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Wisconsin state legislative special elections, 2021

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Three special elections were called to fill vacant seats in the Wisconsin State Legislature in 2021. Click here to read more about the special elections.

Senate special elections called:

Assembly special elections called:

How vacancies are filled in Wisconsin

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures


If there is a vacancy in the Wisconsin State Legislature, a special election must be held to fill the vacant seat.[1] The governor can call for an election when allowed by law. The election cannot be held after February 1 before a spring general election, unless it is held on the same day of the election, which is the first Tuesday in April. The same requirement applies to any election preceding the fall general election (after August 1), with the exception of elections held on the first Tuesday in November.[2] Also, all vacancies must be filled quickly as long the vacancy happened before the second Tuesday in May during an election year.[3]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: Wisconsin Cons. Art. IV, § 14


About the legislature

The Wisconsin State Legislature is the state legislature of Wisconsin. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the lower Wisconsin State Assembly and the upper Wisconsin State Senate. The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the most recent general election. For the most up-to-date numbers on partisan composition in this legislature, see here (Senate) and here (House).

Wisconsin State Senate
Party As of November 3, 2020 After November 4, 2020
     Democratic Party 13 12
     Republican Party 18 21
     Vacancy 2 0
Total 33 33


Wisconsin State Assembly
Party As of November 3, 2020 After November 4, 2020
     Democratic Party 34 38
     Republican Party 63 61
     Vacancy 2 0
Total 99 99

Special elections

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

April 6, 2021


July 13, 2021


Historical data

There were 782 state legislative special elections that took place from 2010 to 2020. Wisconsin held 19 special elections during the same time period; about two per year on average. The largest number of special elections in Wisconsin took place in 2011 and 2018 when five 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, 2021

In 2021, 66 state legislative special elections were held in 21 states. Between 2011 and 2020, an average of 75 special elections took place each year.

Breakdown of 2021 special elections

In 2021, special elections for state legislative positions were held for the following reasons:

  • 27 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
  • 23 due to resignation
  • 4 due to a resignation related to criminal charges
  • 12 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 2021. 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 2020, either the Democratic Party or Republican Party saw an average net gain of four seats across the country.

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

Partisan Change from Special Elections (2021)
Party As of Special Election After Special Election
     Democratic Party 33 33
     Republican Party 33 33
     Independent 0 0
Total 66 66

Flipped seats

In 2021, six 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. ↑ Wisconsin Legislature, "Wisconsin Statutes," accessed February 10, 2021 (Statute 17.19 (1), Wisconsin Statutes)
  2. ↑ Wisconsin Legislature, "Wisconsin Statutes," accessed February 10, 2021 (Statute 8.50, Wisconsin Statutes)
  3. ↑ Wisconsin Legislature, "Wisconsin Statutes," accessed February 10, 2021 (Statute 8.50(4)-(d), Wisconsin Statutes)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Office of the Governor of Wisconsin, "Executive order #100," accessed December 23, 2020
  5. ↑ Green Bay Press Gazette, "Gov. Tony Evers sets spring special election to fill John Nygren's 89th Assembly District seat," December 18, 2020
  6. ↑ Green Bay Press Gazette, "State Rep. John Nygren resigns from Assembly weeks after winning reelection," December 1, 2020
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Office of the Govenor, "Executive Order #113," accessed April 29, 2021
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