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GOP Gains Ground (Narrowly) in State AG Races

Most races for states' attorneys general maintained the status quo, but one seat switched to Republican control.

In addition to everything else Republicans picked up on Tuesday, the GOP also appears to have gained ground -- narrowly -- in the nation’s attorney general offices.

Republicans flipped one state AG seat -- an open seat in Missouri previously held by the Democrats.

Other than that, the state AG elections reinforced the status quo. 

In North Carolina, Democrat Josh Stein appears to have kept the office for his party, by just one-half of a percentage point. And in Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, by a slightly larger margin, kept the office in Democratic hands.

Meanwhile, Republican Patrick Morrisey of West Virginia was reelected to a second term.

The other contests went as expected.

In Utah and Montana, Republicans Sean Reyes and Tim Fox won new terms, and Curtis Hill Jr. held an open seat for the GOP in Indiana. And Democrats Ellen Rosenblum in Oregon and Bob Ferguson in Washington state were reelected. Democrat T.J. Donovan also held an open seat in Vermont for his party.

Going into Election Day, the GOP held 27 AG offices and the Democrats held 23.

Zach Patton -- Executive Editor. Zach joined GOVERNING as a staff writer in 2004. He received the 2011 Jesse H. Neal Award for Outstanding Journalism
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