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Michigan state legislative special elections, 2020

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In 2020, two special elections were called to fill a vacant seat in the Michigan State Legislature. Click here to read more about the special elections.

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 State Legislature is a bicameral body composed of the Michigan House of Representatives, with 100 members, and the Michigan State Senate, with 35 members. The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the November 2018 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 6, 2018 After November 7, 2018
     Democratic Party 10 16
     Republican Party 27 22
     Vacancy 1 0
Total 38 38
Michigan House of Representatives
Party As of November 6, 2018 After November 7, 2018
     Democratic Party 46 52
     Republican Party 63 58
     Vacancy 1 0
Total 110 110

Special elections

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

March 10, 2020

November 3, 2020

Historical data

There were 723 state legislative special elections that took place from 2010 to 2019. Michigan held 14 special elections during the same time period. The largest number of special elections in Michigan took place in 2016 when six 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

See also: State legislative special elections, 2020

In 2020, 55 state legislative special elections were held in 26 states. Four special elections were canceled in New York due to the coronavirus pandemic. Between 2011 and 2019, an average of 77 special elections took place each year.

Breakdown of 2020 special elections

In 2020, special elections for state legislative positions were held for the following reasons:

  • 23 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
  • 5 due to a resignation related to criminal charges[8]
  • 18 due to retirement
  • 13 due to the death of the incumbent

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 2020. 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 2019, either the Democratic Party or Republican Party saw an average net gain of four seats across the country. Between 2018 and 2019, Democrats had a net gain of six seats.

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

Partisan Change from Special Elections (2020)
Party As of Special Election After Special Election
     Democratic Party 21 27
     Republican Party 38 32
     Independent 0 0
Total 59 59

Flipped seats

In 2020, eight seats flipped as a result of state legislative special elections.

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. ↑ WXYZ, "Gov. Whitmer announces special election dates to fill 34th House District seat," November 12, 2019
  5. ↑ ABC 12, "Sheldon Neeley sworn in as 94th mayor of Flint," November 11, 2019
  6. ↑ WLNS.com, "Governor Whitmer announces special election dates to fill seat in 4th House District," April 10, 2020
  7. ↑ MLive, "Michigan state Rep. Isaac Robinson dies," March 29, 2020
  8. ↑ Arkansas State Rep. Mickey Gates (R) was expelled by a vote of the House membership.
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