Virginia state legislative special elections, 2026

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As of March, eight special elections have been called to fill vacant seats in the Virginia General Assembly.

Click here to read more about the special elections.

Senate special elections called:

• District 15: January 6
• District 39: February 10

House special elections called:

• District 77: January 6
• District 11: January 13
• District 23: January 13
• District 17: January 20
• District 5: February 10
• District 98: March 17

How vacancies are filled in Virginia

If there is a vacancy in the Virginia General Assembly, a special election must be conducted to fill the vacant seat. If the vacancy occurs while the legislature is in session, the presiding officer of the house in which the vacancy happens must call for a special election. If the vacancy occurs while the legislature is in recess, the governor shall call the special election. Within 30 days of a vacancy, the appropriate officeholder shall issue a writ of election. If an vacancy occurs between December 10 and March 1, the writ must declare the special election date be within 30 days of said vacancy. All special elections must be held promptly. However, no special election can be held if it occurs less than 55 days before any statewide primary or general election or if there are fewer than 75 days remaining in the vacated term.

See sources: Virginia Code § 24.2-216

About the legislature

The General Assembly is a bicameral body consisting of a lower house, the Virginia House of Delegates, with 100 members, and an upper house, the Virginia State Senate, with 40 members. The House of Delegates is presided over by a speaker of the house, while the State Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Virginia.

The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the most recent general elections prior to 2026. For the most up-to-date numbers on partisan composition in this legislature, see here (Senate) and here (House).

Virginia State Senate
Party		As of November 7, 2023	After November 8, 2023
	Democratic Party	22	21
	Republican Party	18	19
Total		40	40

Virginia House of Delegates

Party	As of November 4, 2025	After November 4, 2025
Democratic Party	51	64
Republican Party	48	36
Other	0	0
Vacancies	1	0
Total	100	100

Special elections

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

March 17, 2026

Virginia House of Delegates District 98
See also: Virginia state legislative special elections, 2026 A special election for Virginia House of Delegates District 98 has been called for March 17, 2026. The candidate filing deadline was February 26, 2026. The seat became vacant on February 19, 2026 after Barry Knight (R) passed away. There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Historical data

There were 1,102 state legislative special elections that took place from 2010 to 2025. Virginia held 49 special elections during the same time period. The largest number of special elections in Virginia took place in 2014 when nine 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, 2026

As of March 2026, 60 state legislative special elections have been scheduled for 2026 in 22 states. Between 2011 and 2024, an average of 70 special elections took place each year.

Breakdown of 2026 special elections

In 2026, special elections for state legislative positions are being held for the following reasons:

• 31 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
• 23 due to resignation
• 6 due to the death of the incumbent

Impact of special elections on partisan composition

The partisan breakdown for the special elections is as follows:

• 31 Democratic seats
• 29 Republican seats

As of March 3rd, 2026, Republicans controlled 55.13% of all state legislative seats nationally, while Democrats held 43.92%. 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	838	1,121	6	8
State houses	2,406	2,951	20	36
Total:	3,244	4,072	26	44

The table below details how many seats changed parties as the result of a special election 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 won in the special elections.

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

Partisan Change from Special Elections (2026)
Party		As of Special Election	After Special Election
	Democratic Party	31	20
	Republican Party	28	7
	Independent	0	0
Total		59	27

Flipped seats

In 2026, as of March, no seats flipped as a result of state legislative special elections.

See also

• State legislative special elections, 2026
• State legislative special elections, 2025
• State legislative special elections, 2024
• State legislative special elections, 2023
• Virginia General Assembly

Footnotes

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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

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Features of state legislatures

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State senates

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State houses

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Leadership positions

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