Everything you need to know about ranked-choice voting in one spot. Click to learn more!

Texas state legislative special elections, 2020

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Ballotpedia Election Coverage Badge-smaller use.png
U.S. Senate • U.S. House • State executive offices • State Senate • State House • Special state legislative • Supreme court • Appellate courts • Local judges • Local ballot measures • School boards • Municipal • Recalls • How to run for office
Flag of Texas.png


2021 →
← 2019
2020 badge.png
2020 State Legislative
Special Elections
Special election information
Breakdown • Historical data • Elections by date
Special elections by state
Alabama • Alaska • Arkansas • California
Connecticut • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii
Illinois • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine
Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota
Mississippi • New Hampshire • New Jersey
New York • Oklahoma • Oregon
Pennsylvania • Rhode Island
South Carolina • Texas
Virginia • Washington
Special elections by territory
Puerto Rico
Other 2020 election coverage
Filing deadlines • Statewide elections
State legislative elections
Gubernatorial elections • Ballot measures

In 2020, two special elections and three special election runoffs were called to fill vacant seats in the Texas State Legislature. Click here to read more about the special elections.

Senate special elections called:

House special elections called:

How vacancies are filled in Texas

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures


If there is a vacancy in the Texas State Legislature, the governor must call a special election to fill the vacant seat.[1] A governor's proclamation to hold a special election must be delivered to county judges in the legislative district no later than 36 days before the scheduled election.[2]

The secretary of state can declare a candidate duly elected in a special election if there is no opposition.[3]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: Texas Elec. Code § 203.001 et. seq.


About the legislature

The Texas State Senate is the upper chamber of the Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members. Each member represented an average of 811,147 residents, as of the 2010 Census.[4] After the 2000 Census, each member represented 672,640.[5]

The Texas House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the Texas State Legislature. There are 150 members. Each member represented an average of 167,637 residents, as of the 2010 Census.[6] After the 2000 Census, each member represented 139,012.[7] 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).

Texas State Senate
Party As of November 6, 2018 After November 7, 2018
     Democratic Party 10 12
     Republican Party 21 19
Total 31 31
Texas House of Representatives
Party As of November 6, 2018 After November 7, 2018
     Democratic Party 55 67
     Republican Party 93 83
     Vacancy 2 0
Total 150 150

Special elections

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

January 28, 2020

July 14, 2020

September 29, 2020

Historical data

There were 723 state legislative special elections that took place from 2010 to 2019. Texas held 31 special elections during the same time period; about three per year on average. The largest number of special elections in Texas took place in 2019 when six 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[22]
  • 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. ↑ Texas Legislature, "Election Code," accessed February 16, 2021 (Statute 3.003 (3))
  2. ↑ Texas Legislature, "Election Code," accessed February 16, 2021 (Statute 3.003 (3)(b)-(c))
  3. ↑ Texas Legislature, "Election Code," accessed February 16, 2021 (Statute 2.055)
  4. ↑ U.S. Census Bureau, "Population Distribution and Change: 2000 to 2010," accessed May 15, 2014
  5. ↑ U.S. Census Bureau, "States Ranked by Population: 2000," April 2, 2001
  6. ↑ U.S. Census Bureau, "Population Distribution and Change: 2000 to 2010," accessed May 15, 2014
  7. ↑ U.S. Census Bureau, "States Ranked by Population: 2000," April 2, 2001
  8. ↑ Office of the Texas Governor, "Governor Abbott Sets Date For Special Runoff Elections In Texas," November 16, 2019
  9. ↑ Texas Governor Greg Abbott', "Proclamation by the Governor of the State of Texas," August 13, 2019
  10. ↑ The Texas Tribune, "State Rep. John Zerwas to join UT System as executive vice chancellor," August 1, 2019
  11. ↑ Office of the Texas Governor, "Governor Abbott Sets Date For Special Runoff Elections In Texas," November 16, 2019
  12. ↑ Governor Greg Abbott, "HD 100 special election," accessed June 5, 2019
  13. ↑ Office of the Texas Governor, "Governor Abbott Sets Date For Special Runoff Elections In Texas," November 16, 2019
  14. ↑ Houston Chronicle, "Gov. Abbott sets special election for Houston seat in Texas House," August 19, 2019
  15. ↑ Houston Chronicle, "Houston Democrat Jessica Farrar to retire from Legislature," August 16, 2019
  16. ↑ Office of the Texas Governor, "Governor Abbott Issues Proclamation Postponing Special Election For Texas Senate District 14," March 17, 2020
  17. ↑ The Texas Tribune, "State Sen. Kirk Watson to retire from Texas Senate," February 18, 2020
  18. ↑ Office of Governor Greg Abbott, "Governor Abbott Sets Date For Special Runoff Election In Senate District 30," October 10, 2020
  19. ↑ Office of Governor Greg Abbott, "Governor Abbott Sets Emergency Special Election For Texas Senate District 30," August 23, 2020
  20. ↑ The Eagle, "Gov. Greg Abbott sets Sept. 29 special election to replace state Sen. Pat Fallon," August 23, 2020
  21. ↑ The Texas Tribune, "Texas State Sen. Pat Fallon wins GOP nomination to replace John Ratcliffe on November ballot, becoming Ratcliffe's likely successor," August 8, 2020
  22. ↑ Arkansas State Rep. Mickey Gates (R) was expelled by a vote of the House membership.
v • e
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)
SLP badge.png
2025
2024
2023
Historical elections
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
State senates
State houses
Leadership positions
Flag of Texas
v • e
State of Texas
Austin (capital)
Elections

What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2025 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures

Government

Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy

Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Texas_state_legislative_special_elections,_2020&oldid=8208802"