Turnout was also high compared to 2016 in the Great Plains states of Montana and North Dakota. These states aren’t closely contested in presidential elections, but featured major 2018 Senate races. South Dakota had no Senate seat up for election in 2018 but did have a highly competitive governor’s race.

Conversely, Louisiana and North Carolina saw a relatively large decline in turnout from 2016, thanks to a lack of statewide races. Kentucky didn’t have any statewide races either, but a competitive House race in its 6th District drove high turnout around Lexington.

Turnout in Mississippi also took a hit. The state has some of the worst voting access laws in the country, which don’t allow for early access voting or no-excuse absentee voting. The state’s House races were not closely contested, and the special Senate race for Thad Cochran's seat was widely expected to go to a runoff (which it did, with Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith triumphing over Democrat Mike Espy).