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Kentucky state legislative special elections, 2025

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As of December, one special election has been called to fill a vacant seat in the Kentucky General Assembly.

Click here to read more about the special elections.

Senate special elections called:

How vacancies are filled in Kentucky


If there is a vacancy in the Kentucky General Assembly, a special election must be held to fill the vacant seat. The governor must call for an election if the General Assembly is not in session. The presiding officer in the house where the vacancy happened must call for an election if lawmakers are in session.[1] All nominating petitions must be filed at least 56 days before the election.[2]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: Kentucky Rev. Stat. § 118.730-§118.770


About the legislature

The Kentucky General Assembly, also called the Kentucky Legislature, is the state legislature of Kentucky. It is a bicameral legislature, consisting of the upper Kentucky State Senate and the lower Kentucky House of Representatives.

The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the most recent general elections prior to 2025. For the most up-to-date numbers on partisan composition in this legislature, see here (Senate) and here (House).

Kentucky State Senate
Party As of November 5, 2024 After November 6, 2024
     Democratic Party 7 7
     Republican Party 30 31
     Vacancy 1 0
Total 38 38
Kentucky House of Representatives
Party As of November 5, 2024 After November 6, 2024
     Democratic Party 20 20
     Republican Party 80 80
Total 100 100

Special elections

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

December 16, 2025

Historical data

There were 1,007 state legislative special elections that took place from 2010 to 2024. Kentucky held 32 special elections during the same time period. The largest number of special elections in Kentucky took place in 2012, 2013, 2016, and 2020 when four 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, 2025

As of December 2025, 95 state legislative special elections have been scheduled for 2025 in 23 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.

Breakdown of 2025 special elections

In 2025, special elections for state legislative positions are being held for the following reasons:

  • 39 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
  • 26 due to resignation
  • 14 due to redistricting
  • 15 due to the death of the incumbent
  • 1 due to the officeholder leaving at term end


Impact of special elections on partisan composition

The partisan breakdown for the special elections is as follows:


As of December 2nd, 2025, Republicans controlled 55.31% of all state legislative seats nationally, while Democrats held 43.5%. 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 Democratic Party Republican Party Grey.png Other Vacant
State senates 827 1,120 6 20
State houses 2,386 2,965 20 42
Total: 3,213

4,085

26

62


The table below details how many seats changed parties as the result of a special election in 2025. 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.

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

Partisan Change from Special Elections (2025)
Party As of Special Election After Special Election
     Democratic Party 51 48
     Republican Party 44 30
     Independent 0 2
Total 95 80

Flipped seats

In 2025, as of August 26, seven seats have changed party hands as a result of state legislative special elections.


Seats that changed from D to I

Seats that changed from R to D



See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, "Kentucky Revised Statutes," accessed February 10, 2021 (Statute 118.730)
  2. ↑ Kentucky General Assembly, "Kentucky Revised Statutes," accessed February 28, 2025 (Statute 118.770)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Spectrum News, "December special election set to fill Jefferson County's vacant Senate seat," accessed October 17, 2025
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