Mississippi state legislative special elections, 2023
Governor • Lt. Gov • Attorney General • Secretary of State • State executive offices • State Senate • State House • Special state legislative • School boards • How to run for office |
2024 →
← 2022
|
Special Elections |
|
Alabama • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine • Massachusetts • Minnesota • Mississippi • New Hampshire • New York • Oklahoma • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • Tennessee • Texas • Virginia • Wisconsin |
|
Other 2023 Election coverage |
State legislative elections Gubernatorial elections • Ballot measures |
In 2023, one special election was called to fill a vacant seat in the Mississippi State Legislature.
Click here to read more about the special election.
House special elections called
- District 23: January 10
How vacancies are filled in Mississippi
If there is a vacancy in the Mississippi State Legislature, a special election is required to fill the vacant seat. The governor must call for an election no later than 30 days after the vacancy happened. After the governor sets the election date, the counties conducting the election must be given at least 60 days' notice before the election. All qualifying deadlines are 50 days before the election.[1]
The governor can choose not to issue a writ of election if the vacancy occurs in the same calendar year as the general election for state officials.[1]
See sources: Mississippi Code Ann. § 23-15-851
About the legislature
The Mississippi State Legislature is a bicameral body composed of the Mississippi House of Representatives, with 122 members, and the Mississippi State Senate, with 52 members.
The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the most recent general elections prior to 2020. For the most up-to-date numbers on partisan composition in this legislature, see here (Senate) and here (House).
Mississippi State Senate | |||
---|---|---|---|
Party | As of November 5, 2019 | After November 6, 2019 | |
Democratic Party | 18 | 16 | |
Republican Party | 31 | 36 | |
Vacancies | 3 | 0 | |
Total | 52 | 52 |
Mississippi House of Representatives | |||
---|---|---|---|
Party | As of November 5, 2019 | After November 6, 2019 | |
Democratic Party | 44 | 46 | |
Republican Party | 74 | 75 | |
Independent | 2 | 1 | |
Vacancies | 2 | 0 | |
Total | 122 | 122 |
Special elections
Click [show] to the right of the district name for more information:
January 10, 2023
Mississippi House of Representatives District 23 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A special election for Mississippi House of Representatives District 23 was called for January 10, 2023. A runoff took place on January 31, 2023. The candidate filing deadline was November 21, 2022.[2] The seat became vacant on September 22, 2022, after incumbent Charles Jim Beckett (R) resigned upon his appointment as Executive Director for the Mississippi Public Utilities Staff.[3] General runoff electionSpecial general runoff election for Mississippi House of Representatives District 23Perry Van Bailey defeated Andrew Stepp in the special general runoff election for Mississippi House of Representatives District 23 on January 31, 2023.
General electionSpecial general election for Mississippi House of Representatives District 23Andrew Stepp and Perry Van Bailey advanced to a runoff. They defeated Andy Clark in the special general election for Mississippi House of Representatives District 23 on January 10, 2023.
|
Historical data
There were 902 state legislative special elections that took place from 2010 to 2022. Mississippi held 47 special elections during the same time period; nearly four per year on average. The largest number of special elections in Mississippi took place in 2013 when nine 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 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:
- 33 Democratic seats
- 20 Republican seats
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 | 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
- Maine House of Representatives District 45 (June 13)
- Massachusetts State Senate Worcester & Hampshire District (November 8)
Seats flipped from R to D
- Virginia State Senate District 7 (January 10)
- New Hampshire House of Representatives District Rockingham 1 (September 19)
See also
- State legislative special elections, 2022
- State legislative special elections, 2021
- State legislative special elections, 2020
- Mississippi State Legislature
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Justia US Law, "2020 Mississippi Code," accessed February 6, 2023 (Statute 23-15-851)
- ↑ Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, "Governor sets special election for north Mississippi House seat," October 25, 2022
- ↑ Spot on Mississippi, "Governor Reeves sets special election for Mississippi House of Representatives District 23," October 25, 2022
|
State of Mississippi Jackson (capital) | |
---|---|
Elections |
What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2024 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures |
Government |
Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy |