States election's beginning to get hostile (6)
I believe the answer is:
averse
'hostile' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'states election's beginning to' is the wordplay.
'states' becomes 'avers' (to aver is to declare or state).
'beginning to' says to take the initial letters.
The first letter of 'elections' is 'e'.
'avers'+'e'='AVERSE'
'get' is the link.
(Other definitions for averse that I've seen before include "A piece of poetry is reluctant" , "Disinclined, maybe to hard work" , "Hostile" , "Having a strong dislike" , "Having a strong opposition (to)" .)