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Massachusetts state legislative special elections, 2015

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In 2015, three seats were vacated and filled by special elections in the Massachusetts State Legislature. The following districts had a vacancy in 2015:

Breakdown of 2015 special elections

In 2015, the reasons prompting state legislative special elections were as follows:

The partisan breakdown for vacancies were as follows:

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

Partisan Change from Special Elections
Party As of Vacancy After Special Election
     Democratic Party 42 38*
     Republican Party 46 50*
     Independent 1 1
Total 89 89

*In 2015, Democrats lost nine seats in special elections, but gained six seats. Republicans lost five seats in special elections, but gained eight seats.
*Although Edwin Gomes won election to the Connecticut State Senate as a Working Families Party candidate, after swearing in he was listed as a Democratic senator.
*Although Diane Richardson won election to the New York State Assembly as a Working Families Party candidate, after swearing in she was listed as a Democratic representative.
*Although Jay Mathis won election to the Mississippi House of Representatives as a Nonpartisan candidate, after swearing in he was listed as a Republican representative.

How vacancies are filled


If there is a vacancy in the Massachusetts General Court, a special election must be conducted to fill the vacant seat. The election must be held on the next regularly scheduled date on the election calendar.[1] Local governments that conduct special elections can receive reimbursement from the state treasurer's office for costs incurred.[2][3]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: Massachusetts Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 54, § 141 and Massachusetts Const. Amend. Art. 24


Special elections

March 31, 2015





November 3, 2015



See also

Footnotes

  1. Massachusetts General Court, "General Laws," accessed February 12, 2021 (Section Chapter 50, Section 6A)
  2. Massachusetts General Court, "General Laws," accessed February 12, 2021 (Section Chapter 3: Section 10A)
  3. Massachusetts General Court, "General Laws," accessed February 12, 2021 (Section Chapter 54: Section 141)
  4. 4.0 4.1 Boston Globe, "Voters lift Madaro in E. Boston House primary," March 4, 2015
  5. 5.0 5.1 Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, "2015 State Representative Special General Election-1st Suffolk District," April 16, 2015 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "MAResultOne" defined multiple times with different content
  6. WBZ/AP, "Charlie Baker’s Cabinet Nearly Filled," January 8, 2015
  7. CommonWealth, "DeLeo reelected as Speaker," January 7, 2015
  8. Worcester Telegram, "Rep. Beaton of Shrewsbury to join Baker administration," November 18, 2014
  9. Telegram & Gazette, "Beaton to take state rep. oath, resign," December 30, 2014
  10. Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, "Special State Election 2nd Plymouth and Bristol Senatorial District," accessed July 14, 2015
  11. MassLive, "State Sen. Tom Kennedy dies at 63 after more than 30 years in Legislature," accessed June 30, 2015
  12. Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, "Special State Primary Candidates," accessed September 10, 2015
  13. Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, "2015 State Senate Special General Election," accessed November 20, 2015
  14. Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, "2015 State Senate Special Democratic Primary," accessed November 20, 2015