2003 United States elections
| ← 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 → Off-year elections | |
| Election day | November 4 |
|---|---|
| Congressional special elections | |
| Seats contested | 2 |
| Net seat change | 0 |
| Gubernatorial elections | |
| Seats contested | 4 |
| Net seat change | Republican +2 |
 | |
| 2003 Gubernatorial election results map | |
| Legend | |
Republican Gain Democratic Gain | |
The 2003 United States elections, most of which were held on Tuesday, November 4, were
The most high-profile race during this year was the California gubernatorial recall election: California voters replaced incumbent Governor Gray Davis with actor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Federal elections
U.S. House of Representatives special elections
In 2003, two special elections to fill vacancies in the House of Representatives were held. They were for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district (on January 4) and Texas's 19th congressional district (June 3). None of these congressional seats changed party hands.
State elections
Gubernatorial elections
Three states held elections for Governor in 2003. In addition to these regularly scheduled elections, California held a recall election. California held a recall election on October 7. Kentucky and Mississippi voted on November 4. Louisiana's election dates do not coincide with that of most states: Louisiana held its open primary on October 4, with a runoff on November 15.
Going into the elections,
Other statewide elections
In the three states which held regularly scheduled state general elections, elections for state executive branch offices of
State legislative elections
Four states and one territory held elections for their
Local elections
Mayoral elections
Some of the many major American cities that held their mayoral elections in 2003 included:
- Charlotte- Incumbent Mayor Pat McCrory(R) was re-elected.
- Chicago- Incumbent Mayor Richard M. Daley(D) was re-elected. Chicago was the most populous city to hold a mayoral election in 2003.
- Houston- Former United States Deputy Secretary of Energy Bill White (D) defeated Former Councilman Orlando Sanchez in an open seat election to succeed term-limited Mayor Lee P. Brown.
- John Peyton(R) was elected Mayor of Jacksonville in 2003.
- Philadelphia- Incumbent Mayor John F. Street (D) defeated CEO of Greater Philadelphia First Sam Katz(R) to win re-election.
- Raleigh- Incumbent Mayor Charles Meeker(D) was re-elected.
- San Francisco- San Francisco Board of Supervisors member Gavin Newsom (D) won an open seat election to succeed term-limited Mayor Willie Brown(D).
References
- ^ "Official List, Candidate Returns for State Senate for November 2003 General Election" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 5, 2016. Retrieved December 3, 2015.
- ^ University of Virginia, Center for Politics. Virginia Votes 2003: Not much to remember, not much to forget. [1] Archived 2015-07-20 at the Wayback Machine