2003 United States elections
| ←20012002200320042005→ Off-year elections | |
| Election day | November 4 |
|---|---|
| Congressional special elections | |
| Seats contested | 2 |
| Net seat change | 0 |
| Gubernatorial elections | |
| Seats contested | 4 |
| Net seat change | Republican +2 |
 | |
| 2003 Gubernatorial election results map | |
| Legend | |
Republican Gain Democratic Gain | |
The2003 United States elections,most of which were held on Tuesday, November 4, wereoff-year electionsin which no members of theCongresswere standing for election. However, there were threegubernatorialraces,state legislativeelections in four states, numerouscitizen initiatives,mayoralraces in several major cities, and a variety of local offices on the ballot.
The most high-profile race during this year was theCalifornia gubernatorial recall election:California voters replaced incumbentGovernorGray Daviswith actorArnold Schwarzenegger.
Federal elections[edit]
U.S. House of Representatives special elections[edit]
In 2003, twospecial electionsto fill vacancies in the House of Representatives were held. They were forHawaii's 2nd congressional district(on January 4) andTexas's 19th congressional district(June 3). None of these congressional seats changed party hands.
State elections[edit]
Gubernatorial elections[edit]
Three states held elections for Governor in 2003. In addition to these regularly scheduled elections, California held arecall election.California held arecall electionon October 7.KentuckyandMississippivoted on November 4. Louisiana's election dates do not coincide with that of most states: Louisiana held itsopen primaryon October 4, with a runoff on November 15.
Going into the elections,Republicansheld the governorships of twenty-six states andDemocratsheld twenty-four. Republicans achieved a net gain of two with victories inKentuckyandMississippias well as the successfulrecall and replacement ofCalifornian GovernorGray Daviswith actorArnold Schwarzenegger,but Democrats succeeded capturingLouisiana's Governorship.Thus, Republicans succeeded in reversing a trend in which Republicans had been losing gubernatorial seats to the Democrats since1998.
Other statewide elections[edit]
In the three states which held regularly scheduled state general elections, elections for state executive branch offices ofLieutenant Governor(in a separate election in Louisiana and Mississippi and on the same ticket as the gubernatorial nominee in Kentucky),Secretary of state,state Treasurer,state Auditor,state Attorney General,and Commissionersof Insuranceand Agriculture will be held. In addition, there will also be elections for each states' respectivestate Supreme Courtsand state appellate courts.
State legislative elections[edit]
Four states and one territory held elections for theirstate legislatures.Partisan change only occurred in one chamber, as Democrats won control of theNew Jersey Senate,which was previously tied.[1]However, Democrats did maintain control of theMississippi Legislature,theLouisiana Legislature,and theNew Jersey General Assembly.Republicans maintained control of the Virginia legislature, bringing a post-Civil Warlow for the Democratic Party.[2]TheCovenant Partyled byBenigno Fitialwon control of theNorthern Mariana Islands House of Representatives,but theNorthern Mariana Islands Senatewould remain in Republican control.
Local elections[edit]
Mayoral elections[edit]
Some of the many major American cities that held their mayoral elections in 2003 included:
- Charlotte- Incumbent MayorPat McCrory(R) was re-elected.
- Chicago- Incumbent MayorRichard M. Daley(D) was re-elected. Chicago was the most populous city to hold a mayoral election in 2003.
- Houston- FormerUnited States Deputy Secretary of EnergyBill White(D) defeated Former CouncilmanOrlando Sanchezin an open seat election to succeed term-limited MayorLee P. Brown.
- Jacksonville- Former Chairman of theJacksonville Transportation AuthorityJohn Peyton(R) was elected Mayor of Jacksonville in 2003.
- Philadelphia- Incumbent MayorJohn F. Street(D) defeated CEO of Greater Philadelphia FirstSam Katz(R) to win re-election.
- Raleigh- Incumbent MayorCharles Meeker(D) was re-elected.
- San Francisco-San Francisco Board of SupervisorsmemberGavin Newsom(D) won an open seat election to succeed term-limited MayorWillie Brown(D).
References[edit]
- ^"Official List, Candidate Returns for State Senate for November 2003 General Election"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on March 5, 2016.RetrievedDecember 3,2015.
- ^University of Virginia, Center for Politics. Virginia Votes 2003: Not much to remember, not much to forget.[1]Archived2015-07-20 at theWayback Machine