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Michigan state legislative special elections, 2017

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A special election to fill two vacancies in the Michigan House of Representatives took place on November 7, 2017.

How vacancies are filled in Michigan


If there is a vacancy in the Michigan State Legislature, the governor must call for a special election to fill the vacancy or direct that the vacancy be filled at the next general election.[1][2]

If the vacancy happens after the statewide primary election, the party organizations in the district select the party's nominee. The nominee must be voted on no later than 21 days after the vacancy occurred and at least 10 days before the general election.[3]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: Michigan Const. Art. 5, § 13


About the legislature

The Michigan House of Representatives is the lower house of the Michigan Legislature. There are 110 members. Each member represents an average of 89,851 residents as of the 2010 Census.[4] After the 2000 Census, each member represented approximately 90,349 residents.[5] Representatives are elected in even-numbered years to 2-year terms and take office on the first day of January following the election. Each representative is limited to serving three terms.[6]

Partisan breakdown

The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the most recent general elections prior to 2017. For the most up-to-date numbers on partisan composition in this legislature, see here (Senate) and here (House).

Michigan House of Representatives
Party As of November 7, 2016 After November 8, 2016
     Democratic Party 45 47
     Republican Party 62 63
     Vacancy 3 0
Total 110 110
Michigan State Senate
Party As of November 3, 2014 After November 4, 2014
     Democratic Party 12 11
     Republican Party 26 27
Total 38 38

Special elections

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November 7, 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. ↑ Michigan Legislature, "Statute 168.178, Michigan Compiled Laws," accessed February 12, 2021
  2. ↑ Michigan Legislature, "Constitution of Michigan of 1963, Article 5, Section 13," accessed February 12, 2021
  3. ↑ Michigan Legislature, "Statute 168.634 (1)-(2), Michigan Compiled Laws," accessed May 22, 2014
  4. ↑ U.S. Census Bureau, "Population Distribution and Change: 2000 to 2010," accessed May 15, 2014
  5. ↑ U.S. Census Bureau, "States Ranked by Population," April 2, 2001
  6. ↑ Michigan in Brief, "Term limits," accessed December 17, 2013
  7. ↑ The Detroit News, "Snyder calls election; officials say Banks can’t run," February 16, 2017
  8. ↑ Detroit News, "Rep. Banks resigns, pleads guilty to misdemeanor," February 8, 2017
  9. ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "2017 Michigan Candidate Listing," accessed April 27, 2017
  10. ↑ Detroit Free Press, "Yancey on her way to November election in a race to replace former Rep. Brian Banks," August 8, 2017
  11. ↑ Mlive.com, "Special election called to fill Kivela's House seat after his suicide," May 18, 2017
  12. ↑ Mlive.com, "Suicide listed as cause of death for Michigan Rep. John Kivela," accessed May 11, 2017
  13. ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "2017 Michigan Candidate Listing," accessed June 7, 2017
  14. ↑ Detroit Free Press, "Marquette city commissioner wins primary, advancing to November general election," August 8, 2017
  15. ↑ Michigan Secretary of State, "2017 Michigan Candidate Listing," accessed September 5, 2017
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