LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – In the final round of State Capitol Smackdown, the U.S. Capitol version of March Madness, New York narrowly beat out New Jersey for the title of Best Capitol in the country, after Michigan lost to NJ by a couple percent. 

On Tuesday, the results were posted indicating that “The Empire State” captured 61% of voters while the host of the tournament obtained 39% of the votes.  Participants in the voting process could cast their votes via Instagram or Twitter. 

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While the New Jersey Capitol has hosted numerous competitions in the past including March Mustache Madness in 2020, featuring facial hair of historic State Assemblymen and Senators, Pin It To Win It (2021), featuring the Office of Legislative Services collection of political pins, this year was the first time it hosted the State Capitol Smackdown bracket. 

“Previously, we have challenged State Capitol buildings to show off their most impressive decorative features through a series of Twitter postings that featured everything from rotundas to door knobs,” Erica Freeman, Tour Coordinator for the New Jersey’s Capitol said in an email to Michigan News Source, “That friendly interaction between states like New York, North Carolina, Utah, Oregon, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Michigan led to the idea of developing a friendly competition between the states for this year’s March Madness bracket.” 

State Capitols with a social media presence were contacted ahead of the bracket, and overall there were 5,354 votes cast during the competition according to Freeman. 

“All of the States who actively participated were wonderful throughout the experience,” Freeman said in an email, “Many took the opportunity to show off additional decorative features and the history of their structures to drum up votes throughout the competition.”

Michigan’s nearly 145 year old capitol made it to the final four and then the final three before losing by a margin of merely 4% to the capitol of New Jersey who won 52% to 48%.  

Despite Michigan sharing its principal architect, Elijah Myers, with Colorado, and Texas,  Michigan’s Capitol was victorious over both of them. 

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“Architecturally speaking our dome is very important; we were one of the first state capitols to have a big dome up on the top like the USA Capitol, and that became a really popular design after we built our building,” May Oyler, Engagement Manager for the Michigan Capitol social media accounts said, “The other thing that makes us really distinct is our art.” 

New Jersey also boasted the uniqueness of its dome feature alongside others defining characteristics. 

“The most impressive external feature of the New Jersey State House is its 24-karat gold gilded dome, which was recently re-gilded in 2023 as part of a five-year renovation of the 1889 Executive State House,” Freeman said in an email to MNS.  “New Jersey’s State House is unique in that it has been intact since 1792, making it the third oldest capitol building in continuous use in the country.”

Both Michigan and New Jersey representatives expressed their support for the community to come visit and learn more about their respective capitols. 

“[State Houses and capitol buildings] are meant to be noticed so that citizens know where and how to engage with participatory government,” Freeman said in an email to MNS. “We hope that everyone who participated in the votes came to appreciate the history and elaborate designs of each State’s capitol building, and had fun rooting for their own state along the way.” 

New York’s Capitol, one of only 10 in the U.S. without a dome roof, also took 32 years and at least three architects to complete.