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Oklahoma state legislative special elections, 2021

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One special election was called to fill a vacant seat in the Oklahoma State Legislature in 2021. Click here to read more about the special elections.

Senate special elections called:

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 2020 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 3, 2020 After November 4, 2020
     Democratic Party 9 9
     Republican Party 39 39
Total 48 48


Oklahoma House of Representatives
Party As of November 3, 2020 After November 4, 2020
     Democratic Party 23 19
     Republican Party 76 82
Total 101 101

Special elections

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

April 6, 2021


Historical data

There were 782 state legislative special elections that took place from 2010 to 2020. Oklahoma held 20 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, 2021

In 2021, 66 state legislative special elections were held in 21 states. Between 2011 and 2020, an average of 75 special elections took place each year.

Breakdown of 2021 special elections

In 2021, special elections for state legislative positions were held for the following reasons:

  • 27 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
  • 23 due to resignation
  • 4 due to a resignation related to criminal charges
  • 12 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 2021. 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 2020, either the Democratic Party or Republican Party saw an average net gain of four seats across the country.

Note: This table reflects information for elections that were held and not the total number of vacant seats.

Partisan Change from Special Elections (2021)
Party As of Special Election After Special Election
     Democratic Party 33 33
     Republican Party 33 33
     Independent 0 0
Total 66 66

Flipped seats

In 2021, six 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. ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Oklahoman, "Special election set for Oklahoma Senate seat held by Stephanie Bice," November 25, 2020
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