What state has the most boring state legislative elections?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Hard to top New Jersey.



To make matters worse, there is a grand total of ONE district that has a split House delegation (4). And there's a grand total of two that election two Representatives of different party from the Senator (2 and 7.) So 37/40 districts are all straight-ticket and it sounds like not many are competitive.

Maryland isn't much better:



Though Maryland does have bit more varied House, with Democrats inexplicably getting elected in very odd places.

[Vazdul (Formerly Chairman of the Communist Party of Ontario)]

In defense of my home state, New Jersey has had its fair share of interesting legislative elections over the past decade. The following races were competitive.

2001: 1(S,H), 3(S), 4(H), 14(S,H), 36(S,H), 38(H)

2003: 1(H), 3(H), 4(S), 7(H), 12(S,H)*, 13(H), 14(H), 36(H)

*: Scandal-plagued incumbent. This led to more competitive elections in the coming cycles as well.

2005 (House only): 2, 11, 12

2007: 2(H), 12(S,H), 14(H)

2009: (House only): 1, 3, 4, 18, 22

A few other elections weren't very close, but still featured party pickups. And some of the races I mentioned above were very interesting, particularly those in the 12th and 14th.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I was worried that 18 contained New Brunswick, but learned that it's in 17. Good. New Brunswick is like a Holy Land to me. The thought of it defiled by any type of Republican representation is just sickening.

[JohnnyLongtorso]

Really, most of the safe-for-one-party states have boring elections. It's not like there's any chance of, say, Democratic control in Idaho.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

I was worried that 18 contained New Brunswick, but learned that it's in 17. Good. New Brunswick is like a Holy Land to me. The thought of it defiled by any type of Republican representation is just sickening.

District 18 would be classified by just about everyone as a "safe Democratic" district. It was not "competitive" in 2009 at least in terms of campaigning and spending -- no one expected the race to be even remotely close. Had Republicans picked the seat up, it would have gone down in history as one of the greatest upsets in New Jersey state legislative history.

Had 18 truly been competitive (that is, had people paid attention to the race at all), Democrats would have cruised. The closeness was a result of Christie coattails -- probably one of the only places in the state where he legit had any.

[Brittain33]

New Brunswick is like a Holy Land to me.

Why?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

New Brunswick is like a Holy Land to me.

Why?

It is to my music what Seattle is to grunge or Nashville is to country. When I was in high school I sooooooooo wanted to move there.

[Vazdul (Formerly Chairman of the Communist Party of Ontario)]

I was worried that 18 contained New Brunswick, but learned that it's in 17. Good. New Brunswick is like a Holy Land to me. The thought of it defiled by any type of Republican representation is just sickening.

District 18 would be classified by just about everyone as a "safe Democratic" district. It was not "competitive" in 2009 at least in terms of campaigning and spending -- no one expected the race to be even remotely close. Had Republicans picked the seat up, it would have gone down in history as one of the greatest upsets in New Jersey state legislative history.

Had 18 truly been competitive (that is, had people paid attention to the race at all), Democrats would have cruised. The closeness was a result of Christie coattails -- probably one of the only places in the state where he legit had any.

This is very true. I guess I should mention that my definition of "competitive" in this case was "the results were pretty close (within about 2,000 votes)." I was very surprised indeed that a Republican came anywhere close to representing that district.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Well it's a good thing a district very close to New Brunswick isn't very competitive either then. Even Republican representation near it is too much.

Let me put it this way: The only reason I don't support moving the country's capital to New Brunswick is because DC shares a similar status of importance in "the scene" (Fugazi, Guy Picciotto and Ian MacKaye's bands and "Revolution Summer" of course.) When I was in high school I soooooooooooooo wanted to take a bunch of cash, my at the time small record collection packaged up, buy a one-way bus ticket to New Brunswick and never look back.

[JacobNC]

Hawaii's senate is 24-1 Democratic.  And there aren't many Republicans in the House either...

[Torie]

I submit my state of California gets the gold on this one. Almost nothing is competitive. But that will change when the new lines are drawn.

[Brittain33]

You might very well like New Brunswick aside from the music. It's one of those small cities that isn't completely suburban, but unfortunately is hollowed out enough economically that there isn't much to walk to even though you could walk. My frame of reference is pretty old and the population has zoomed up in the last 15 years so perhaps it's gotten better.

[Vazdul (Formerly Chairman of the Communist Party of Ontario)]

New Brunswick is like a Holy Land to me.

Why?

It is to my music what Seattle is to grunge or Nashville is to country. When I was in high school I sooooooooo wanted to move there.

Really? When I was high school I passed through New Brunswick and I sooooooooo wanted to throw up.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

New Brunswick is like a Holy Land to me.

Why?

It is to my music what Seattle is to grunge or Nashville is to country. When I was in high school I sooooooooo wanted to move there.

Really? When I was high school I passed through New Brunswick and I sooooooooo wanted to throw up.

http://www.last.fm/music/Thursday/_/Dying+in+New+Brunswick
http://www.last.fm/music/Lifetime/_/Theme+Song+For+A+New+Brunswick+Basement+Show
http://www.last.fm/music/For+Science/_/Leaving+New+Brunswick
http://www.last.fm/music/Carlisle/_/New+Brunswick
http://www.last.fm/music/The+Cable+Car+Theory/_/I+Left+My+Heart+in+New+Brunswick

[krazen1211]

This is very true. I guess I should mention that my definition of "competitive" in this case was "the results were pretty close (within about 2,000 votes)." I was very surprised indeed that a Republican came anywhere close to representing that district.

The Democrats spent a decade beating up Middlesex County with property taxes. Christie lost New Brunswick pretty badly, but he won South, East, and almost North, along with a majority of the county's municipalities.