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New Hampshire state legislative special elections, 2026
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As of December, one special election has been called to fill a vacant seat in the New Hampshire General Court.
Click here to read more about the special elections.
House special elections called:
- District Carroll 7: March 10
How vacancies are filled in New Hampshire
If there is a vacancy in the New Hampshire General Court, a special election must be held to fill the vacant seat. The governor and executive council must call a special election within 21 days of receiving proof of a vacancy or a request that a vacancy be filled.[1][2][3]
See sources: New Hampshire Cons. Part II, Articles 16 and 34 and New Hampshire Rev. Stat. Ann. § 661:8
About the legislature
The General Court of New Hampshire is the bicameral state legislature of New Hampshire. The lower house is the New Hampshire House of Representatives with 400 members. The upper house is the New Hampshire State Senate with 24 members. The General Court is the fourth-largest English-speaking legislative body in the world, behind the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the United States Congress, and the Parliament of India, and has one of the greatest disparities in size between chambers of a bicameral legislature.[4] The General Court meets in the New Hampshire State House in Concord.
The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the most recent general elections prior to 2026. For the most up-to-date numbers on partisan composition in this legislature, see here (Senate) and here (House).
| New Hampshire State Senate | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 5, 2024 | After November 6, 2024 | |
| Democratic Party | 10 | 8 | |
| Republican Party | 14 | 16 | |
| Total | 24 | 24 | |
| New Hampshire House of Representatives | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of November 5, 2024 | After November 6, 2024 | |
| Democratic Party | 191 | 177 | |
| Republican Party | 197 | 221 | |
| Independent | 0 | 1 | |
| Nonpartisan | 1 | 0 | |
| Vacancy | 11 | 1 | |
| Total | 400 | 400 | |
Special elections
Click [show] to the right of the district name for more information:
March 10, 2026
| New Hampshire House of Representatives District Carroll 7 | |
|---|---|
|
A special election for New Hampshire House of Representatives District Carroll 7 has been called for March 10, 2026. A primary is scheduled to take place on January 20, 2026. The candidate filing deadline is December 26, 2025.[5] The seat became vacant after Glenn Cordelli (R) resigned from office on November 12, 2025.[6] | |
Historical data
There were 1,007 state legislative special elections that took place from 2010 to 2024. New Hampshire held 43 special elections during the same time period. The largest number of special elections in New Hampshire took place in 2017 when 10 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
As of December 2025, 40 state legislative special elections have been scheduled for 2026 in 19 states. Between 2011 and 2024, an average of 70 special elections took place each year.
Breakdown of 2026 special elections
In 2026, special elections for state legislative positions are being held for the following reasons:
- 20 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
- 16 due to resignation
- 4 due to the death of the incumbent
Impact of special elections on partisan composition
The partisan breakdown for the special elections is as follows:
- 23 Democratic seats
- 17 Republican seats
As of December 24th, 2025, Republicans controlled 55.38% of all state legislative seats nationally, while Democrats held 43.46%. 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 | Vacant | |||||||
| State senates | 828 | 1,121 | 6 | 18 | ||||
| State houses | 2,382 | 2,969 | 21 | 41 | ||||
| Total: | 3,210
|
4,090
|
27
|
59 | ||||
The table below details how many seats changed parties as the result of a special election in 2026. 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 (2026) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of Special Election | After Special Election | |
| Democratic Party | 23 | 0 | |
| Republican Party | 17 | 1 | |
| Independent | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 40 | 1 | |
Flipped seats
In 2026, as of December, no seats flipped as a result of state legislative special elections.
See also
- State legislative special elections, 2026
- State legislative special elections, 2025
- State legislative special elections, 2024
- State legislative special elections, 2023
- New Hampshire General Court
Footnotes
- ↑ State of New Hampshire, "State Constitution-House of Representatives," accessed February 10, 2021 (Sections 12 and 16)
- ↑ State of New Hampshire, "State Constitution-Senate," accessed February 10, 2021 (Section 34)
- ↑ New Hampshire General Court, "Title LXIII: Elections," accessed February 10, 2021 (Title LXIII, Chapter 661:8)
- ↑ New Hampshire Government Website, "State Government Overview," accessed June 9, 2014
- ↑ New Hampshire Secretary of State, "Carroll County District 7," accessed December 23, 2025
- ↑ News From The States, "Longtime school choice Republican Glenn Cordelli resigns from NH House," November 12, 2025