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Kentucky state legislative special elections, 2024
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In 2024, two special elections were called to fill vacant seats in the Kentucky State Legislature.
Click here to read more about the special elections.
House of Representatives special elections called:
- District 24: March 19
- District 26: March 19
How vacancies are filled in Kentucky
If there is a vacancy in the Kentucky General Assembly, a special election must be held to fill the vacant seat. The governor must call for an election if the General Assembly is not in session. The presiding officer in the house where the vacancy happened must call for an election if lawmakers are in session.[1] All nominating petitions must be filed at least 56 days before the election.[2]
See sources: Kentucky Rev. Stat. § 118.730-§118.770
About the legislature
The Kentucky General Assembly, also called the Kentucky Legislature, is the state legislature of Kentucky. It is a bicameral legislature, consisting of the upper Kentucky State Senate and the lower Kentucky House of Representatives.
The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the most recent general elections prior to 2024. For the most up-to-date numbers on partisan composition in this legislature, see here (Senate) and here (House).
Kentucky State Senate | |||
---|---|---|---|
Party | As of November 8, 2022 | After November 9, 2022 | |
Democratic Party | 8 | 7 | |
Republican Party | 29 | 31 | |
Vacancy | 1 | 0 | |
Total | 38 | 38 |
Kentucky House of Representatives | |||
---|---|---|---|
Party | As of November 8, 2022 | After November 9, 2022 | |
Democratic Party | 25 | 20 | |
Republican Party | 75 | 80 | |
Total | 100 | 100 |
Special elections
Click [show] to the right of the district name for more information:
March 19, 2024
Kentucky House of Representatives District 24 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A special election for District 24 of the Kentucky House of Representatives was called for March 19, 2024. The major party and independent candidate filing deadline was January 30, 2024, and the write-in candidate filing deadline was February 20, 2024.[3] The seat became vacant on January 15, 2024, after incumbent Brandon Reed resigned to become the executive director of the Kentucky Office of Agricultural Policy.[4] General electionSpecial general election for Kentucky House of Representatives District 24Courtney Gilbert defeated Johnny Pennington and Craig Astor in the special general election for Kentucky House of Representatives District 24 on March 19, 2024.
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Kentucky House of Representatives District 26 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A special election for District 26 of the Kentucky House of Representatives was called for March 19, 2024. The major party and independent candidate filing deadline was January 30, 2024, and the write-in candidate filing deadline was February 20, 2024.[5] The seat became vacant on January 2, 2024, after incumbent Russell Webber resigned to become Kentucky's deputy state treasurer.[5] General electionSpecial general election for Kentucky House of Representatives District 26Peyton Griffee won election in the special general election for Kentucky House of Representatives District 26 on March 19, 2024.
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Historical data
There were 955 state legislative special elections that took place from 2010 to 2023. Kentucky held 30 special elections during the same time period; about two per year on average. The largest number of special elections in Kentucky took place in 2012, 2013, 2016, and 2020 when four 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
In 2024, 52 state legislative special elections were scheduled for 2024 in 22 states. Between 2011 and 2023, an average of 71 special elections took place each year.
Breakdown of 2024 special elections
In 2024, special elections for state legislative positions were held for the following reasons:
- 31 due to resignation
- 11 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
- 4 due to the death of the incumbent
- 6 due to redistricting
Impact of special elections on partisan composition
The partisan breakdown for the special elections was as follows:
- 25 Democratic seats
- 27 Republican seats
The table below details how many seats changed parties as the result of a special election in 2024. 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 were held and not the total number of vacant seats.
Partisan Change from Special Elections (2024) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Party | As of Special Election | After Special Election | |
Democratic Party | 26 | 29 | |
Republican Party | 26 | 23 | |
Independent | 0 | 0 | |
Total | 52 | 52 |
List of seats
In 2024, five seats changed party hands as a result of state legislative special elections.
Seats that changed from D to R
Seats that changed from R to D
- Florida House of Representatives District 35 (January 16)
- Alabama House of Representatives District 10 (March 26)
- North Dakota State Senate District 9 (November 5)
- North Dakota House of Representatives District 9 (November 5)
See also
- State legislative special elections, 2024
- State legislative special elections, 2023
- State legislative special elections, 2022
- State legislative special elections, 2021
- State legislative special elections, 2020
- Kentucky State Legislature
Footnotes
- ↑ Kentucky Legislative Research Commission, "Kentucky Revised Statutes," accessed February 10, 2021 (Statute 118.730)
- ↑ Kentucky General Assembly, "Kentucky Revised Statutes," accessed February 28, 2025 (Statute 118.770)
- ↑ The News-Enterprise, "Special election slated for vacant 24th District House seat," January 25, 2024
- ↑ Bowling Green WBKO, "Reed announces resignation from Kentucky House of Representatives," accessed January 29, 2024
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The News-Enterprise, "Date announced for special election of 26th House seat," January 25, 2024
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