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Oklahoma state legislative special elections, 2020

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In 2020, one special election was called to fill a vacant seat in the Oklahoma State Legislature. Click here to read more about the special elections.

Senate special elections called:

The Oklahoma State Senate also held regular elections in 2020. Click here for more on the regularly scheduled elections.

How vacancies are filled in Oklahoma

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures


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 1 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.[1]

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


About the legislature

The Oklahoma State Legislature is a bicameral body composed of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, with 101 members, and the Oklahoma State Senate, with 48 members. The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the November 2018 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 6, 2018 After November 7, 2018
     Democratic Party 8 9
     Republican Party 38 39
     Vacancy 2 0
Total 48 48


Oklahoma House of Representatives
Party As of November 6, 2018 After November 7, 2018
     Democratic Party 27 25
     Republican Party 72 76
     Vacancy 2 0
Total 101 101

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. Oklahoma held 19 special elections during the same time period; about two per year on average. The largest number of special elections in Oklahoma took place in 2017 when seven 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[3]
  • 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. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Justia US Law, "2014 Oklahoma Statutes Title 26. Elections §26-12-106. Vacancies in the Legislature," accessed February 3, 2023 (Statute 26-12-106(A), Oklahoma Statutes)
  2. ↑ The Shawnee News-Star, "Sen. Jason Smalley announces resignation from District 28 seat," January 21, 2020
  3. ↑ Arkansas State Rep. Mickey Gates (R) was expelled by a vote of the House membership.
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