Attorney General elections, 2025
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There is one attorney general office on the ballot in 2025. This election is in Virginia.
All 50 states have an attorney general who serves as the state's chief legal officer. The attorney general is responsible for enforcing state law and advising the state government on legal matters. In many states, attorneys general play a large role in the law enforcement process. Seventeen states impose some form of term limits on attorneys general.
In 2022, voters decided who would control 34 of 50 state attorney general offices. Thirty offices were up for election, and four offices’ appointment authorities were on the ballot. Before the election, the nationwide partisan balance of attorneys general was 22 Democrats and 28 Republicans. In three states—Arizona, Iowa, and Vermont—the office changed party control, resulting in a net gain of one office for Democrats and a net loss of one office for Republicans.
Partisan balance
The following table displays the number of attorney general offices held by each party before and after the 2023 elections.
| U.S. attorneys general partisan breakdown | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of the 2023 elections | After the 2023 elections | |
| Democratic Party | 23 | 23 | |
| Republican Party | 27 | 27 | |
| Total | 50 | 50 | |
List of attorney general elections
There is one attorney general office—in Virginia—on the ballot in 2025.
| Attorney General elections, 2024 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Incumbent | Incumbent running? | Election winner | Last time office changed parties | 2020 presidential result | 2021 attorney general result | 2025 election result |
| Virginia |  Jason Miyares |
TBD | TBD | 2021 | D+10.1 | R+0.8 | TBD |
List of candidates
The table below contains a list of all candidates for attorney general in 2025. The table is fully searchable by candidate, party and candidacy status. Depending on the size of your screen, you'll either see a menu to the left of the table or an arrow at the top right corner, which you can use to select a state.
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Results from the 2022 elections
Voters decided who would control 34 of 50 state attorney general offices on November 8. Thirty offices were up for election, and four offices’ appointment authorities were on the ballot. Before the election, the nationwide partisan balance of attorneys general was 22 Democrats and 28 Republicans.
In three states—Arizona, Iowa, and Vermont—the office changed party control, resulting in a net gain of one office for Democrats and a net loss of one office for Republicans. After the elections, the partisan composition of state attorneys general was 27 Republicans and 23 Democrats.
The following offices changed party control:
- Republicans gained the state attorney general's office in Iowa as Brenna Bird (R) defeated incumbent Tom Miller (D).
- Democrats gained the state attorney general's offices in Arizona and Vermont.
- Kris Mayes (D) defeated Abraham Hamadeh (R) in the open-seat race to succeed Mark Brnovich (R) in Arizona.
- Charity Clark (D) defeated Michael Tagliavia (R) to succeed Susanne Young (R) in Vermont. Gov. Phil Scott (R) appointed Young to replace former Attorney General T.J. Donovan (D) in 2022.
Triplexes
A state government triplex describes when one political party holds the following three positions in a state's government: governor, attorney general, and secretary of state.
As of April 27, 2024, there are 25 Republican triplexes, 20 Democratic triplexes, and 5 divided governments where neither party holds triplex control.
Historical control
About the office
Although Ballotpedia covers Washington, D.C., and the five U.S. territories and their officeholders, D.C. and territory officeholders are not included in the following figures.
Selection process
The attorney general is directly elected in 43 states. The attorney general is appointed by the state Legislature in Maine, by the state Supreme Court in Tennessee, and by the governor in the remaining five states.
Compensation
According to compensation figures for 2017 compiled by the Council of State Governments in the Book of the States, the highest salary for an attorney general is $182,688 in Tennessee, while the lowest is $80,000 in Colorado. To view the compensation of a particular attorney general, hover your mouse over the state.[1]
Initiate local prosecution
In 47 states—all except Connecticut, North Carolina, and Arkansas—the attorney general has the power to initiate prosecution at the local level, although 28 states place limits on this power.[2]
Supersede local prosecution
In 36 states, the attorney general has the power to take over a case handled by a local prosecutor without instructions from the governor or legislature, although this power is restricted to certain cases in 22 of those states. This differs from general power of oversight over legal matters in a state and the ability of some attorneys general to initiate local prosecution or to step in and provide assistance to a local prosecutor without instructions from the governor or legislature. In Alaska and Delaware, the attorney general's office is responsible for handling all local prosecution by default.[2]
Criminal appeals
The attorney general has the power to represent the state in criminal appeals in 46 states, although this power is restricted in five of those states.[2]
Term limits
A total of 17 states impose some form of term limits on attorneys general.
See also
External links
Footnotes
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