Minnesota state legislative special elections, 2023

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2023 State Legislative
Special Elections

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In 2023, one special election was called to fill a vacant seat in the Minnesota State Legislature. Click here to read more about the special election.

House special elections called:

How vacancies are filled in Minnesota

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures


Vacancies in the Minnesota State Legislature are filled through election. If there are more than 150 days before the next state general election, and the legislature will not be in session before the results are canvassed, then any vacancy is filled at the next state general election.[1][2]

If the vacancy happens during the legislative session, the governor has five days to issue a writ calling for a special election. The election must take place no more than 35 days after the issuance of the writ. If the legislature is out of session and there are fewer than 150 days before the next state general election, the governor must call for a special election so the winner of the election can take office when the legislature reconvenes.[2][3]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: Minnesota Cons. Art. 4, § 4 and Minnesota Stat. § 204D.19


About the legislature

The Minnesota State Legislature is a bicameral body composed of the Minnesota House of Representatives, with 100 members, and the Minnesota State Senate, with 35 members. The boxes below show the partisan composition of the state House before and after the November 2018 general election and the state Senate before and after the November 2016 general election. For the most up-to-date numbers on partisan composition in this legislature, see here (Senate) and here (House).

Minnesota State Senate
Party As of November 8, 2022 After November 9, 2022
     Democratic Party 31 Pending
     Republican Party 34 Pending
     Independent 1 Pending
     Vacancy 1 Pending
Total 67 67


Minnesota House of Representatives
Party As of November 8, 2022 After November 9, 2022
     Democratic Party 69 70
     Republican Party 63 64
     Independent 1 0
     Vacancy 1 0
Total 134 134

Special elections

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

December 5, 2023

Historical data

There were 848 state legislative special elections that took place from 2010 to 2021. Minnesota held 21 special elections during the same time period. The largest number of special elections in Minnesota 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, 2020

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 3rd, 2024, Republicans controlled 55.08% of all state legislative seats nationally, while Democrats held 44.02%. 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 835 1,119 3 16
State houses 2,416 2,949 19 29
Total: 3,251

4,068

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