Become part of the movement for unbiased, accessible election information. Donate today.

Mississippi state legislative special elections, 2020

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Ballotpedia Election Coverage Badge-smaller use.png
U.S. Senate • U.S. House • Special state legislative • Supreme court • Local judges • State ballot measures • School boards • How to run for office
Flag of Mississippi.png


2021 →
← 2019
2020 badge.png
2020 State Legislative
Special Elections
Special election information
Breakdown • Historical data • Elections by date
Special elections by state
Alabama • Alaska • Arkansas • California
Connecticut • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii
Illinois • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine
Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota
Mississippi • New Hampshire • New Jersey
New York • Oklahoma • Oregon
Pennsylvania • Rhode Island
South Carolina • Texas
Virginia • Washington
Special elections by territory
Puerto Rico
Other 2020 election coverage
Filing deadlines • Statewide elections
State legislative elections
Gubernatorial elections • Ballot measures

In 2020, six special elections were called to fill a vacant seat in the Mississippi State Legislature.

Click here to read more about the special elections.

Senate special elections called

House 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 State Legislature is a bicameral body composed of the Mississippi House of Representatives, with 122 members, and the Mississippi State Senate, with 52 members.

The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the most recent general elections prior to 2020. For the most up-to-date numbers on partisan composition in this legislature, see here (Senate) and here (House).

Mississippi State Senate
Party As of November 5, 2019 After November 6, 2019
     Democratic Party 18 16
     Republican Party 31 36
     Vacancies 3 0
Total 52 52
Mississippi House of Representatives
Party As of November 5, 2019 After November 6, 2019
     Democratic Party 44 46
     Republican Party 74 75
     Independent 2 1
     Vacancies 2 0
Total 122 122

Special elections

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

April 21, 2020

September 22, 2020


November 3, 2020

November 24, 2020

Historical data

There were 723 state legislative special elections that took place from 2010 to 2019. Mississippi held 36 special elections during the same time period; nearly four per year on average. The largest number of special elections in Mississippi took place in 2013 when nine 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[16]
  • 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. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Justia US Law, "2020 Mississippi Code," accessed February 6, 2023 (Statute 23-15-851)
  2. ↑ ‘’Michael Watson Secretary of State,’’ “GOVERNOR TATE REEVES RESCHEDULES SPECIAL ELECTION FOR HOUSE DISTRICT 88,” April 3, 2020
  3. ↑ Y'all Politics, "Governor Tate Reeves Sets Special Election for House District 88," February 13, 2020
  4. ↑ Y'all Politics, "State Rep. Ramona Blackledge resigning over pay," January 29, 2020
  5. ↑ "Sample Official Election Ballot State of Mississippi September 22, 2020 Special Elections," accessed August 9, 2020
  6. ↑ Y'all Politics, "Sen. Gary Jackson resigns from the Mississippi Senate effective June 30," June 1, 2020
  7. ↑ Y'all Politics, "Qualifying deadline for District 39 special election set for August 3rd," accessed July 20, 2020
  8. ↑ Beaumont Enterprise, "Reeves chooses senator to lead Mississippi utilities staff," July 15, 2020
  9. ↑ "Sample Official Election Ballot State of Mississippi September 22, 2020 Special Elections," accessed August 9, 2020
  10. ↑ Mississippi Business Journal, "Columbus Republican Chism will resign from Mississippi House," June 16, 2020
  11. ↑ "Sample Official Election Ballot State of Mississippi September 22, 2020 Special Elections," accessed August 9, 2020
  12. ↑ Twitter.com, "Jarvis Dortch," accessed July 6, 2020
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Y'all Politics, "Governor Tate Reeves Sets Special Election for House District 87," April 10, 2020
  14. ↑ State of Mississippi Office of the Governor, "Write of Election House District 87," accessed July 21, 2020
  15. ↑ State of Mississippi Office of the Governor, "Write of Election House District 87," accessed July 21, 2020
  16. ↑ Arkansas State Rep. Mickey Gates (R) was expelled by a vote of the House membership.
v • e
State legislatures
Legislatures
Alabama (H, S) · Alaska (H, S) · Arizona (H, S) · Arkansas (H, S) · California (A, S) · Colorado (H, S) · Connecticut (H, S) · Delaware (H, S) · Florida (H, S) · Georgia (H, S) · Hawaii (H, S) · Idaho (H, S) · Illinois (H, S) · Indiana (H, S) · Iowa (H, S) · Kansas (H, S) · Kentucky (H, S) · Louisiana (H, S) · Maine (H, S) · Maryland (H, S) · Massachusetts (H, S) · Michigan (H, S) · Minnesota (H, S) · Mississippi (H, S) · Missouri (H, S) · Montana (H, S) · Nebraska · Nevada (A, S) · New Hampshire (H, S) · New Jersey (GA, S) · New Mexico (H, S) · New York (A, S) · North Carolina (H, S) · North Dakota (H, S) · Ohio (H, S) · Oklahoma (H, S) · Oregon (H, S) · Pennsylvania (H, S) · Rhode Island (H, S) · South Carolina (H, S) · South Dakota (H, S) · Tennessee (H, S) · Texas (H, S) · Utah (H, S) · Vermont (H, S) · Virginia (H, S) · Washington (H, S) · West Virginia (H, S) · Wisconsin (A, S) · Wyoming (H, S)
SLP badge.png
2025
2024
2023
Historical elections
2022 •  2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011 • 2010 • 2009 • 2008 • 2007 • 2006 • 2005 • 2004 • 2003 • 2002 • 2001 • 2000
Features of
state legislatures
State senates
State houses
Leadership positions
Flag of Mississippi
v • e
State of Mississippi
Jackson (capital)
Elections

What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2025 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures

Government

Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy

Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Mississippi_state_legislative_special_elections,_2020&oldid=8192859"