Ballotpedia covered all state and federal races on Nov. 8, 2022, as well as local elections in America’s 100 largest cities by population. In the 2022 general election, an average of 94% of incumbents nationwide won their re-election bids.
Comparatively, in the 2021 general election, 86% of incumbents nationwide won their re-election bids. In the 2020 November election, 93% of incumbents were successful.
- The incumbent win rate remained at or above 90% in all but nine states: Alaska, California, Louisiana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia.
- The lowest overall incumbent win rate was in Virginia with 77%. Delaware, Massachusetts, and Mississippi were the only states to see a 100% incumbent win rate.
- Congressional incumbents had a 98% win rate. Forty-one states had a 100% win rate in congressional races.
- State-level incumbents had a 96% win rate. Six states had a 100% win rate in state-level races.
- State legislative incumbents had a 96% average win rate.
- Local-level incumbents had a 90% average win rate. Thirteen states had a 100% win rate in local-level races.
- Local legislative incumbents saw an average incumbent win rate of 84%.
The analysis below includes data compiled by Ballotpedia on the 7,619 incumbents who ran for re-election on Nov. 8, 2022. Some races remain uncalled.
The table below shows the win rate for each state and office type:
The map below highlights each state based on its incumbent win rate:
