Arkansas state legislative special elections, 2018

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In 2018, five special elections were called to fill vacant seats in the Arkansas General Assembly. Click here to read more about the special elections.

Senate special elections called:

House special elections called:

How vacancies are filled in Arkansas

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures


If there is a vacancy in the Arkansas General Assembly, the governor must call for a special election to fill the vacancy. The election must be called by the governor without delay.[1][2] For all special elections in the Senate, the county that first established the district is responsible for conducting the election.[3] If the special election is to fill a House seat, the county board of election commissioners representing the vacant district conducts the election.[4][5]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: Arkansas Stat. Ann. § 7-11-103 and Arkansas Cons. Art. 5, § 6


About the legislature

The Arkansas General Assembly is the legislative branch of the Arkansas government. The General Assembly consists of an upper branch, the Arkansas State Senate, and a lower branch, the Arkansas House of Representatives. The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the November 2016 general election. For the most up-to-date numbers on partisan composition in this legislature, see here (Senate) and here (House).

Arkansas State Senate
Party As of November 7, 2016 After November 8, 2016
     Democratic Party 11 9
     Republican Party 24 26
Total 35 35
Arkansas House of Representatives
Party As of November 7, 2016 After November 8, 2016
     Democratic Party 34 27
     Republican Party 64 73
     Independent 1 0
     Vacancy 1 0
Total 100 100

Special elections


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

May 22, 2018

August 14, 2018


November 6, 2018


Special elections throughout the country

See also: State legislative special elections, 2018

In 2018, 99 state legislative special elections were held in 26 states. Between 2011 and 2017, an average of 74 special elections took place each year.

Breakdown of 2018 special elections

In 2018, special elections for state legislative positions were held for the following reasons:

  • 58 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
  • 16 due to a retirement
  • 10 due to a resignation related to criminal charges
  • 7 due to a resignation related to allegations of sexual misconduct
  • 5 due to the death of the incumbent
  • 2 due to a resignation to take a private sector job
  • 1 due to an election being rerun

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 2018. 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 2016, either the Democratic Party or Republican Party saw an average net gain of three seats across the country. In 2017, Democrats had a net gain of 11 seats.

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

Partisan Change from Special Elections (2018)
Party As of Special Election After Special Election
     Democratic Party 42 50
     Republican Party 57 49
     Independent 0 0
Total 99 99


Democrats gained 11 seats in 2017 special elections and eight seats in 2018 special elections. The table below details the results of special elections held in 2017 and 2018 cumulatively.

Partisan Change from Special Elections (2017-2018)
Party As of Special Election After Special Election
     Democratic Party 87 106
     Republican Party 110 91
     Independent 0 0
Total 197 197

Flipped seats

In 2018, 16 seats flipped as a result of state legislative special elections. Twelve seats flipped from Republican control to Democratic control. Four seats flipped from Democratic control to Republican control.

In New York, a Democratic candidate running on the Republican ticket won election to Assembly District 142 on April 24. The previous incumbent in that district was a Democrat. Due to the winning candidate's party affiliation, Assembly District 142 was not added to the list of flipped seats in 2018.

Seats flipped from R to D

Seats flipped from D to R


See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Arkansas Legislature, "Arkansas Code - Unannotated," accessed February 9, 2021 (Statutes, 10-2-118)
  2. ↑ Arkansas Legislature, "Arkansas Code - Unannotated," accessed February 9, 2021 (Statutes, 10-2-119)
  3. ↑ Arkansas Legislature, "Arkansas Code - Unannotated," accessed February 9, 2021 (Statutes, 10-2-120(a)(1))
  4. ↑ Arkansas Legislature, "Arkansas Code - Unannotated," accessed February 9, 2021 (Statutes, 7-11-103(a))
  5. ↑ Arkansas Legislature, "Arkansas Code - Unannotated," accessed February 24, 2025 (Statutes, 7-11-105 1 (a)-(c))
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Arkansas Online, "Democrat going for it, joins state Senate race," December 14, 2017
  7. ↑ Arkansas Times, "Sen. Greg Standridge dies at 50," November 16, 2017
  8. ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "February 13, 2018 Special Primary Election," February 13, 2018
  9. ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "March 13, 2018 Special Primary Runoff Election," March 13, 2018
  10. ↑ Arkansas Online, "Governor sets elections to fill state Senate vacancy," November 18, 2017
  11. ↑ Arkansas Online, "State senator quits post, joins federal energy agency," November 17, 2017
  12. ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "February 13, 2018 Special Primary Election," February 13, 2018
  13. ↑ Arkansas Online, "Primary date set in House contest," November 16, 2017
  14. ↑ Arkansas Online, "Primary date set in House contest," November 16, 2017
  15. ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "February 13, 2018 Special Primary Election," February 13, 2018
  16. ↑ State of Arkansas Executive Department, "Proclamation Calling for a Special Election," accessed February 14, 2018
  17. ↑ Times Record, "Jake Files resigns from Arkansas Senate after guilty plea," January 31, 2018
  18. ↑ Times Record, "Glidewell announces bid for District 8 Senate seat," March 7, 2018
  19. ↑ Arkansas.gov, "Special Election Proclamation," June 15, 2018
  20. ↑ Arkansas Online, "Vote on Gillam’s seat planned for Nov. 6," June 11, 2018
  21. ↑ The general election was cancelled after Wayne McMahen (R) was the only candidate to file for election.
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