Posted April 30, 2019 | by KimS | in DemDaily, Resource

DemDaily: State Special Elections!

April 30, 2019

In the ongoing battle for control of state legislatures, special elections offer an opportunity for political parties to inch closer to their goal of a majority in either State Senate or House chambers.

Ultimate control of state legislative chambers will be critical to the outcome of who controls the 2021 redistricting process in each state.

A special election is one called to fill a vacancy that occurs when an elected official leaves office before completion of his or her full elected term. Most commonly this happens due to a death or early retirement, a decision to run for another office, or an early resignation due to an appointment or allegation

There are currently 7,383 state legislative seats in 99 state legislative chambers throughout the country.

Democrat Pam Iovino flipped PA Senate District 37 April 2nd Special Election

Despite historic gains in 2018, when Democrats flipping from red to blue over 400 state legislative seats, Republicans still control 61 of the state chambers. Democrats hold the majority in 37 chambers, and one chamber, Alaska, shares power between the two parties.

On average, there are 77 state legislative special elections per year. In 2017, Democrats has a net gain of 11 seats, and in 2018 special elections, a net gain of eight seats.

In 2019, however, of 55 state legislative special elections that have been scheduled or held in 22 states, Republicans have so far flipped four seats from blue to red. Democrats have flipped one seat, Pennsylvania's State Senate District 37 (April 2nd), and in Louisiana, State House District 62, went from Republican to Independent.

The process for determining state legislative special elections varies from state to state, and, in some cases, the special elections line up with the already scheduled November general elections.

Remaining 2019 State Special Elections

Date	State	Chamber	Democrat	Republican
April 30th	Wisconsin	State Assembly District 64	Tip McQuire	Mark Stalker
May 7th	Connecticut	State House District 130	Antonio Felipe	Joshua Parrow
May 21st	Pennsylvania	State Senate District 33	Sarah Hammond	Doug Mastriano
May 21st	Pennsylvania	State Senate District 41	Susan Boser	Joe Pittman
May 21st	Pennsylvania	State House District 11	Samuel Doctor	Marci Mustello
June 4th	California	State Senate District 1	No Democrat. Top two primary voters Republican	Brian Dahle, Kevin Kiley
June 4th	California	State Senate District 33	Lena Gonzalez	Jack Guerrero
June 18th	Florida	State House District 7	Ryan Terrell	Jason Shoaf
June 18th	Florida	State House District 38	Kelly Smith	Randy Maggard
November 5th	New Jersey	State Senate District 1	Bob Andrzejczak (Also Interm appointed State Senator)	Mike Testa
November 5th	Missouri	State House District 99	TBD: Filing May 13th	TBD: Filing May 13th
November 5th	Missouri	State House District 158	TBD: Filing May 13th	TBD: Filing May 13th
November 5th	Washington	State Senate District 40	TBD: Primary August 6th. (Liz Lovlett appointed Interim State Senator)	TBD: Primary August 6th. (Alex Ybarra appointed Interim State Representative)
November 5th	Washington	State House District 13b	TBD: Primary August 6th	TBD: Primary August 6th
November 12th	Alabama	State House District 74	Rayford Mack	TBD: Primary June 11th

There are four states with legislative elections in 2019, including Louisiana and Mississippi, where Republicans hold solid majorities in both chambers. In New Jersey, where Democrats control the State House and Senate, just the House is up this year.