Mississippi state legislative special elections, 2022
U.S. House • Special state legislative • Appellate courts • School boards • How to run for office |
2023 →
← 2021
|
Special Elections |
|
Alabama • Arkansas • California |
|
Other 2022 Election coverage |
State legislative elections Gubernatorial elections • Ballot measures |
In 2022, two special elections were called to fill vacant seats in the Mississippi State Legislature.
Click here to read more about the special elections.
House special elections called
- District 119: July 19
- District 37: November 8
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:
July 19, 2022
Mississippi House of Representatives District 119 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A special election for District 119 of the Mississippi House of Representatives was called for July 19, 2022. A general runoff was scheduled for August 9, 2022, but it was canceled. The candidate filing deadline was May 30, 2022.[2] The seat became vacant on May 8, 2022, when incumbent Sonya Williams-Barnes (D) resigned to take a job with the Southern Poverty Law Center.[3] General electionSpecial general election for Mississippi House of Representatives District 119Jeffrey Hulum III defeated Gary Fredericks in the special general election for Mississippi House of Representatives District 119 on July 19, 2022.
|
November 8, 2022
Mississippi House of Representatives District 37 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A special election for District 37 of the Mississippi House of Representatives was called for November 8, 2022. The candidate filing deadline was September 19, 2022.[4] The seat became vacant on June 17, 2022, when incumbent Lynn Wright (R) passed away.[5] General electionSpecial general election for Mississippi House of Representatives District 37Andy Boyd defeated David Chism in the special general election for Mississippi House of Representatives District 37 on November 8, 2022.
|
Historical data
There were 848 state legislative special elections that took place from 2010 to 2021. Mississippi held 45 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 2022, 54 state legislative special elections were scheduled in 24 states. Between 2011 and 2021, an average of 74 special elections took place each year.
Breakdown of 2022 special elections
In 2022, special elections for state legislative positions were held for the following reasons:
- 21 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
- 24 due to resignation
- 9 due to the death of the incumbent
Impact of special elections on partisan composition
The partisan breakdown for the special elections was as follows:
- 36 Democratic seats
- 18 Republican seats
The table below details how many seats changed parties as the result of a special election in 2022. 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.
Note: This table reflects information for elections that were held and not the total number of vacant seats.
Partisan Change from Special Elections (2022) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Party | As of Special Election | After Special Election | |
Democratic Party | 36 | 36 | |
Republican Party | 18 | 18 | |
Independent | 0 | 0 | |
Total | 54 | 54 |
Flipped seats
In 2022, two seats flipped as a result of state legislative special elections.
Seats flipped from D to R
- Montana State Senate District 39 (November 8)
Seats flipped from R to D
See also
- State legislative special elections, 2022
- State legislative special elections, 2021
- State legislative special elections, 2020
- Mississippi State Legislature
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Justia US Law, "2020 Mississippi Code," accessed February 6, 2023 (Statute 23-15-851)
- ↑ State of Mississippi, Office of the Governor, "Writ of Election," May 19, 2022
- ↑ WLOX, "Rep. Sonya Williams-Barnes announces resignation," May 2, 2022
- ↑ wcbi.com, "Special election date set to fill former State Representative position," June 27, 2022
- ↑ The Dispatch, "Lynn Wright remembered as a man who showed grace," June 18, 2022
![]() |
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 |