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Mississippi state legislative special elections, 2017

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In 2017, six special elections were called to fill vacant seats in the Mississippi State Legislature. All six vacancies were filled.

House special elections called:

Senate special elections called:

How vacancies are filled in Mississippi


If there is a vacancy in the Mississippi State Legislature, a special election is required to fill the vacant seat. The governor must call for an election no later than 30 days after the vacancy happened. After the governor sets the election date, the counties conducting the election must be given at least 60 days' notice before the election. All qualifying deadlines are 50 days before the election.[1]

The governor can choose not to issue a writ of election if the vacancy occurs in the same calendar year as the general election for state officials.[1]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: Mississippi Code Ann. § 23-15-851


About the legislature

The Mississippi House of Representatives is the lower house of the Mississippi State Legislature. There are 122 members. Each member represented an average of 24,322 residents, as of the 2010 Census.[2] After the 2000 Census, each member represented 23,316 residents.[3] Representatives are elected in odd-numbered years to four-year terms and take office on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January following the election.

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).

Mississippi House of Representatives
Party As of November 3, 2015 After November 3, 2015
     Democratic Party 54 49*
     Republican Party 67 73
     Vacancy 1 0
Total 122 122
Mississippi State Senate
Party As of November 3, 2015 After November 3, 2015
     Democratic Party 20 20
     Republican Party 32 32*
Total 52 52

In District 37, Robert Dearing (D) defeated incumbent Melanie Sojourner (R) by 64 votes. Sojourner formally challenged the outcome of the general election, claiming that there were irregularities at the polls. A Senate committee took up the challenge in January, and the chamber voted 47-3 to seat Dearing.[4][5]

Special elections

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July 25, 2017

September 12, 2017

November 7, 2017

December 19, 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. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Justia US Law, "2020 Mississippi Code," accessed February 6, 2023 (Statute 23-15-851)
  2. ↑ census.gov, "Population Distribution and Change: 2000 to 2010," accessed May 15, 2014
  3. ↑ U.S. Census Bureau, "States Ranked by Population: 2000," April 2, 2001
  4. ↑ Associated Press, "Sojourner challenges Mississippi Senate loss to Dearing," December 4, 2015
  5. ↑ Daily Journal, "Dearing seated as Legislature inches closer to taking up bills," January 19, 2016
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Mississippi Secretary of State, "2017 Candidate Qualifying List," accessed June 13, 2017
  7. ↑ The Clarion-Ledger, "Bryant sets special election date for Mississippi House District 108," May 11, 2017
  8. ↑ newsMS, "NEWS Mark Formby resigns from the House of Representatives," May 10, 2017
  9. ↑ Picayune Item, "Wilkes takes District 108," July 25, 2017
  10. ↑ WDAM, "Gov. Bryant sets Sept. 12 as date for Dist. 102 special election," July 7, 2017
  11. ↑ Hattiesburg American, "Who will run for Barker's House District 102 seat?" June 30, 2017
  12. ↑ Mississippi Secretary of State, "2017 Candidate Qualifying List," accessed July 25, 2017
  13. ↑ Clarion Ledger, "Stone leaving Mississippi Senate for utility job," July 25, 2017
  14. ↑ Mississippi Secretary of State, "2017 Candidate Qualifying List," accessed November 7, 2017
  15. ↑ Yall Politics, "Gov. Phil Bryant sets special elections for HD38 & 54 for Nov 7 #msleg," accessed July 20, 2017
  16. ↑ U.S. News, "Longtime Mississippi State Rep. Tyrone Ellis Retires," June 30, 2017
  17. ↑ Mississippi Secretary of State, "2017 Candidate Qualifying List," accessed September 19, 2017
  18. ↑ Yall Politics, "Gov. Phil Bryant sets special elections for HD38 & 54 for Nov 7 #msleg," accessed July 20, 2017
  19. ↑ wjtv.com, "Mississippi State Representative Alex Monsour retiring," July 6, 2017
  20. ↑ Mississippi Secretary of State, "2017 Candidate Qualifying List," accessed September 19, 2017
  21. ↑ St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "Mississippi Senate special election," October 17, 2017
  22. ↑ Clarion Ledger, "Bryant appoints state senator to appeals court," September 29, 2017
  23. ↑ wxxv25.com, "JOEL CARTER WINS DISTRICT 49 SENATE SEAT," December 19, 2017
  24. ↑ Mississippi Secretary of State, "2017 Candidate Qualifying List," accessed October 31, 2017
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