Alabama state legislative special elections, 2023

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In 2023, one special election was called to fill a vacant seat in the Alabama State Legislature. The special election was called for January 9, 2024, but the election was won outright in the primary runoff on October 24, 2023.

Click here to read more about the special election.

House special elections called:

How vacancies are filled in Alabama

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures


If there is a vacancy in the Alabama State Legislature, a special election must generally be conducted in order to fill the vacant seat. In the event that a vacancy occurs on or after October 1 in the year of a regular election, the seat will remain vacant until filled at the regular election. Otherwise, the governor must call for a special election if the vacancy happens before the next scheduled general election and the Legislature is in session.[1][2] The governor has all discretion in setting the date of the election along with the nominating deadlines.[2]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: Alabama Code § 17-15-1


About the legislature

The Alabama State Legislature is a bicameral body composed of the Alabama House of Representatives, with 105 members, and the Alabama State Senate, with 35 members.

The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the most recent general elections prior to 2023. For the most up-to-date numbers on partisan composition in this legislature, see here (Senate) and here (House).

Alabama State Senate
Party As of November 8, 2022 After November 9, 2022
     Democratic Party 8 8
     Republican Party 27 27
Total 35 35


Alabama House of Representatives
Party As of November 8, 2022 After November 9, 2022
     Democratic Party 28 28
     Republican Party 73 77
     Vacancy 4 0
Total 105 105

Special elections

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

October 24, 2023

Historical data

There were 902 state legislative special elections that took place from 2010 to 2022. Alabama held 30 special elections during the same time period; about two per year on average. The largest number of special elections in Alabama took place in 2021 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, 2023

In 2023, 53 state legislative special elections were scheduled in 21 states. Between 2011 and 2022, an average of 68 special elections took place each year.

Breakdown of 2023 special elections

In 2023, special elections for state legislative positions were held for the following reasons:

  • 10 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
  • 32 due to resignation
  • 9 due to the death of the incumbent
  • 2 due to removal from office

Impact of special elections on partisan composition

The partisan breakdown for the special elections was as follows:

As of December 1st, 2024, Republicans controlled 55% of all state legislative seats nationally, while Democrats held 44.12%. Republicans held a majority in 56 chambers, and Democrats held the majority in 41 chambers. Two chambers (Alaska House and Alaska Senate) were organized under multipartisan, power-sharing coalitions.

Partisan balance of all 7,386 state legislative seats
Legislative chamber Democratic Party Republican Party Grey.png Other Vacant
State senates 837 1,117 3 16
State houses 2,421 2,944 19 29
Total: 3,258

4,061

22

45


The table below details how many seats changed parties as the result of a special election in 2023. 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 (2023)
Party As of Special Election After Special Election
     Democratic Party 33 33
     Republican Party 20 20
     Independent 0 0
Total 53 53

Flipped seats

In 2023, four 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. ↑ Alabama Legislature, "Code of Alabama," accessed February 5, 2021 (Section 17-15-1)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Alabama Legislature, "Code of Alabama," accessed February 5, 2021 (Section 17-15-3)
  3. ↑ Alabama Secretary of State, "SPECIAL ELECTION - HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DISTRICT 55," accessed June 16, 2023
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