Nothing to Lose: Uncontested Races in 2020 and Their Implications
~70% of races that appeared on ballots this past November were unopposed or uncontested, meaning the number of candidates appearing on the ballot for a given race was less than or equal to the number of allowable selections that could be made by a given voter.
Enormous numbers of state, local, and county seats go unopposed every year, allowing incumbents to remain in office unchallenged and, in some cases, leaving government bodies empty. In several states, including Florida, and California, some races where candidates are not sufficiently opposed do not appear on the ballot at all; in Florida, this applies even to state and federal legislative seats. Voters therefore may not even know when certain seats are up for election, since they may not appear on the ballot for years at a time, and do not even have the opportunity to write in a different candidate should they wish to.
While state and federal races also go unopposed or uncontested, the real story is the sheer number of down ballot races affected by this trend.
County level positions:
Two of the most important county level positions saw uncontested rates at almost two thirds and three quarters, respectively.
4,253 of 6,423 county legislative races went uncontested (66%) and 928 of 1,244 of county sheriffs joined them (74%).
City level positions:
City council and mayoral elections garner huge news cycles in big cities, but in towns across America, most of these officials don’t even need to campaign.
4,697 of 7,935 of City Council races had only as many candidates as open seats (59%).
1,377 of 2,142 of Mayor or City Executive positions weren’t contested (64%).
Local level positions:
The most frequent local level race to appear on November ballots were school board races, yet voters were still left with no real choice in most cases.
4,475 of 7,139 school board races on ballots this past November were uncontested (62%).
Judicial positions:
1,510 of 1,784 judicial races appearing on November ballots went uncontested (84%). These races ranged from a State Supreme Court race to Circuit Court, County Court, and Probate Court races across numerous states.
Partisan Implications
Of the 24,690 races where there was only one candidate on the ballot in November, 8,183 (33%) were for nonpartisan races and 16,507 (66.86%) were for partisan races.
Of the partisan races where there was only one candidate on the ballot in November, 12,199 (74%) were Republican Party, 3,561 (22%) were Democratic Party, 507 (3%) were Independent, and the remainder were minor party candidates.