New York 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 New York State Legislature.

Click here to read more about the special election.

House special elections called:

How vacancies are filled in New York


If there is a vacancy in the New York Legislature, a special election must be held to fill the vacant seat. A special election can be held as long as the vacancy occurred before April 1 of the last year of the former officeholder's term. If a special session is called in the state legislature after this date, a special election may be called to fill the seat.[1] The person elected to fill the vacant seat serves for the remainder of the unexpired term.[2]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: New York Public Officers Law § 42


About the legislature

The New York State Legislature is a bicameral body composed of the New York State Assembly, with 150 members, and the New York State Senate, with 63 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).


New York State Senate
Party As of November 8, 2022 After November 9, 2022
     Democratic Party 42 42
     Republican Party 20 21
     Vacancy 1 0
Total 63 63


New York State Assembly
Party As of November 8, 2022 After November 9, 2022
     Democratic Party 106 102
     Republican Party 42 48
     Independence 1 0
     Vacancy 1 0
Total 150 150

Special elections

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

September 12, 2023


Historical data

There were 902 state legislative special elections that took place from 2010 to 2022. New York held 54 special elections during the same time period; the third-most of any state. About four special elections were held each year on average. The largest number of special elections in New York took place in 2018 when 11 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