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Pennsylvania state legislative special elections, 2017

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In 2017, two special elections were called to fill vacant seats in the Pennsylvania General Assembly.

House special elections called:

How vacancies are filled in Pennsylvania


If there is a vacancy in the Pennsylvania General Assembly, a special election must be held to fill the vacant seat. The presiding officer in the house where the vacancy happened must call for an election. There are no deadlines set in the state constitution on when a special election can be held.[1]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: Pennsylvania Cons. Art. II, §2


About the legislature

The Pennsylvania General Assembly is Pennsylvania's state legislature, seated at the state's capital, Harrisburg. It has been a bicameral legislature since 1790. The General Assembly consists of an upper house, the Pennsylvania State Senate, and a lower house, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the November 2016 elections. For the most up-to-date numbers on partisan composition in this legislature, see here (Senate) and here (House).

Pennsylvania State Senate
Party As of November 7, 2016 After November 8, 2016
     Democratic Party 19 16
     Republican Party 31 34
Total 50 50
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Party As of November 7, 2016 After November 8, 2016
     Democratic Party 84 82
     Republican Party 119 121
Total 203 203

Special elections

March 21, 2017

December 5, 2017

Special elections throughout the country

See also: State legislative special elections, 2017

Between 2011 and 2016, an average of 70 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 2017, 98 state legislative seats were filled through special elections.

Breakdown of 2017 special elections

In 2017, special elections for state legislative positions were held for a variety of reasons:

  • 46 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
  • 1 due to an ineligible general election candidate
  • 15 due to the incumbent accepting another job
  • 22 due to a retirement
  • 15 due to a death

The partisan breakdown for the special elections was as follows:

Impact of special elections on partisan composition

The table below details how many seats changed parties as the result of a special election. 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 were held and not total vacant seats.

Partisan Change from Special Elections
Party As of Special Election After Special Election
     Democratic Party 45 56
     Republican Party 53 42
     Independent - -
Total 98 98

Flipped seats

In total, 17 state legislative seats flipped party control in 2017. Democrats flipped 14 seats and Republicans flipped three seats as a result of special state legislative elections in 2017.

Seats flipped from D to R

Seats flipped from R to D

See also


Footnotes

  1. ↑ State of Pennsylvania, "Pennsylvania Constitution," accessed February 15, 2021 (Article II, Section 2)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Pocono Record, "Election set to replace lawmaker ensnared in embezzling case," accessed January 19, 2017
  3. ↑ Philly.com, "Brady on State Rep. Acosta: 'She should resign now' after guilty plea," accessed September 28, 2016
  4. ↑ Philly Inquirer, "Convicted legislator Acosta gets her wish for special election candidate to replace her," accessed February 2, 2017
  5. ↑ Philly Record, "Pols on the Street: Honkala's smart move," accessed February 10, 2017
  6. ↑ philly.com, "Democrats go to court, trying to get back on the 197th District ballot," February 27, 2017
  7. ↑ CBS Philly, "Special Election For The Pennsylvania House Gets Even More Special," March 19, 2017
  8. ↑ NBC 10, "Democrat Wins Surprise Write-In Election in North Philadelphia's 197th District," March 24, 2017
  9. ↑ PoliticsPA, "HD-197: Supreme Court Keeps Democratic Candidate Off the Ballot," March 13, 2017
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lehigh Valley Live, "McNeill challenger now faces off against late rep's widow," October 16, 2017
  11. ↑ Lehigh Valley Live, "Dan McNeill's widow nominated to fill his Pennsylvania House seat," October 3, 2017
  12. ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "2017 Special Election 133rd Legislative District," accessed December 5, 2017
  13. ↑ The Morning Call, "Libertarian joins race for House seat in 133rd District," November 2, 2017
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