Maine state legislative special elections, 2023

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2023 State Legislative
Special Elections

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In 2023, two special elections were called to fill vacant seats in the Maine State Legislature.

Click here to read more about the special election.

House special elections called:

How vacancies are filled in Maine


If there is a vacancy in the Maine State Legislature, a special election must be held to fill the vacant seat.[1][2] The governor must call for an election and inform political committees of the nomination deadline.[3][1][2] The person elected to the seat serves for the remainder of the unexpired term.[4]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: Maine Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 21-A, § 382 Maine Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 21-A, §366 and Maine Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 21-A, § 381


About the legislature

The Maine State Legislature is a bicameral body composed of the Maine House of Representatives, with 151 members, and the Maine State Senate, with 35 members. The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the November 2022 general election. For the most up-to-date numbers on partisan composition in this legislature, see here (Senate) and here (House).

Maine State Senate
Party As of November 8, 2022 After November 9, 2022
     Democratic Party 22 22
     Republican Party 13 13
Total 35 35


Maine House of Representatives
Party As of November 8, 2022 After November 9, 2022
     Democratic Party 77 82
     Republican Party 63 67
     Independent 2 1
     Independent for Maine Party 1 1
     Vacancy 8 0
Total 151 151

Special elections

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

June 13, 2023

November 7, 2023

Historical data

There were 902 state legislative special elections that took place from 2010 to 2022. Maine held 19 special elections during the same time period. The largest number of special elections in Maine took place in 2011 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

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