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Louisiana state legislative special elections, 2017

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In 2017, six special elections were called to fill vacant seats in the Louisiana State Legislature. All six vacancies were filled.

House special elections called:

Senate special elections called:

How vacancies are filled in Louisiana


If there is a vacancy in the Louisiana State Legislature, the vacant seat must be filled by a special election. An election is required if there are six months or more left in the unexpired term. The presiding officer in the house where the vacancy happened must call for an election no later than 10 days after the vacancy occurred. The presiding officer must determine the dates for the election along with all filing deadlines. The person elected to the seat serves for the remainder of the unexpired term.[1]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: Louisiana Rev. Stat. Ann. § 18:601


About the legislature

The Louisiana State Legislature is the state legislature of Louisiana. It is a bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives, and the upper house, the Louisiana State Senate. The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the November 2015 elections. Louisiana did not hold general state legislative elections in 2016. For the most up-to-date numbers on partisan composition in this legislature, see here (Senate) and here (House).

Louisiana State Senate
Party As of November 21, 2015 After November 21, 2015
     Democratic Party 13 14
     Republican Party 26 25
Total 39 39
Louisiana House of Representatives
Party As of November 2015 After November 2015
     Democratic Party 43 42
     Republican Party 58 61
     Independent 2 2
     Vacancy 2 0
Total 105 105

Special elections

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March 25, 2017

April 29, 2017

October 14, 2017

Special elections throughout the country

See also: State legislative special elections, 2017

Between 2011 and 2016, an average of 70 special elections took place each year. A total of 25 states use special elections to fill legislative vacancies. In two other states—Illinois and Indiana—special elections are used in limited circumstances. The rest of the states fill vacancies either through appointments made by the governor of the state or by a commission made up of officials from the former member's party. In 2017, 98 state legislative seats were filled through special elections.

Breakdown of 2017 special elections

In 2017, special elections for state legislative positions were held for a variety of reasons:

  • 46 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
  • 1 due to an ineligible general election candidate
  • 15 due to the incumbent accepting another job
  • 22 due to a retirement
  • 15 due to a death

The partisan breakdown for the special elections was as follows:

Impact of special elections on partisan composition

The table below details how many seats changed parties as the result of a special election. 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. It is not typical to see significant net changes in overall state legislative party composition because of special elections. In elections between 2011 and 2016, one party (either Republicans or Democrats) saw an average net gain of three seats across the country, although actual races won and lost by each party varied more. For instance, in 2015, Democrats lost nine seats to Republicans but won six different seats in other races, resulting in a net loss of three seats.

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

Partisan Change from Special Elections
Party As of Special Election After Special Election
     Democratic Party 45 56
     Republican Party 53 42
     Independent - -
Total 98 98

Flipped seats

In total, 17 state legislative seats flipped party control in 2017. Democrats flipped 14 seats and Republicans flipped three seats as a result of special state legislative elections in 2017.

Seats flipped from D to R

Seats flipped from R to D

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Louisiana Legislature, "Louisiana Election Code," accessed February 10, 2021 (Statute 18:601, Louisiana Statutes)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Star, "La. politics: Governor may steer clear of legislative races," accessed January 19, 2017
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Louisiana Secretary of State, "Candidate Inquiry," accessed January 19, 2017
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official election results for 3/25/2017," accessed March 25, 2017
  5. ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official election results for 4/29/2017," accessed April 29, 2017
  6. ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Acadia Parish," accessed March 24, 2017
  7. ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Registration Statistics - Parish," accessed March 24, 2017
  8. ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Candidate inquiry," accessed February 2, 2017
  9. ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Qualifying for Special Senate District 2 Election," March 14, 2017
  10. ↑ Nola, "Troy Brown resigns Louisiana Senate, avoiding expulsion," February 16, 2017
  11. ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "State Senator 2nd Senatorial District," March 19, 2017
  12. ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official election results for 4/29/2017," accessed April 29, 2017
  13. ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "State Senator 2nd Senatorial District," March 19, 2017
  14. ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official election results for 5/27/2017," accessed April 29, 2017
  15. ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "2017 elections," accessed June 27, 2017
  16. ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Candidate Inquiry," accessed July 17, 2017
  17. ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Unofficial results - October 14, 2017," accessed October 14, 2017
  18. ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "2017 elections," accessed June 27, 2017
  19. ↑ Advocate, "Covington Rep. John Schroder to leave the Louisiana House and focus on state treasurer's race," June 6, 2017
  20. ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official results - October 14, 2017," accessed October 14, 2017
  21. ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Candidate Inquiry," accessed July 17, 2017
  22. ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official results - November 18, 2017," accessed November 18, 2017
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