The Races That Actually Run Your State
State attorneys general have filed over 100 lawsuits against the federal administration since January 2025, winning 82% of decided cases. Secretaries of state control who gets on the voter rolls and who gets removed. State legislatures pass the laws that govern your healthcare, your housing costs, and your right to vote.
None of these offices get the attention of a presidential race. All of them have more direct impact on your daily life than Congress.
In November 2026, voters will decide 30 attorney general races, multiple secretary of state contests, and elections for 88 of the nation’s 99 state legislative chambers. These are the races that determine policy for the next decade.
88 of 99 state legislative chambers hold elections in 2026. Combined with 30 AG races and secretary of state contests, down-ballot races will shape American policy through 2030 and beyond.
Attorneys General Are the Most Effective Check on Federal Power
Democratic AGs filed their 100th lawsuit against the administration by April 2026. Of 67 cases that reached a ruling, they won 55. That 82% win rate makes state AGs the single most effective institutional check on executive overreach.
These are not symbolic gestures. Michigan AG Dana Nessel estimated that her office’s lawsuits brought more than $2 billion back to Michigan, funding Medicaid payments and food programs for older adults. Oregon AG Dan Rayfield filed over 50 cases on his own, including one that blocked National Guard deployment in Portland.
Thirty AG seats are on the ballot in 2026. The outcomes will determine whether states continue challenging unconstitutional executive orders or stand down.
Texas shows what happens when an AG goes in the other direction. AG Ken Paxton was impeached by his own party’s legislature in 2023 for bribery and abuse of office, then acquitted by the state Senate on party-line votes.
Paxton used his office to sue other states over their election results and investigate families seeking gender-affirming care for their children. The AG race to succeed him will determine whether Texas continues that path.
Secretaries of State Control the Machinery of Elections
Secretaries of state oversee voter registration databases and certify election results. In 2020, these officials became the last line between a lawful election and an overturned one.
Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs certified the 2020 results despite receiving death threats and having armed protesters outside her home. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger refused Trump’s request to “find 11,780 votes.” Both faced primary challenges from their own parties for following the law.
In states where election deniers won secretary of state races in 2022, officials have purged voter rolls and reduced polling locations in urban areas. The secretary of state races in 2026 will determine who controls the election infrastructure for the 2028 presidential race.
State Legislatures Pass the Laws You Live Under
Congress gets the headlines. State legislatures pass the laws. In 2023 and 2024 alone, state legislatures enacted over 1,000 abortion-related bills and 560 gun-related laws.
88 of 99 state legislative chambers will hold elections in November 2026. The party that controls these chambers controls redistricting after the 2030 census.
The stakes are structural. Legislators elected in 2026 will serve during the 2030 redistricting cycle. In most states, the legislature draws congressional and state legislative maps.
The maps drawn after the 2010 census locked in partisan advantages for an entire decade. Wisconsin’s 2011 maps gave Republicans 64% of state Assembly seats in years when they won just 48% of the statewide vote.
Competitive chambers in 2026 include Michigan (where Democrats hold a narrow Senate majority) and Pennsylvania (where a 2-3 seat swing flips the Senate). Arizona is also in play, with both chambers decided by single-digit margins.
What Down-Ballot Wins Look Like
Virginia proved the model in 2025. Democrats flipped the state House, giving Governor Glenn Youngkin a hostile legislature for his final year. That single flip blocked a universal voucher program and a 15-week abortion ban. One chamber, one election, two major policy outcomes preserved.
Minnesota’s 2022 trifecta produced paid family leave, legal cannabis, driver’s licenses for undocumented residents, and codified abortion rights in a single session. Michigan’s 2022 trifecta repealed right-to-work and codified reproductive rights. State-level trifectas deliver policy faster than Congress.
What you can do now
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Look up every race on your ballot. Go to ballotpedia.org/Sample_Ballot_Lookup and enter your address. You will see your state legislative district, AG race, and every other contest you can vote in.
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Support your state AG if they are filing lawsuits. The Democratic Attorneys General Association and Republican Attorneys General Association both accept contributions. Check whether your AG is among the 82% winning cases or among those standing down.
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Volunteer for state legislative candidates. State races are won by small margins. The median winning margin in competitive state House races is under 5 percentage points. Knocking doors and making calls in these races produces measurable results.
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Track your state legislature’s votes. Every state publishes roll call votes online. Open States aggregates them in one place. Know how your representatives voted on the bills that affect your life.
Update, June 2, 2026: Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson announced her resignation, effective July 17, ending three and a half years as the state’s top election official. Texas law requires Gov. Greg Abbott to nominate a replacement “without delay,” but his office had not named a candidate as of the announcement.
Nelson’s office shared the personal data of 18 million registered Texas voters — including dates of birth, driver’s license numbers, and partial Social Security numbers — with the U.S. Department of Justice, making Texas one of 15 states to comply with that federal request. Her office also used a federal database called SAVE to identify 2,724 registered voters as potential noncitizens; county officials later determined that some of those voters were citizens, and at least two lawsuits over the database’s use remain pending in federal court.
The departure leaves unresolved an ongoing overhaul of the state’s election management system, known as TEAM, which county election officials have repeatedly flagged for functionality problems since its rollout a year ago. The story was reported by the Texas Tribune and Votebeat.