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Pennsylvania state legislative special elections, 2018

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In 2018, four special elections were called to fill vacant seats in the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Click here to read more about the special elections.

House special elections called:

How vacancies are filled in Pennsylvania

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures


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. 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).

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


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

January 23, 2018

May 15, 2018

Special elections throughout the country

See also: State legislative special elections, 2018

In 2018, 99 state legislative special elections were held in 26 states. Between 2011 and 2017, an average of 74 special elections took place each year.

Breakdown of 2018 special elections

In 2018, special elections for state legislative positions were held for the following reasons:

  • 58 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
  • 16 due to a retirement
  • 10 due to a resignation related to criminal charges
  • 7 due to a resignation related to allegations of sexual misconduct
  • 5 due to the death of the incumbent
  • 2 due to a resignation to take a private sector job
  • 1 due to an election being rerun

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 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. In elections between 2011 and 2016, either the Democratic Party or Republican Party saw an average net gain of three seats across the country. In 2017, Democrats had a net gain of 11 seats.

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

Partisan Change from Special Elections (2018)
Party As of Special Election After Special Election
     Democratic Party 42 50
     Republican Party 57 49
     Independent 0 0
Total 99 99


Democrats gained 11 seats in 2017 special elections and eight seats in 2018 special elections. The table below details the results of special elections held in 2017 and 2018 cumulatively.

Partisan Change from Special Elections (2017-2018)
Party As of Special Election After Special Election
     Democratic Party 87 106
     Republican Party 110 91
     Independent 0 0
Total 197 197

Flipped seats

In 2018, 16 seats flipped as a result of state legislative special elections. Twelve seats flipped from Republican control to Democratic control. Four seats flipped from Democratic control to Republican control.

In New York, a Democratic candidate running on the Republican ticket won election to Assembly District 142 on April 24. The previous incumbent in that district was a Democrat. Due to the winning candidate's party affiliation, Assembly District 142 was not added to the list of flipped seats in 2018.

Seats flipped from R to D

Seats flipped from D to R


See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ State of Pennsylvania, "Pennsylvania Constitution," accessed February 15, 2021 (Article II, Section 2)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Trib Live, "Date set for special state House election to replace Marc Gergely," November 16, 2017
  3. ↑ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "Democrat Austin Davis wins Pa. House's 35th District," January 23, 2018
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Morning Call, "Special elections set for two Pennsylvania state House seats," January 8, 2018
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Politics PA, "Parties Trade State House Special Election Wins," May 16, 2018
  6. ↑ Wellsboro Gazette, "Special election will fill Baker’s chair; voters get to select party nominees, state representative ," April 5, 2018
  7. ↑ City & State Pennsylvania, "State Rep. Matt Baker bows out for Trump administration appointment," March 5, 2018
  8. ↑ Buck County Courier Times, "Scott Petri leaving Harrisburg to head Philadelphia Parking Authority," December 18, 2017
  9. ↑ The general election was cancelled after Wayne McMahen (R) was the only candidate to file for election.
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