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State legislative special elections, 2025
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State legislative elections Gubernatorial elections • Ballot measures |
As of September 2025, 86 state legislative special elections have been scheduled for 2025 in 22 states. One special election has also been called to fill a vacancy in the Puerto Rico House of Representatives. Between 2011 and 2024, an average of 70 special elections took place each year. For more information on the regular state legislative elections in 2025, click here. For more information on state legislative vacancies in 2025, click here.
As of September 3, 2025, four special elections had resulted in a change in party control of a state legislative seat. Iowa Senate District 35 changed from Republican to Democratic control in a January 28 special election. Mississippi House District 82 changed from Democratic to independent or minor party control in an April 22 special election runoff. Pennsylvania Senate District 36 changed from Republican to Democratic control in a March 25 special election. Iowa Senate District 1 changed from Republican to Democratic control in a August 26 special election.
Explore Ballotpedia's coverage of these elections:
- Partisan controlThe partisan balance of seats with special elections
- ElectionsInformation on special elections
- Historical dataHistorical data on special elections since 2010
Partisan control
The partisan breakdown for the special elections is as follows:
- 46 Democratic seats
- 40 Republican seats
- One New Progressive Party seat
As of September 9th, 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 | 
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 Other
|
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
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25
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36 | ||||
Elections
Click the tabs below to view detailed information regarding 2025 state legislative special elections. In this section, you will find:
- A list of elections by date
- A list of what caused special elections
- A partisan breakdown of 2025 state legislative vacancies
- Information on seats that changed party control as a result of special elections
Special elections by date
Causes
Vacancy breakdown
Party change
Editor's note: Some states choose to cancel some or all stages of an election if the number of candidates who filed does not meet a certain threshold. The table below does not reflect which elections were canceled. Please click through to each state's special election page for more information.
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.
Partisan breakdown by year
The average number of special elections per even year between 2011 and 2024 (2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022, and 2024) was 59, while the average per odd year was 80. The most special elections in a single year during that same time frame was 99, which happened in 2018.
The table below details how many state legislative seats changed parties as the result of a special election between 2011 and 2024. The numbers on the left side of the table reflect how many vacant seats were originally held by each party, while the numbers on the right side of the table show how many vacant seats each party won in special elections.
| State legislative special election vacancies and results, 2011-2024 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Total elections held | Vacancies before elections | Seats held after elections | Net change | ||||
| Democrats
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Republicans
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Minor party | Democrats
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Republicans
|
Minor party | |||
| 2024 | 52 | 26 | 26 | 0 | 29 | 23 | 0 | +3 D, -3 R |
| 2023 | 53 | 33 | 20 | 0 | 33 | 20 | 0 | - |
| 2022 | 54 | 36 | 18 | 0 | 36 | 18 | 0 | - |
| 2021 | 66 | 33 | 33 | 0 | 33 | 33 | 0 | - |
| 2020 | 59 | 21 | 38 | 0 | 27 | 32 | 0 | +6 D, -6 R |
| 2019 | 77 | 39 | 38 | 0 | 36 | 40 | 1 | -3 D, +2 R, +1 I |
| 2018 | 99 | 42 | 57 | 0 | 50 | 49 | 0 | +8 D, -8 R |
| 2017 | 98 | 45 | 53 | 0 | 56 | 42 | 0 | +11 D, -11 R |
| 2016* | 65 | 37 | 28 | 0 | 39 | 24 | 2 | +2 D, -4 R |
| 2015* | 89 | 42 | 46 | 1 | 38 | 50 | 1 | -4 D, +4 R |
| 2014 | 40 | 22 | 18 | 0 | 19 | 21 | 0 | -3 D, +3 R |
| 2013 | 84 | 51 | 33 | 0 | 48 | 36 | 0 | -3 D, +3 R |
| 2012 | 46 | 23 | 23 | 0 | 25 | 21 | 0 | +2 D, -2 R |
| 2011* | 95 | 49 | 45 | 1 | 46 | 48 | 1 | -3 D, +3 R |
| Averages | 70 | 36 | 34 | N/A | 37 | 33 | N/A | N/A |
| *Please see the year-specific pages for information regarding minor-party candidates. | ||||||||
Seats that changed partisan control by year
Current as of January 17, 2025 (updated annually)
Since 2010, 121 state legislative seats have switched partisan control, or flipped, in special elections. The chart below shows the number of special elections that resulted in partisan changes in each year:
| Flipped seats in state legislative special elections | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Total special elections | Total flips | Democratic flips | Republican flips | Other flips |
| 2024 | 52 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| 2023 | 53 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 2022 | 54 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 2021 | 66 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| 2020 | 59 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| 2019 | 77 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| 2018 | 99 | 16 | 12 | 4 | 0 |
| 2017 | 98 | 17 | 14 | 3 | 0 |
| 2016 | 65 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| 2015 | 89 | 16 | 5 | 9 | 2 |
| 2014 | 40 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 2013 | 84 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| 2012 | 46 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| 2011 | 95 | 11 | 4 | 6 | 1 |
| 2010 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 1,007 | 121 | 66 | 49 | 6 |
| Click here to see a list of all state legislative seats that have changed partisan control in special elections since 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Days between vacancies and elections by year
The following table tracks the gap between when state legislative vacancies occurred and special elections were held from 2012 through August 14, 2025:
Election coverage by office
Congressional special elections
Governors
Attorney general
Other state executives
State legislatures
State ballot measures
Local ballot measures
State judges
Local judges
Municipal government
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See also
- Past state legislative elections: 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016
- Past state legislative special elections: 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016
- Past election analysis: 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018
Footnotes
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