Massachusetts state legislative special elections, 2018

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In 2018, three special elections were called to fill vacant seats in the Massachusetts General Court. Click here to read more about the special elections.

Senate special elections called:

House special elections called:

How vacancies are filled in Massachusetts

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures


If there is a vacancy in the Massachusetts General Court, a special election must be conducted to fill the vacant seat. The election must be held on the next regularly scheduled date on the election calendar.[1] Local governments that conduct special elections can receive reimbursement from the state treasurer's office for costs incurred.[2][3]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: Massachusetts Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 54, § 141 and Massachusetts Const. Amend. Art. 24


About the legislature

The Massachusetts State Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court. There are 40 members. Each member represented an average of 163,691 residents as of the 2010 Census.[4] After the 2000 Census, each member represented 158,727 residents.[5] Senators are elected in even-numbered years to two-year terms and take office on the first Wednesday in January following the election.

The Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court. There are 160 members. Each member represented an average of 40,923 residents as of the 2010 Census.[6] After the 2000 Census, each member represented approximately 39,682 residents.[7] Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives are elected in even-numbered years and serve two-year terms that are not subject to term limits.

Partisan breakdown

The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the most recent general elections prior to 2017. For the most up-to-date numbers on partisan composition in this legislature, see here (Senate) and here (House).

Massachusetts House of Representatives
Party As of November 7, 2016 After November 8, 2016
     Democratic Party 125 125
     Republican Party 34 35
     Vacancy 1 0
Total 160 160
Massachusetts State Senate
Party As of November 7, 2016 After November 8, 2016
     Democratic Party 34 34
     Republican Party 6 6
Total 40 40

Special elections


Click [show] to the right of the district name for more information:

March 6, 2018

April 3, 2018

May 1, 2018

Special elections throughout the country

See also: State legislative special elections, 2018

In 2018, 99 state legislative special elections were held in 26 states. Between 2011 and 2017, an average of 74 special elections took place each year.

Breakdown of 2018 special elections

In 2018, special elections for state legislative positions were held for the following reasons:

  • 58 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
  • 16 due to a retirement
  • 10 due to a resignation related to criminal charges
  • 7 due to a resignation related to allegations of sexual misconduct
  • 5 due to the death of the incumbent
  • 2 due to a resignation to take a private sector job
  • 1 due to an election being rerun

Impact of special elections on partisan composition

The partisan breakdown for the special elections was as follows:

The table below details how many seats changed parties as the result of a special election in 2018. The number on the left reflects how many vacant seats were originally held by each party, while the number on the right shows how many vacant seats each party won in the special elections. In elections between 2011 and 2016, either the Democratic Party or Republican Party saw an average net gain of three seats across the country. In 2017, Democrats had a net gain of 11 seats.

Note: This table reflects information for elections that were held and not the total number of vacant seats.

Partisan Change from Special Elections (2018)
Party As of Special Election After Special Election
     Democratic Party 42 50
     Republican Party 57 49
     Independent 0 0
Total 99 99


Democrats gained 11 seats in 2017 special elections and eight seats in 2018 special elections. The table below details the results of special elections held in 2017 and 2018 cumulatively.

Partisan Change from Special Elections (2017-2018)
Party As of Special Election After Special Election
     Democratic Party 87 106
     Republican Party 110 91
     Independent 0 0
Total 197 197

Flipped seats

In 2018, 16 seats flipped as a result of state legislative special elections. Twelve seats flipped from Republican control to Democratic control. Four seats flipped from Democratic control to Republican control.

In New York, a Democratic candidate running on the Republican ticket won election to Assembly District 142 on April 24. The previous incumbent in that district was a Democrat. Due to the winning candidate's party affiliation, Assembly District 142 was not added to the list of flipped seats in 2018.

Seats flipped from R to D

Seats flipped from D to R


See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Massachusetts General Court, "General Laws," accessed February 12, 2021 (Section Chapter 50, Section 6A)
  2. ↑ Massachusetts General Court, "General Laws," accessed February 12, 2021 (Section Chapter 3: Section 10A)
  3. ↑ Massachusetts General Court, "General Laws," accessed February 12, 2021 (Section Chapter 54: Section 141)
  4. ↑ U.S. Census Bureau, "Population Distribution and Change: 2000 to 2010," April 2011
  5. ↑ U.S. Census Bureau, "States Ranked by Population," April 2, 2001
  6. ↑ U.S. Census Bureau, "Population Distribution and Change: 2000 to 2010," April 2011
  7. ↑ U.S. Census Bureau, "States Ranked by Population," April 2, 2001
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Marble Head, "Special election to fill McGee vacancy March 6," November 16, 2017
  9. ↑ Essex Wicked Local, "STATE HOUSE ROUNDUP -- Going into holiday hibernation," January 2, 2018
  10. ↑ Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, "Special State Election - 2nd Bristol Representative District," accessed January 10, 2018
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 The Sun Chronicle, "Special elections set for Attleboro state rep race," January 10, 2018 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "sunc" defined multiple times with different content
  12. ↑ Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, "Special State Primary Candidates - 2nd Bristol State Representative District," accessed February 7, 2018
  13. ↑ The Sun Chronicle, "Election results for Attleboro's special state rep primary," March 6, 2018
  14. ↑ Attleboro Patch, "Attleboro Election Results: New High School Approved," April 3, 2018
  15. ↑ Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, "Special State Election - 1st Suffolk Senatorial District," accessed January 31, 2018
  16. ↑ Massachusetts Secretary of State, "1st Suffolk State Senatorial District," accessed March 21, 2018
  17. ↑ The general election was cancelled after Wayne McMahen (R) was the only candidate to file for election.
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