Vote totals and margins of victory in state legislative special elections during Trump's second term, 2025-present
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As of April 2026, Democrats had gained 12 state legislative seats in special elections nationwide since January 2025. Republicans had not gained any state legislative seats in special elections.
This article tracks state legislative special election outcomes during President Donald Trump's (R) second term. It provides information on the vote totals received by each party in special elections compared to their previous general election votes and shows the average shifts in margin of victory for each state.
Click below to learn more:
- Overview of special legislative elections in 2025, 2026, and historical context
- Vote totals received by party in the special elections compared to previous general elections
- Shifts in margins of victory in the special elections compared to previous general elections
Overview
This section shows background information on special elections held in 2026 and 2025 as well as historical context about special elections since 2011. Click a tab below to learn more.
Breakdown of 2026 special elections
In 2026, special elections for state legislative positions are being held for the following reasons:
- 32 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
- 25 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:
- 34 Democratic seats
- 29 Republican seats
As of April 9th, 2026, Republicans controlled 55.14% of all state legislative seats nationally, while Democrats held 43.98%. 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 | 839 | 1,122 | 6 | 6 | ||||
| State houses | 2,409 | 2,951 | 20 | 33 | ||||
| Total: | 3,248
|
4,073
|
26
|
39 | ||||
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 | 34 | 29 | |
| Republican Party | 29 | 14 | |
| Independent | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 63 | 43 | |
Flipped seats
In 2026, as of April, four seats changed party hands as a result of state legislative special elections.
Seats flipped from R to D
- Arkansas House of Representatives District 70 (March 3)
- New Hampshire House of Representatives District Carroll 7 (March 10)
- Florida State Senate District 14 (March 24)
- Florida House of Representatives District 87 (March 24)
Vote total comparison
In special state legislative elections since January 2025, Democratic candidates received an average of nine percentage points more of their party’s vote total from the previous election than Republicans.
There were 83 districts where a Democrat had appeared on the special election ballot and on the previous regular general election ballot. On average in those districts, Democratic vote totals in the special elections were 39% of the party’s vote totals in the previous regular general elections.
There were 78 districts where a Republican had appeared on the special election ballot and on the previous regular general election ballot. On average, Republican vote totals in the special elections were 30% of the party’s vote totals in the previous regular general elections.
Margins of victory
- See also: Margin of victory
There were 57 districts where both the special election and the most recent general election had candidates from both major parties. Democrats won 42 of those special elections, and Republicans won 15. Democrats won 33 of the previous general elections in those districts, and Republicans won 24.
Forty-five of those districts shifted toward Democrats in the special election compared to the previous election, and 12 shifted toward Republicans. Overall, the average shift across all 57 districts was 5.3 percentage points toward Democrats.
The map below shows the average partisan shift in each state that had at least one state legislative special election since January 2025. The data below include all 106 special general elections that had been called by March 27.
