US Senate, House and gubernatorial elections 2024: results from all 50 states | US election 2024

How does the American election work?

The US legislature, Congress, has two chambers: the House of Representatives and the Senate.

How is the House of Representatives elected and how does it work?

The lower chamber, the House of Representatives, has 435 voting seats, each representing a district of roughly the same size. There are elections for each of these seats every two years.

The speaker of the house is the president of the chamber, elected by the representatives. The House has several exclusive powers, such as the power to initiate revenue bills, impeach federal officials, and elect the president in the event of a tie in the Electoral College.

How is the Senate elected and how does it work?

The upper chamber, the Senate, has 100 members who sit for six years. One third of the seats come up for election in each two-year cycle. Each state has two senators, regardless of its population; that means Wyoming, with a population of less than 600,000, has the same weight as California with nearly 40 million.

In most states, the candidate with the most votes on Election Day wins the seat. However, Georgia and Louisiana require the winning candidate to obtain 50% of the votes cast; if no one does, they hold a runoff between the top two candidates.

Most legislation must be passed by both chambers to become law, but the Senate has some important other functions, notably approving senior presidential appointments, for example to the Supreme Court. The Senate also has the sole power to advise the President, consent to ratify treaties, and try impeachment of federal officials referred to it by the House.

How are governors elected and how do they work?

Governors are elected by direct vote in their states. The candidate with the highest number of votes is declared the winner.

In each state, the executive branch is headed by a governor. They serve four-year terms in office, with the exception of Vermont and New Hampshire, where terms are two years long.

Governors are responsible for implementing state laws and have a number of powers available to them, such as executive orders, executive budgets and bills, and vetoes.