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Washington state legislative special elections, 2019

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In 2019, two special elections was called to fill vacant seats in the Washington State Legislature. Click here to read more about the special elections.

Senate special elections called:

House special elections called:

How vacancies are filled in Washington

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures


If there is a vacancy in the Washington State Legislature, the board of county commissioners where the vacant seat is located has the responsibility to select a replacement. The county central committee of the political party that last held the seat must submit a list of three candidates to the board of county commissioners representing the vacant district. If the vacancy occurs in the office of a joint senator or joint representative, the state central committee is responsible for submitting the list of three candidates. A selection must be made within 60 days after the vacancy occurred. The person appointed will hold the seat until his or her successor is elected at the next general or special election in November.[1]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: Washington Const. Art. 2, Sec. 15


About the legislature

The Washington State Legislature is the state legislature of Washington. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the lower Washington House of Representatives and the upper Washington State Senate. 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).

Washington State Senate
Party As of November 6, 2018 After November 7, 2018
     Democratic Party 26 29
     Republican Party 23 20
Total 49 49


Washington House of Representatives
Party As of November 6, 2018 After November 7, 2018
     Democratic Party 50 57
     Republican Party 48 41
Total 98 98

Special elections

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

November 5, 2019


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The following state legislative candidates responded to Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. Click candidate names to read their answers.

Washington State Senate District 40

Special elections throughout the country

See also: State legislative special elections, 2019

In 2019, 77 state legislative special elections were held in 24 states. Between 2011 and 2018, an average of 77 special elections took place each year.

Breakdown of 2019 special elections

In 2019, special elections for state legislative positions were held for the following reasons:

  • 47 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
  • 21 due to a retirement
  • 6 due to the death of the incumbent
  • 1 due to a resignation related to criminal charges
  • 2 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 2019. 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 2018, either the Democratic Party or Republican Party saw an average net gain of four seats across the country. Between 2017 and 2018, Democrats had a net gain of 19 seats.

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

Partisan Change from Special Elections (2019)
Party As of Special Election After Special Election
     Democratic Party 39 36
     Republican Party 38 40
     Independent 0 1
Total 77 77

Flipped seats

In 2019, eight seats flipped as a result of state legislative special elections.

Seats flipped from D to R

Seats flipped from R to D

Seats flipped from R to I

State profile

See also: Washington and Washington elections, 2019
USA Washington location map.svg

Partisan data

The information in this section was current as of May 7, 2019

Presidential voting pattern

Congressional delegation

State executives

  • Democrats held six and Republicans held two of Washington's 14 state executive offices. Elections for the other offices are nonpartisan.
  • Washington's governor was Democrat Jay Inslee.

State legislature

Washington Party Control: 1992-2024
Eighteen years of Democratic trifectas  •  No Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Governor D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D
Senate R D D D D R R D D D D R R D D D D D D D D R R R R R[4] D D D D D D D
House D D D R R R R S S S D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D

Washington quick stats
More Washington coverage on Ballotpedia:


Demographic data for Washington
 WashingtonU.S.
Total population:7,160,290316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):66,4563,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:77.8%73.6%
Black/African American:3.6%12.6%
Asian:7.7%5.1%
Native American:1.3%0.8%
Pacific Islander:0.6%0.2%
Two or more:5.2%3%
Hispanic/Latino:12%17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:90.4%86.7%
College graduation rate:32.9%29.8%
Income
Median household income:$61,062$53,889
Persons below poverty level:14.4%11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015)
Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Washington.
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Washington Legislature, "Washington Constitution - Section Article II, Section 15," accessed February 8, 2023
  2. ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "2019 Elections Calendar," accessed March 27, 2019
  3. ↑ Washington Secretary of State, "2019 Elections Calendar," accessed March 27, 2019
  4. ↑ Democrats gained full control of the state Senate after a special election on November 7, 2017.
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