In 331 races on Nov. 3 across 28 states, 668 candidates share a last name with another candidate running in that race. This total includes races for one congressional race, 13 state contests, and 317 local races in Ballotpedia’s coverage scope. Two hundred fifty-six of these races are nonpartisan, and 75 are partisan.
Nebraska has the most elections where candidates share a last name, with 61. Nebraska is one of six states with more than 20 such elections, along with Kentucky (54), Indiana (47), Michigan (40), Minnesota (27), and California (24). Seven states had just one instance of candidates sharing a last name, including Ohio, which, in 2025, had the most elections with candidates sharing a last name (100).
