Pennsylvania state legislative special elections, 2026

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As of December, two special elections have been called to fill vacant seats in the Pennsylvania General Assembly.

Click here to read more about the special elections.

House special elections called:

• District 22: February 24
• District 42: February 24

How vacancies are filled in Pennsylvania

If there is a vacancy in the Pennsylvania General Assembly, a special election must be held to fill the vacant seat. The presiding officer in the house where the vacancy happened must call for an election. There are no deadlines set in the state constitution on when a special election can be held.

See sources: Pennsylvania Cons. Art. II, §2

About the legislature

The Pennsylvania General Assembly is Pennsylvania's state legislature, seated at the state's capital, Harrisburg. It has been a bicameral legislature since 1790. The General Assembly consists of an upper house, the Pennsylvania State Senate, and a lower house, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

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).

Pennsylvania State Senate
Party		As of November 5, 2024	After November 6, 2024
	Democratic Party	22	22
	Republican Party	28	27
	Vacancy	0	1
Total		50	50

Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Party		As of November 5, 2024	After November 6, 2024
	Democratic Party	102	101
	Republican Party	101	101
	Vacancy	0	1
Total		203	203

Special elections

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

February 24, 2026

Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 22

See also: Pennsylvania state legislative special elections, 2026 A special election for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 22 has been called for February 24, 2026. The candidate filing deadline is January 5, 2026. The seat became vacant after Joshua Siegel (D) resigned from office following his election as Lehigh County Executive. There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 42

See also: Pennsylvania state legislative special elections, 2026 A special election for Pennsylvania House of Representatives District 42 has been called for February 24, 2026. The candidate filing deadline is January 5, 2026. The seat became vacant after Dan Miller (D) resigned from office following his election to the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. There are no official candidates yet for this election.

Historical data

There were 1,007 state legislative special elections that took place from 2010 to 2024. Pennsylvania held 69 special elections during the same time period. The largest number of special elections in Pennsylvania took place in 2015 when eight 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 December 2025, 40 state legislative special elections have been scheduled for 2026 in 19 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:

• 20 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
• 16 due to resignation
• 4 due to the death of the incumbent

Impact of special elections on partisan composition

The partisan breakdown for the special elections is as follows:

• 23 Democratic seats
• 17 Republican seats

As of December 24th, 2025, Republicans controlled 55.38% of all state legislative seats nationally, while Democrats held 43.46%. 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	828	1,121	6	18
State houses	2,382	2,969	21	41
Total:	3,210	4,090	27	59

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	23	0
	Republican Party	17	1
	Independent	0	0
Total		40	1

Flipped seats

In 2026, as of December, 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
• Pennsylvania 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

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Features of state legislatures

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