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Illinois state legislative special elections, 2020

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In 2020, two special elections were called to fill vacant seats in the Illinois State Legislature. Click here to read more about the special elections.

Senate special elections called:

The Illinois State Senate also held regular elections in 2020. Click here for more on the regularly scheduled elections.

How vacancies are filled in Illinois

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures


If there is a vacancy in the Illinois General Assembly, the state constitution mandates that the seat must be filled by appointment when allowed by law. The appointment must be made within 30 days after the vacancy. If a vacancy occurs in the Senate with more than twenty-eight months remaining in the term, the appointment is interim until the next general election, when a special election must be held. All other House and Senate vacancies are to be filled by an appointment from the same political party that last held the seat.[1] If the vacated seat was held by an independent (no party affiliation), the governor is to appoint an independent successor within 30 days.[2]

The vacancy must be filled by the respective party organizations covering the legislative district.[3] The respective committeemen and committeewomen representing the legislative district must vote on a replacement.[4] The person selected for the seat serves for the remainder of the unfilled term.[5]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: Illinois Const. Art. 4, Sec. 2(d) and Illinois Rev. Stat. ch. 10, § 5/25-6


About the legislature

The Illinois General Assembly is a bicameral body composed of the Illinois House of Representatives, with 118 members, and the Illinois State Senate, with 59 members. 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).

Illinois State Senate
Party As of November 6, 2018 After November 7, 2018
     Democratic Party 37 40
     Republican Party 22 19
Total 59 59
Illinois House of Representatives
Party As of November 6, 2018 After November 7, 2018
     Democratic Party 67 74
     Republican Party 51 44
Total 118 118

Special elections

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

November 3, 2020

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[10]
  • 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

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Illinois General Assembly, "Illinois Constitution," accessed February 4, 2021 (Section Article IV, Section 2(d))
  2. ↑ Illinois General Assembly, "Illinois Compiled Statutes," accessed February 4, 2021 (Statute 10 ILCS 5/25-6)
  3. ↑ Illinois General Assembly, "Illinois Election Code," accessed February 4, 2021 (Statute 10 ILCS 5/25 6 (a), (c))
  4. ↑ Illinois General Assembly, "Illinois Election Code," accessed February 4, 2021 (Statute 10 ILCS 5/25 6 (d))
  5. ↑ Illinois General Assembly, "Illinois Election Code," accessed February 4, 2021 (Statute 10 ILCS 5/25 6 (f))
  6. ↑ Marielle Bricker, "Email communication with Matt Dietrich, Public Information Officer of the Illinois State Board of Elections," August 3, 2020
  7. ↑ Chicago Sun-Times, "Illinois Senate President John Cullerton to retire after decade as Dem leader," November 14, 2019
  8. ↑ Chicago Tribune, "Sen. Martin Sandoval resigns amid federal corruption investigation," November 27, 2019
  9. ↑ Chicago Sun-Times, "With ‘heavy heart,’ Sandoval resigning amid corruption probe to avoid ‘distraction’," November 27, 2019
  10. ↑ Arkansas State Rep. Mickey Gates (R) was expelled by a vote of the House membership.
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