for election in the
United States Congress were
special elections held throughout the year. None of these congressional seats changed party hands. There were also several
gubernatorial races and
state legislative elections, and numerous
citizen initiatives,
mayoral races in several major cities, and several types of local offices on the ballot.
United States Congress
There were five special elections to the United States House of Representatives in 2007. Four of them were held after the death of the prior incumbent, while the seat in
Massachusetts's 5th congressional district opened up after
Marty Meehan resigned to become the Chancellor of the
University of Massachusetts Lowell. In each of these special elections, the incumbent party won.
Gubernatorial elections
Three states elected
governors in 2007, although only two of them voted on November 6, namely
Kentucky and
Mississippi. Louisiana's election date did not coincide with that of most states; its
open primary was held on October 20.
The final results were a net change of zero between the political parties. The
Democrats picked up the governorship in Kentucky, but the
Republicans
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
picked up the one in Louisiana. The Republicans maintained control of the governorship in Mississippi.
State and territorial legislative elections
Four states—
Louisiana,
Mississippi,
New Jersey and
Virginia—and one
U.S. territory
In the United States, a territory is any extent of region under the sovereign jurisdiction of the federal government of the United States, including all waters (around islands or continental tracts). The United States asserts sovereign rights for ...
, the
Northern Mariana Islands, elected their state or territorial legislators in 2007. Louisiana's elections were held on November 17.
Democrats gained majorities in the
Virginia Senate and the
Mississippi Senate.
Municipal elections
Nationwide, there were cities, counties, school boards, special districts and others that elected members in 2007. Among the high-profile mayoral elections were the following:
*
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...
:
Sheila Dixon
Sheila Ann Dixon (born December 27, 1953) is an American politician who served as the forty-eighth mayor of Baltimore, Maryland. When the former mayor, Martin O'Malley, was sworn in as governor on January 17, 2007, Dixon, the president of the Bal ...
(D) defeated Elbert Henderson (R)
*
Charlotte:
Pat McCrory (R) was re-elected, defeating
Beverly M. Earle
Beverly Miller Earle (born December 30, 1943) is a former Democratic member of the North Carolina House of Representatives, having represented the 101st district, including constituents in Mecklenburg County from 1995 to 2019. A retiree from Ch ...
(D)
*
Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
:
Greg Ballard (R) defeated incumbent
Bart Peterson
Barton "Bart" R. Peterson (born June 15, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician who served as mayor of the United States, U.S city of Indianapolis, Indiana. He is also a past president of the National League of Cities. A Democratic Party (Unit ...
(D)
*
Jacksonville:
John Peyton (R) was re-elected, defeating Jackie Brown (D)
*
Philadelphia:
Michael Nutter (D) defeated
Al Taubenberger (R)
*
Pittsburgh: Incumbent
Luke Ravenstahl
Luke Robert Ravenstahl (born February 6, 1980) is an American politician who served as the 59th Mayor of Pittsburgh from 2006 until 2014. A Democrat, he became the youngest mayor in Pittsburgh's history in September 2006 at the age of 26. He was ...
(D) was elected to a full term, defeating
Mark DeSantis (R) in this special election. Ravenstahl was appointed as interim mayor in 2006 following the death of
Bob O'Connor
*
San Francisco:
Gavin Newsom (D) was re-elected, defeating several other candidates in an
instant-runoff voting
Instant-runoff voting (IRV) is a type of ranked preferential voting method. It uses a majority voting rule in single-winner elections where there are more than two candidates. It is commonly referred to as ranked-choice voting (RCV) in the Un ...
system.
References
{{United States elections
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
November 2007 events in the United States