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State legislative special elections, 2021
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State legislative elections Gubernatorial elections • Ballot measures |
In 2021, 66 state legislative special elections were held in 21 states. Between 2011 and 2020, an average of 75 special elections took place each year.
See the sections below for additional information on state legislative special elections in 2021.
- Causes and partisan control data: This section provides information on why special elections are held and the impact of special elections on the partisan composition of state legislatures.
- Special elections by date: This section lists all special elections held in 2021 in the order they were held.
- Vacancies: This section provides information about vacancies across state legislatures in 2021.
- Seats that changed party control: This section lists the seats where a candidate of a party other than the previous incumbent's party won the special election.
- Historical data: This section contains data on special elections going back to 2010.
- See also: State legislative elections, 2021
Causes and partisan control data
In 2021, special elections for state legislative positions were held for the following reasons:
- 27 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
- 23 due to resignation
- 4 due to a resignation related to criminal charges
- 12 due to the death of the incumbent
Impact of special elections on partisan composition
The partisan breakdown for the special elections was as follows:
- 33 Democratic seats
- 33 Republican seats
As of September 10th, 2025, Republicans controlled 55.5% of all state legislative seats nationally, while Democrats held 43.68%. Republicans held a majority in 57 chambers, and Democrats held the majority in 39 chambers. Two chambers (Alaska House and Alaska Senate) were organized under multipartisan, power-sharing coalitions. One chamber (Minnesota House of Representatives) was split evenly between both parties.
| Partisan balance of all 7,386 state legislative seats | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legislative chamber | Vacant | |||||||
| State senates | 834 | 1,122 | 5 | 12 | ||||
| State houses | 2,392 | 2,977 | 20 | 24 | ||||
| Total: | 3,226
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4,099
|
25
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36 | ||||
Special elections by date
Seats that changed party control
The table below details how many seats changed parties as the result of a special election in 2021. 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 2020, either the Democratic Party or Republican Party saw an average net gain of four seats across the country.
Note: This table reflects information for elections that were held and not the total number of vacant seats.
| Partisan Change from Special Elections (2021) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of Special Election | After Special Election | |
| Democratic Party | 33 | 33 | |
| Republican Party | 33 | 33 | |
| Independent | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 66 | 66 | |
Flipped seats
In 2021, six seats flipped as a result of state legislative special elections.
Seats flipped from D to R
- Connecticut State Senate District 36 (August 17)
- Iowa House of Representatives District 29 (October 12)
- Texas House of Representatives District 118 (November 2)
Seats flipped from R to D
- New Hampshire House of Representatives District Hillsborough 7 (September 7)
- Maine House of Representatives District 86 (November 2)
- Massachusetts House of Representatives Fourth Essex District (November 30)
Vacancies
Partisan breakdown of vacancies
- See also: State legislative vacancies, 2021
In 2021, there were 184 state legislative vacancies in 44 states.
The process for filling vacancies varies among the state legislatures. Twenty-five states fill vacancies in the state legislature through special elections. Twenty-one states fill vacancies through appointments, and four states fill vacancies through a hybrid system that uses both appointments and special elections. The most common reasons for a state legislative vacancy include officeholders resigning, dying, leaving for a new job, being elected or appointed to a different office, or receiving a legal conviction.
The table below details the partisan breakdown for state legislative vacancies in 2021. 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 held after the special elections and appointments took place.
| Partisan breakdown of the vacancies (2021) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of vacancy | After vacancy | |
| Democratic Party | |||
| Republican Party | |||
| Independent | |||
| N/A | |||
| Total | 184 | 178 | |
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
- State legislative elections, 2021
- State legislative elections, 2020
- State legislative elections, 2019
- State legislative elections, 2018
- State legislative elections, 2017
- State legislative elections, 2016
- State legislative special elections, 2020
- State legislative special elections, 2019
- State legislative special elections, 2018
- State legislative special elections, 2017
- State legislative special elections, 2016
Footnotes
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