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State legislative special elections, 2012
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← 2011
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Special Elections |
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Other 2012 Election coverage |
State Senate elections • State House elections Gubernatorial elections • Ballot measures |
Across the nation, special elections are frequently conducted to fill vacancies in state legislatures. 27 states use special elections to fill legislative vacancies. In two states, Illinois and Indiana, special elections are used in limited circumstances. In 2012, 46 state legislative seats were filled through special elections in 19 states.
Breakdown of 2012 special elections
The reasons for special elections were as follows:
- 1 due to recall
- 1 due to an invalid election
- 2 due to criminal prosecution
- 7 due to political appointments
- 8 due to legislator's passing
- 13 due to retirement
- 14 due to a legislator's election to or candidacy for another office
The partisan breakdown for vacancies was as follows:
- 23 Democratic seats
- 23 Republican seats
The breakdown of partisan pickups was as follows:
- Five Democrats -- Chris Johnson, Curtis McDaniel, Didi Barrett, Frank Skartados, and Edward Neilson -- captured seats formerly held by Republicans.
- Three Republicans -- David Storobin, Michael Kearns, and Richard Heath -- captured seats formerly held by Democrats.
- No independent or minor-party candidates captured seats in 2012.
Legend
These symbols denote the status of each special election:
- ☑ : This election has been decided.
: This election has proceeded to a runoff.
- ☐ : This election has not yet occurred.
: This election is too close to call or contested.
Results
The following candidates won a special election in 2012:
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Special elections by date
Historical data
State breakdown by year
The table below details how many state legislative special elections were held in a state in a given year. From 2010 to 2024, Georgia held the most state legislative special elections with 82. Pennsylvania held the second-most special elections with 69.
See also
Footnotes