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Mississippi state legislative special elections, 2025

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In 2025, as of November, 20 special elections have been called to fill vacant seats in the Mississippi State Legislature. Click here to read more about the special elections.

House special elections called:

Senate special elections called:

Six state Senate seats and one state House seat were up for election on November 4, 2025, as a result of redistricting.

A legal challenge to the state legislative maps had resulted in a three-judge panel ordering the state to add two new majority-Black Senate districts and one new majority-Black House district by the end of the 2025 legislative session.[1] The legislature approved the new maps on March 5, 2025.[2] On April 15, 2025, a three-judge panel ordered the legislature to redraw the Senate district in DeSoto County and gave the State Board of Election Commissioners seven days to submit a new map.[3] The panel approved revised maps from the Mississippi Election Commission on May 7, 2025, and special elections in the affected districts were scheduled for November 4, 2025.[4]

Heading into the elections, Republicans had a 79-39-3 majority with one vacancy in the House and a 36-14 majority with two vacancies in the Senate. That meant if Democrats gained two seats in the Senate, they would break the Republican two-thirds supermajority in the chamber.[5]

How vacancies are filled in Mississippi

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures


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.[6]

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.[6]

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 7, 2023 After November 8, 2023
     Democratic Party 15 16
     Republican Party 36 36
     Independent 1 0
Total 52 52


Mississippi House of Representatives
Party As of November 7, 2023 After November 8, 2023
     Democratic Party 40 41
     Republican Party 76 79
     Independent 3 2
     Vacancy 3 0
Total 122 122

Special elections

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

March 25, 2025

April 15, 2025


November 4, 2025

Historical data

There were 1,007 state legislative special elections that took place from 2010 to 2024. Mississippi held 48 special elections during the same time period. 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, 2025

As of November 2025, 94 state legislative special elections have been scheduled for 2025 in 23 states. One special election has also been called to fill a vacancy in the Puerto Rico House of Representatives. Between 2011 and 2024, an average of 70 special elections took place each year.

Breakdown of 2025 special elections

In 2025, special elections for state legislative positions are being held for the following reasons:

  • 39 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
  • 25 due to resignation
  • 14 due to redistricting
  • 15 due to the death of the incumbent
  • 1 due to the officeholder leaving at term end


Impact of special elections on partisan composition

The partisan breakdown for the special elections is as follows:


As of November 6th, 2025, Republicans controlled 55.39% of all state legislative seats nationally, while Democrats held 43.6%. Republicans held a majority in 57 chambers, and Democrats held the majority in 39 chambers. Two chambers (Alaska House and Alaska Senate) were organized under multipartisan, power-sharing coalitions. One chamber (Minnesota House of Representatives) was split evenly between both parties.

Partisan balance of all 7,386 state legislative seats
Legislative chamber Democratic Party Republican Party Grey.png Other Vacant
State senates 829 1,119 6 19
State houses 2,391 2,972 20 30
Total: 3,220

4,091

26

49


The table below details how many seats changed parties as the result of a special election in 2025. 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 have been held and not the total number of vacant seats.

Partisan Change from Special Elections (2025)
Party As of Special Election After Special Election
     Democratic Party 51 40
     Republican Party 43 31
     Independent 0 1
Total 94 72

Flipped seats

In 2025, as of August 26, five seats have changed party hands as a result of state legislative special elections.


Seats that changed from D to I

Seats that changed from R to D



See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Associated Press, "Mississippi can wait to reset legislative districts that dilute Black voting strength, judges say," July 18, 2024
  2. ↑ Associated Press, "New Mississippi legislative maps head to court for approval despite DeSoto lawmakers’ objections," March 6, 2025
  3. ↑ DeSoto Times-Tribune, "Judges order new redistricting map for DeSoto," April 16, 2025
  4. ↑ Mississippi Today, "Federal court approves Mississippi legislative redistricting. Special elections will proceed," May 9, 2025
  5. ↑ New York Times, "In Mississippi, Democrats Hope New Maps Lead to Statehouse Wins," October 29, 2025
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Justia US Law, "2020 Mississippi Code," accessed February 6, 2023 (Statute 23-15-851)
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 State of Mississippi, Office of the Governor, "Writ of Election," January 3, 2025
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 State of Mississippi, Office of the Governor, "Writ of Election," February 4, 2025
  9. ↑ Magnolia Tribune, "Court approves remedial redistricting plan submitted by State Board of Election Commissioners," May 8, 2025
  10. ↑ Magnolia Tribune, "Court approves remedial redistricting plan submitted by State Board of Election Commissioners," May 8, 2025
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 State of Mississippi Office of the Governor, "Writs of Election," accessed July 9, 2025
  12. ↑ Super Talk Mississippi Media, "State Rep. Orlando Paden voted to replace Chuck Espy as Clarksdale mayor," June 3, 2025
  13. ↑ Magnolia Tribune, "Court approves remedial redistricting plan submitted by State Board of Election Commissioners," May 8, 2025
  14. ↑ Magnolia Tribune, "Court approves remedial redistricting plan submitted by State Board of Election Commissioners," May 8, 2025
  15. ↑ Magnolia Tribune, "Court approves remedial redistricting plan submitted by State Board of Election Commissioners," May 8, 2025
  16. ↑ Magnolia Tribune, "Court approves remedial redistricting plan submitted by State Board of Election Commissioners," May 8, 2025
  17. ↑ Magnolia Tribune, "Court approves remedial redistricting plan submitted by State Board of Election Commissioners," May 8, 2025
  18. ↑ Magnolia Tribune, "Court approves remedial redistricting plan submitted by State Board of Election Commissioners," May 8, 2025
  19. ↑ Magnolia Tribune, "Court approves remedial redistricting plan submitted by State Board of Election Commissioners," May 8, 2025
  20. ↑ ‘'The Greenwood Commonwealth’, "Jordan to retire from state Senate," May 28, 2025
  21. ↑ Magnolia Tribune, "Court approves remedial redistricting plan submitted by State Board of Election Commissioners," May 8, 2025
  22. ↑ Magnolia Tribune, "Court approves remedial redistricting plan submitted by State Board of Election Commissioners," May 8, 2025
  23. ↑ Magnolia Tribune, "Court approves remedial redistricting plan submitted by State Board of Election Commissioners," May 8, 2025
  24. ↑ Magnolia Tribune, "Court approves remedial redistricting plan submitted by State Board of Election Commissioners," May 8, 2025
  25. ↑ Magnolia Tribune, "Court approves remedial redistricting plan submitted by State Board of Election Commissioners," May 8, 2025
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