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Michigan state legislative special elections, 2018

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In 2018, two special elections were called to fill vacant seats in the Michigan State Legislature. Click here to read more about the special election.

Senate special elections called:

House special elections called:

How vacancies are filled in Michigan

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures


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 Legislature is the state legislature of Michigan. It is organized as a bicameral institution consisting of the Michigan Senate, the upper house, and the House of Representatives, the lower house. The boxes below show the partisan composition of the State Senate directly before and after the November 2014 general election and the State House of Representatives directly before and after the November 2016 general election. For the most up-to-date numbers on partisan composition in this legislature, see here (Senate) and here (House).

Michigan State Senate
Party As of November 3, 2014 After November 4, 2014
     Democratic Party 12 11
     Republican Party 26 27
Total 38 38


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

Special elections


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

November 6, 2018

Special elections throughout the country

See also: State legislative special elections, 2018

In 2018, 99 state legislative special elections were held in 26 states. Between 2011 and 2017, an average of 74 special elections took place each year.

Breakdown of 2018 special elections

In 2018, special elections for state legislative positions were held for the following reasons:

  • 58 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
  • 16 due to a retirement
  • 10 due to a resignation related to criminal charges
  • 7 due to a resignation related to allegations of sexual misconduct
  • 5 due to the death of the incumbent
  • 2 due to a resignation to take a private sector job
  • 1 due to an election being rerun

Impact of special elections on partisan composition

The partisan breakdown for the special elections was as follows:

The table below details how many seats changed parties as the result of a special election in 2018. 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. In elections between 2011 and 2016, either the Democratic Party or Republican Party saw an average net gain of three seats across the country. In 2017, Democrats had a net gain of 11 seats.

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

Partisan Change from Special Elections (2018)
Party As of Special Election After Special Election
     Democratic Party 42 50
     Republican Party 57 49
     Independent 0 0
Total 99 99


Democrats gained 11 seats in 2017 special elections and eight seats in 2018 special elections. The table below details the results of special elections held in 2017 and 2018 cumulatively.

Partisan Change from Special Elections (2017-2018)
Party As of Special Election After Special Election
     Democratic Party 87 106
     Republican Party 110 91
     Independent 0 0
Total 197 197

Flipped seats

In 2018, 16 seats flipped as a result of state legislative special elections. Twelve seats flipped from Republican control to Democratic control. Four seats flipped from Democratic control to Republican control.

In New York, a Democratic candidate running on the Republican ticket won election to Assembly District 142 on April 24. The previous incumbent in that district was a Democrat. Due to the winning candidate's party affiliation, Assembly District 142 was not added to the list of flipped seats in 2018.

Seats flipped from R to D

Seats flipped from D to R


See also

Footnotes