Oklahoma state legislative special elections, 2018

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In 2018, as of March, two special elections had been called to fill vacant seats in the Oklahoma State Legislature. Click here to read more about the special elections.

Senate special elections called:

House special elections called:

How vacancies are filled in Oklahoma


If there is a vacancy in the Oklahoma State Legislature, the governor must call a special election no later than 30 days after the vacancy occurs. No special election can be called if the vacancy occurs in an even-numbered year and if the term of office will expire in that year. This second provision allows special elections to be held for outgoing senators with two or more years left in their terms.[1]

If a senator announces his or her resignation before March 1st but the effective date lies between the general election and the new session, a special election can be held on the general election dates. The winner of this election will take office upon the senator's official resignation. This only applies to senators with two or more years remaining in their terms.[2]

Oklahoma's special election process was modified in 2012 by Senate Bill 91. The bill was intended to avert a special election for Al McAffrey's (D) vacated seat. McAffrey resigned in February of an election year. The text above reflects the modification approved in SB 91.[3]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: Oklahoma Stat. Ann. tit. 26, § 12-106

About the legislature

The Oklahoma Legislature is the legislative branch of Oklahoma. It consists of the lower House of Representatives and the upper State Senate. The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the November 2016 general election. For the most up-to-date numbers on partisan composition in this legislature, see here (Senate) and here (House).

Oklahoma State Senate
Party As of November 7, 2016 After November 8, 2016
     Democratic Party 9 6
     Republican Party 39 42
Total 48 48
Oklahoma House of Representatives
Party As of November 7, 2016 After November 8, 2016
     Democratic Party 30 26
     Republican Party 71 75
Total 101 101

Special elections

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February 13, 2018

March 6, 2018

Special elections throughout the country

See also: State legislative special elections, 2018

Between 2011 and 2017, an average of 74 special elections took place each year. A total of 25 states use special elections to fill legislative vacancies. In two other states—Illinois and Indiana—special elections are used in limited circumstances. The rest of the states fill vacancies either through appointments made by the governor of the state or by a commission made up of officials from the former member's party. In 2018, as of March, 22 state legislative seats have been filled through a special election and 38 other state legislative special elections have been scheduled in 17 states.

Breakdown of 2018 special elections

In 2018, special elections for state legislative positions are being held for a variety of reasons:

  • 35 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
  • 6 due to a retirement
  • 7 due to a resignation related to criminal charges
  • 5 due to the death of the incumbent
  • 5 due to a resignation related to sexual harassment allegations
  • 1 due to health issues
  • 2 due to resignation to take a private sector job

The partisan breakdown for the special elections is as follows:

As of February 28, 2018, the following figures represent the cumulative partisan breakdown of the 50 state senates and 49 state houses. In the 50 states, Republicans currently control 56 percent of all seats, while Democrats hold 42.5 percent. All told, Republicans control 67 chambers, while Democrats are the majority in 32 chambers.[12]

Partisan balance of all 7,383 state legislative seats
Legislative chamber Democratic Party Republican Party Other[13]
State senates 803 1,141 28
State houses 2,336 2,994 81
Total: 3,139 4,135 109

Impact of special elections on partisan composition

The table below details how many seats changed parties as the result of a special election in 2018. 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. It is not typical to see significant net changes in overall state legislative party composition because of special elections. In elections between 2011 and 2016, one party (either Republicans or Democrats) saw an average net gain of three seats across the country, although actual races won and lost by each party varied more. For instance, in 2015, Democrats lost nine seats to Republicans but won six different seats in other races, resulting in a net loss of three seats.

Note: This table reflects information for elections that have been held and not total vacant seats.

Partisan Change from Special Elections (2018)
Party As of Special Election After Special Election
     Democratic Party 4 10
     Republican Party 19 13
     Independent 0 0
Total 23 23

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Justia US Law, "2014 Oklahoma Statutes Title 26. Elections §26-12-106. Vacancies in the Legislature.," accessed May 22, 2014 (Statute 26-12-106(A), Oklahoma Statutes)
  2. ↑ Justia US Law, "2014 Oklahoma Statutes Title 26. Elections §26-12-106. Vacancies in the Legislature.," accessed May 22, 2014 (Statute 26-12-106(B), Oklahoma Statutes)
  3. ↑ NewsOK, "Open Oklahoma City seat in state House will not be filled by special election," March 20, 2012
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Oklahoma State Election Board, "State Senator District 27 Special Election," accessed November 19, 2017 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "oksd27" defined multiple times with different content
  5. ↑ News 9, "Oklahoma Senator Resigns Following Sexual Battery Charge," September 12, 2017
  6. ↑ Oklahoma State Election Board, "Candidates for State Senator District 27 Special Election," accessed November 19, 2017
  7. ↑ Oklahoma State Election Board, "Unofficial Results," February 13, 2018
  8. ↑ Oklahoma State Election Board, "Unofficial Results," February 13, 2018
  9. ↑ News OK, "Lawmaker Scott Biggs leaving state House," November 2, 2017
  10. ↑ Oklahoma State Election Board, "Candidates for State Representative District 51 Special Election," accessed November 19, 2017
  11. ↑ Oklahoma State Election Board, "Unofficial Results," accessed January 9, 2018
  12. ↑ Nebraska is officially nonpartisan but is held by a Republican majority. For more information on how Ballotpedia determined the partisan affiliation for Nebraska senators, please click here.
  13. ↑ This tally includes third-party incumbents and vacancies.
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