A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governorship and majorities in both state legislative chambers. While most states have seen at least one change in their trifecta status within the last 20 years, five states—Nebraska, Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Utah—have not had a trifecta change since at least 1999. In Utah, Republicans have controlled the governor’s office, House, and Senate since 1985.
There are currently 36 state government trifectas and 14 divided state governments. The 14 states that are governed by Democratic trifectas include 34.4% of the U.S. population, and 41.9% of the U.S. population lives in the 22 states governed by Republican trifectas.
In 2019, elections could determine the trifecta status of five states: Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia.
As of July 2019, we’ve ranked the trifecta vulnerability for each of these states as follows:
- Kentucky: Somewhat vulnerable Republican trifecta
- Louisiana: Slight possibility of a Republican trifecta forming, low possibility of a Democratic trifecta forming
- Mississippi: Moderately vulnerable Republican trifecta
- New Jersey: Non-vulnerable Democratic trifecta
- Virginia: Moderate possibility of a Democratic trifecta forming, moderate possibility of remaining under divided government
Additional reading:
https://ballotpedia.org/Trifecta_vulnerability_in_the_2019_elections
https://ballotpedia.org/Historical_and_potential_changes_in_trifectas
https://ballotpedia.org/Partisan_composition_of_governors
https://ballotpedia.org/Partisan_composition_of_state_houses
https://ballotpedia.org/Partisan_composition_of_state_senates
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