State legislative vacancies, 2026

2026 State Legislative Vacancies
2027 » « 2025
2026 state legislative elections
2026 state legislative special elections
Procedures for filling state legislative vacancies

As of January 2026, there have been nine state legislative vacancies in seven states. The process for filling vacancies varies among the state legislatures. Twenty-five states fill vacancies in the state legislature through special elections. Twenty-one states fill vacancies through appointments, and four states fill vacancies through a hybrid system that uses both appointments and special elections. The most common reasons for a state legislative vacancy include officeholders resigning, dying, leaving for a new job, being elected or appointed to a different office, or receiving a legal conviction.

• Click here to read more about procedures for filling state legislative vacancies.
• Click here to read more about 2026's regular state legislative elections.
• Click here to read more about 2026's special state legislative elections.

The table below details the partisan breakdown for state legislative vacancies in 2026. 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 held after the special elections and appointments took place.

Partisan breakdown of the vacancies (2026)
Party		As of vacancy	After vacancy
	Democratic Party	6	0
	Republican Party	3	1
	Independent	0	0
Total		9	1

As of January 12th, 2026, Republicans controlled 55.32% of all state legislative seats nationally, while Democrats held 43.47%. Republicans held a majority in 57 chambers, and Democrats held the majority in 39 chambers. Two chambers (Alaska House and Alaska Senate) were organized under multipartisan, power-sharing coalitions. One chamber (Minnesota House of Representatives) was split evenly between both parties.

Partisan balance of all 7,386 state legislative seats
Legislative chamber			Other	Vacant
State senates	834	1,120	6	13
State houses	2,377	2,966	21	49
Total:	3,211	4,086	27	62

Click here for the list of special elections triggered by a state legislative vacancy in 2026.

Current and past vacancies

The table below highlights each instance where a state legislative vacancy triggered a replacement via appointment or special election in 2026. Know of a vacancy that should be covered here? Click here to let us know.

Note: Updates to reflect newly elected or appointed individuals are made only after they have been officially sworn in.

2026 state legislative vacancies
Date of vacancy	Office	Legislator	Party	Reason	Vacancy procedure	Date filled	Successor
January 8, 2026	West Virginia Senate District 3	Donna Boley	Republican	Resignation	Appointment	TBD	TBD
January 6, 2026	Vermont House Rutland-11 District	Jim Harrison	Republican	Resignation	Appointment	January 6, 2026	Valorie Taylor (R)
January 5, 2026	Idaho House District 32B	Wendy Horman	Republican	Appointed to another office	Appointment	TBD	TBD
January 5, 2026	Maryland House District 24	Jazz Lewis	Democratic	Resignation	Appointment	TBD	TBD
January 5, 2026	Colorado House District 29	Shannon Bird	Democratic	Resignation	Appointment	TBD	TBD
January 5, 2026	Georgia House District 130	Lynn Heffner	Democratic	Resignation	Special election	TBD	TBD
January 1, 2026	Georgia House District 94	Karen Bennett	Democratic	Resignation	Special election	TBD	TBD
January 1, 2026	New York Assembly District 36	Zohran Mamdani	Democratic	Elected to another position	Special election	TBD	TBD
January 1, 2026	New York Senate District 61	Sean Ryan	Democratic	Elected to another position	Special election	TBD	TBD

Methodology

Ballotpedia counts a seat as vacant if the outgoing officeholder leaves office before their official term-end date or the incoming officeholder takes office after their official term-start date. If an officeholder takes or leaves office according to their official term-start or -end date, Ballotpedia does not count that as a vacant seat.

How are vacancies filled in state legislatures?

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures

The map below displays the different ways that vacancies are filled in state legislatures according to state law.

State legislative vacancies can be filled through special elections, governor appointments, board of county commissioners appointments, political party appointments, legislative chamber appointments, or a type of hybrid system. All 50 states use one or more of these systems to fill legislative vacancies.

Click on a state below to see the process for filling legislative vacancies in that state. The map also displays who holds the real power in filling legislative vacancies. For example, in the state of Utah, the state's constitution says that the governor is responsible for filling a legislative vacancy. However, the political party actually holds the real power in filling vacancies in the Utah State Legislature since the party recommends a successor to the governor and the governor then appoints the new member.

See also

• State legislatures
• How vacancies are filled in state legislatures
• State legislative elections, 2026
• State legislative special elections, 2026
• State legislative historical elections by year
• State supreme court vacancies, 2026

Footnotes

State legislatures

Legislatures

Alabama (H, S) · Alaska (H, S) · Arizona (H, S) · Arkansas (H, S) · California (A, S) · Colorado (H, S) · Connecticut (H, S) · Delaware (H, S) · Florida (H, S) · Georgia (H, S) · Hawaii (H, S) · Idaho (H, S) · Illinois (H, S) · Indiana (H, S) · Iowa (H, S) · Kansas (H, S) · Kentucky (H, S) · Louisiana (H, S) · Maine (H, S) · Maryland (H, S) · Massachusetts (H, S) · Michigan (H, S) · Minnesota (H, S) · Mississippi (H, S) · Missouri (H, S) · Montana (H, S) · Nebraska · Nevada (A, S) · New Hampshire (H, S) · New Jersey (GA, S) · New Mexico (H, S) · New York (A, S) · North Carolina (H, S) · North Dakota (H, S) · Ohio (H, S) · Oklahoma (H, S) · Oregon (H, S) · Pennsylvania (H, S) · Rhode Island (H, S) · South Carolina (H, S) · South Dakota (H, S) · Tennessee (H, S) · Texas (H, S) · Utah (H, S) · Vermont (H, S) · Virginia (H, S) · Washington (H, S) · West Virginia (H, S) · Wisconsin (A, S) · Wyoming (H, S)

2026

State legislative elections (2026) • State legislative special elections (2026) • Primary dates and filing requirements • 2026 Session Dates

2025

State legislative elections (2025) • State legislative special elections (2025) • Primary dates and filing requirements • 2025 Session Dates

Historical elections

2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011 • 2010 • 2009 • 2008 • 2007 • 2006 • 2005 • 2004 • 2003 • 2002 • 2001 • 2000

Features of state legislatures

How vacancies are filled in state legislatures • States with a full-time legislature • State legislatures with term limits • Comparison of state legislative salaries • When state legislators assume office after a general election • Population represented by state legislators • State constitutional articles governing state legislatures • State legislative sessions • Resign-to-run law • State legislature candidate requirements by state • Official names of state legislatures • State legislative chambers that use multi-member districts • Factors Affecting Competitiveness in State Legislative Elections

State senates

Length of terms of state senators • State senators • Partisan composition of state senates • State senators sorted by year first elected

State houses

Length of terms of state representatives • State representatives • Partisan composition of state houses • State representatives sorted by year first elected

Leadership positions

President of the Senate • President Pro Tempore • Senate Majority Leader • Senate Minority Leader • House Majority Leader • House Minority Leader • State Speaker of the House

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