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New Jersey state legislative special elections, 2020

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In 2020, two special elections were called to fill vacant seats in the New Jersey State Legislature.

Click here to read more about the special elections.

Senate special elections called:

House special elections called:

How vacancies are filled in New Jersey


If there is a vacancy in the New Jersey State Legislature, the vacancy will be filled by an interim appointment by the county leadership of the political party that holds the seat. The office will be on the ballot in the next general election, unless the vacancy occurs within 51 days of the election. If that is the case, the appointment would stand until the following general election.[1][2]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: New Jersey Const., Art. IV, Sec. IV(1)


About the legislature

The New Jersey State Legislature is a bicameral body composed of the New Jersey General Assembly, with 80 members, and the New Jersey State Senate, with 40 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).

New Jersey State Senate
Party As of November 7, 2017 After November 7, 2017
     Democratic Party 24 25
     Republican Party 16 15
Total 40 40


New Jersey General Assembly
Party As of November 5, 2019 After November 6, 2019
     Democratic Party 54 52
     Republican Party 26 28
Total 80 80

Special elections

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

November 3, 2020

Historical data

There were 723 state legislative special elections that took place from 2010 to 2019. New Jersey held 18 special elections during the same time period; nearly two per year on average. The largest number of special elections in New Jersey took place in 2018 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

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[8]
  • 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. ↑ New Jersey Legislature, "Our Legislature," accessed February 10, 2021
  2. ↑ New Jersey Legislature, "New Jersey Constitution," accessed February 10, 2021 (Article IV, Section 4, (1))
  3. ↑ New Jersey Division of Elections, "2020 Primary Election Timeline," accessed March 16, 2020
  4. ↑ New Jersey Division of Elections, "2020 General Election Timeline," accessed March 16, 2020
  5. ↑ Daily Record, "New Jersey state Sen. Anthony Bucco dies of a heart attack," September 16, 2019
  6. ↑ New Jersey Division of Elections, "2020 Primary Election Timeline," accessed March 16, 2020
  7. ↑ New Jersey Division of Elections, "2020 General Election Timeline," accessed March 16, 2020
  8. ↑ Arkansas State Rep. Mickey Gates (R) was expelled by a vote of the House membership.
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