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Mississippi state legislative special elections, 2021
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In 2021, three special elections were called to fill vacant seats in the Mississippi State Legislature.
Click here to read more about the special elections.
Senate special elections called
- District 32: November 2
- District 38: November 2
House special elections called
- District 29: November 2
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]
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:
November 2, 2021
Mississippi State Senate District 32 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A special election for District 32 of the Mississippi State Senate was called for November 2, 2021. A runoff election was scheduled for November 23, 2021. The candidate filing deadline was September 13, 2021.[2][3] The seat became vacant after Sampson Jackson (D) resigned on June 30, 2021. General runoff electionSpecial general runoff election for Mississippi State Senate District 32Rod Hickman defeated Minh Duong in the special general runoff election for Mississippi State Senate District 32 on November 23, 2021.
General electionSpecial general election for Mississippi State Senate District 32The following candidates ran in the special general election for Mississippi State Senate District 32 on November 2, 2021.
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Mississippi State Senate District 38 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A special election for District 38 of the Mississippi House of Representatives was called for November 2, 2021. A runoff election was scheduled for November 23, 2021, but was not needed after Kelvin Butler won the election outright in the Nov. 2 special election. The candidate filing deadline was September 13, 2021.[4][5] The seat became vacant on June 30, 2021, following Tammy Witherspoon's (D) election as mayor of Magnolia, Mississippi. General electionSpecial general election for Mississippi State Senate District 38Kelvin Butler defeated Gary Brumfield in the special general election for Mississippi State Senate District 38 on November 2, 2021.
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Mississippi House of Representatives District 29 | |
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A special election for Mississippi House of Representatives District 29 was called for November 2, 2021. The candidate filing deadline was September 13, 2021.[6] The seat became vacant after Abe Marshall Hudson Jr. (D) resigned on August 30, 2021.[6] Gov. Tate Reeves (R) issued an order declaring that Robert Sanders automatically won the election after he was the sole candidate to be approved for the ballot. Because of this, the race was canceled. Keveon L. Taylor also filed to run in the race, but the Mississippi Board of Election Commissioners ruled on September 14, 2021, that he did not meet the residency requirements for the seat. Taylor filed a court challenge to the decision, and a Hinds County Circuit judge ruled on October 4, 2021, that he should be added to the ballot. The Attorney General of Mississippi appealed to the Mississippi Supreme Court, saying the circuit court lacked jurisdiction over the case. The supreme court put the circuit court order on hold while the justices reviewed the appeal.[7][8] The supreme court ruled on October 28, 2021, that the circuit court did not have jurisdiction over the case, keeping the election off the ballot on November 2, 2021.[9][10] General electionReason canceled : Uncontested election; candidate(s) won |
Historical data
There were 782 state legislative special elections that took place from 2010 to 2020. Mississippi held 42 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
In 2021, 66 state legislative special elections were held in 21 states. Between 2011 and 2020, an average of 75 special elections took place each year.
Breakdown of 2021 special elections
In 2021, special elections for state legislative positions were held for the following reasons:
- 27 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
- 23 due to resignation
- 4 due to a resignation related to criminal charges
- 12 due to the death of the incumbent
Impact of special elections on partisan composition
The partisan breakdown for the special elections was as follows:
- 33 Democratic seats
- 33 Republican seats
The table below details how many seats changed parties as the result of a special election in 2021. 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 2020, either the Democratic Party or Republican Party saw an average net gain of four seats across the country.
Note: This table reflects information for elections that were held and not the total number of vacant seats.
Partisan Change from Special Elections (2021) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Party | As of Special Election | After Special Election | |
Democratic Party | 33 | 33 | |
Republican Party | 33 | 33 | |
Independent | 0 | 0 | |
Total | 66 | 66 |
Flipped seats
In 2021, six seats flipped as a result of state legislative special elections.
Seats flipped from D to R
- Connecticut State Senate District 36 (August 17)
- Iowa House of Representatives District 29 (October 12)
- Texas House of Representatives District 118 (November 2)
Seats flipped from R to D
- New Hampshire House of Representatives District Hillsborough 7 (September 7)
- Maine House of Representatives District 86 (November 2)
- Massachusetts House of Representatives Fourth Essex District (November 30)
See also
- State legislative special elections, 2021
- State legislative special elections, 2020
- State legislative special elections, 2019
- Mississippi State Legislature
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Justia US Law, "2020 Mississippi Code," accessed February 6, 2023 (Statute 23-15-851)
- ↑ Clarion Ledger, "Governor sets special elections in November to fill 2 empty seats in Mississippi Senate," July 14, 2021
- ↑ Y'all Politics, "Governor Reeves sets special election for two Senate seats," July 14, 2021
- ↑ Clarion Ledger, "Governor sets special elections in November to fill 2 empty seats in Mississippi Senate," July 14, 2021
- ↑ Y'all Politics, "Governor Reeves sets special election for two Senate seats," July 14, 2021
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 The Enterprise Tocsin, "ABE HUDSON RESIGNS FROM HOUSE SEAT, SPECIAL ELECTION SET FOR NOV. 2," September 1, 2021
- ↑ Ballotpedia Staff, "Press Office of Governor Tate Reeves," September 16, 2021
- ↑ New Canaan Advertiser, "Dispute over Mississippi House race goes to state high court," October 4, 2021
- ↑ The Enterprise-Tocsin, "STATE SUPREME COURT RULES: ELECTION FOR DISTRICT 29 STILL ON HOLD," October 29, 2021
- ↑ Delta News, "Justices uphold representative's appointment," October 29, 2021
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