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Connecticut state legislative special elections, 2020

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In 2020, three special elections were called to fill vacant seats in the Connecticut General Assembly. Click here to read more about the special elections.

House special elections called:

How vacancies are filled in Connecticut

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures


If there is a vacancy in the Connecticut General Assembly, a special election must be conducted to fill the vacant seat. The governor must call for an election no later than 10 days after the vacancy happens. All special elections must be held no later than 46 days after a governor's declaration. If the vacancy occurs between the 125th day and the 49th day before the day of the regular election, the special election will be held on the same day as the general election. If a vacancy occurs after the 49th day before the general election but before the Wednesday following the first Monday of January of the next-succeeding year, the governor shall not call a special election unless the vacant position is that of a member-elect.[1]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: Connecticut Gen. Stat. § 9-215


About the legislature

The Connecticut General Assembly consists of the lower House of Representatives and the upper State Senate. The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the November 2018 general election. For the most up-to-date numbers on partisan composition in this legislature, see here (Senate) and here (House).

Connecticut State Senate
Party As of November 6, 2018 After November 7, 2018
     Democratic Party 18 23
     Republican Party 18 13
Total 36 36
Connecticut House of Representatives
Party As of November 6, 2018 After November 7, 2018
     Democratic Party 80 92
     Republican Party 71 59
Total 151 151

Special elections

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

January 14, 2020

January 21, 2020

Historical data

There were 723 state legislative special elections that took place from 2010 to 2019. Connecticut held 37 special elections during the same time period; nearly four per year on average. The largest number of special elections in Connecticut took place in 2011 when 10 special elections were held.

The table below details how many state legislative special elections were held in a state in a given year.

Special elections throughout the country

See also: State legislative special elections, 2020

In 2020, 55 state legislative special elections were held in 26 states. Four special elections were canceled in New York due to the coronavirus pandemic. Between 2011 and 2019, an average of 77 special elections took place each year.

Breakdown of 2020 special elections

In 2020, special elections for state legislative positions were held for the following reasons:

  • 23 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
  • 5 due to a resignation related to criminal charges[8]
  • 18 due to retirement
  • 13 due to the death of the incumbent

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 2020. 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 2019, either the Democratic Party or Republican Party saw an average net gain of four seats across the country. Between 2018 and 2019, Democrats had a net gain of six seats.

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

Partisan Change from Special Elections (2020)
Party As of Special Election After Special Election
     Democratic Party 21 27
     Republican Party 38 32
     Independent 0 0
Total 59 59

Flipped seats

In 2020, eight seats flipped as a result of state legislative special elections.

Seats flipped from D to R

Seats flipped from R to D

State profile

See also: Connecticut and Connecticut elections, 2019
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Partisan data

The information in this section was current as of May 7, 2019

Presidential voting pattern

Congressional delegation

State executives

State legislature

Connecticut Party Control: 1992-2025
Fifteen years of Democratic trifectas  •  No Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Governor I I I R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D
Senate D D D R R D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D
House D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D

Connecticut quick stats
More Connecticut coverage on Ballotpedia:


Demographic data for Connecticut
 ConnecticutU.S.
Total population:3,584,730316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):4,8423,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:77.3%73.6%
Black/African American:10.3%12.6%
Asian:4.2%5.1%
Native American:0.2%0.8%
Pacific Islander:0%0.2%
Two or more:2.8%3%
Hispanic/Latino:14.7%17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:89.9%86.7%
College graduation rate:37.6%29.8%
Income
Median household income:$70,331$53,889
Persons below poverty level:12.2%11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015)
Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Connecticut.
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Connecticut General Assembly, "Connecticut General Statutes," accessed February 10, 2021 (Statute 9-215(a), Connecticut General Statutes)
  2. ↑ Connecticut Post, "Date set for Connecticut special elections," December 2, 2019
  3. ↑ Connecticut Mirror, "Rep. Linda Orange succumbs to cancer," November 20, 2019
  4. ↑ Connecticut Post, "Date set for Connecticut special elections," December 2, 2019
  5. ↑ Hartford Courant, "Caitlin Clarkson Pereira announces bid for House seat," November 13, 2019
  6. ↑ Ct.gov, "Governor Lamont Sets January 21 Special Election for State House Seat in Greenwich," December 6, 2019
  7. ↑ Greenwich Time, "Camillo victory will create vacancy for state rep in Greenwich," November 7, 2019
  8. ↑ Arkansas State Rep. Mickey Gates (R) was expelled by a vote of the House membership.
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