Maine state legislative special elections, 2025
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As of October, one special election has been called to fill a vacant seat in the Maine State Legislature.
Click here to read more about the special elections.
House special elections called:
- District 24: February 25
How vacancies are filled in Maine
If there is a vacancy in the Maine State Legislature, a special election must be held to fill the vacant seat.[1][2] The governor must call for an election and inform political committees of the nomination deadline.[3][1][2] The person elected to the seat serves for the remainder of the unexpired term.[4]
See sources: Maine Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 21-A, § 382 Maine Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 21-A, §366 and Maine Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 21-A, § 381
About the legislature
The Maine State Legislature is the state legislature of Maine. It is a bicameral body composed of the lower Maine House of Representatives and the upper Maine State Senate.
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).
Maine State Senate | |||
---|---|---|---|
Party | As of November 5, 2024 | After November 6, 2024 | |
Democratic Party | 22 | 20 | |
Republican Party | 13 | 15 | |
Total | 35 | 35 |
Maine House of Representatives | |||
---|---|---|---|
Party | As of November 5, 2024 | After November 6, 2024 | |
Democratic Party | 79 | 75 | |
Republican Party | 67 | 73 | |
Independent | 1 | 1 | |
Unenrolled | 0 | 1 | |
Independent for Maine Party | 1 | 0 | |
Vacancy | 3 | 1 | |
Total | 151 | 151 |
Special elections
Click [show] to the right of the district name for more information:
February 25, 2025
Maine House of Representatives District 24 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A special election for Maine House of Representatives District 24 was called for February 25, 2025. The filing deadline for major party and non-major party candidates was January 10, 2025. The filing deadline for write-in candidates was January 14, 2025.[5] The seat became vacant after Joseph Perry (D) resigned after being appointed state treasurer on December 4, 2024.[6] General electionSpecial general election for Maine House of Representatives District 24Sean Faircloth defeated Carolyn Fish in the special general election for Maine House of Representatives District 24 on February 25, 2025.
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Historical data
There were 1,007 state legislative special elections that took place from 2010 to 2024. Maine held 22 special elections during the same time period. The largest number of special elections in Maine took place in 2011 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
As of October 2025, 92 state legislative special elections have been scheduled for 2025 in 22 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:
- 38 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
- 25 due to resignation
- 14 due to redistricting
- 14 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:
- 50 Democratic seats
- 42 Republican seats
As of October 16th, 2025, Republicans controlled 55.4% of all state legislative seats nationally, while Democrats held 43.64%. 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 | ![]() |
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Vacant | ||||
State senates | 831 | 1,120 | 5 | 17 | ||||
State houses | 2,392 | 2,972 | 20 | 29 | ||||
Total: | 3,223
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4,092
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25
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46 |
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 | 50 | 26 | |
Republican Party | 42 | 21 | |
Independent | 0 | 1 | |
Total | 92 | 48 |
Flipped seats
In 2025, as of August 26, four 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
- Iowa State Senate District 35 (January 28)
- Pennsylvania State Senate District 36 (March 25)
- Iowa State Senate District 1 (August 26)
See also
- State legislative special elections, 2025
- State legislative special elections, 2024
- State legislative special elections, 2023
- State legislative special elections, 2022
- State legislative special elections, 2021
- State legislative special elections, 2020
- Maine State Legislature
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Maine Legislature, "Maine Revised Statutes," accessed February 11, 2021 (Statute 21A-381)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Maine Legislature, "Maine Revised Statutes," accessed February 11, 2021 (Statute 21A-382)
- ↑ Maine Legislature, "Constitution of the State of Maine," accessed February 11, 2021 (Article IV, Section 5)
- ↑ Maine Legislature, "Maine Revised Statutes," accessed February 11, 2021 (Statute 21A-361)
- ↑ State of Maine Department of the Secretary of State, "Special election set to fill House District 24 seat," December 20, 2024
- ↑ ‘’Maine Morning Star’', "Sitting legislator to serve as state treasurer, prompting special election”, December 4, 2024
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