Oklahoma state legislative special elections, 2023
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In 2023, one special election was called to fill a vacant seat in the Oklahoma State Legislature.
Click here to read more about the special election.
Senate special elections called:
- District 32: December 12
How vacancies are filled in Oklahoma
If there is a vacancy in the Oklahoma State Legislature, the governor must call a special election no later than 30 days after the vacancy occurs. No special election can be called if the vacancy occurs in an even-numbered year and if the term of office will expire in that year. This second provision allows special elections to be held for outgoing senators with two or more years left in their terms.[1]
If a senator announces his or her resignation before March 1 but the effective date lies between the general election and the new session, a special election can be held on the general election dates. The winner of this election will take office upon the senator's official resignation. This only applies to senators with two or more years remaining in their terms.[1]
See sources: Oklahoma Stat. Ann. tit. 26, § 12-106
About the legislature
The Oklahoma State Legislature is a bicameral body composed of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, with 101 members, and the Oklahoma State Senate, with 48 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).
Oklahoma State Senate | |||
---|---|---|---|
Party | As of November 8, 2022 | After November 9, 2022 | |
Democratic Party | 9 | 8 | |
Republican Party | 39 | 40 | |
Total | 48 | 48 |
Oklahoma House of Representatives | |||
---|---|---|---|
Party | As of November 8, 2022 | After November 9, 2022 | |
Democratic Party | 18 | 20 | |
Republican Party | 82 | 81 | |
Vacancy | 1 | 0 | |
Total | 101 | 101 |
Special elections
Click [show] to the right of the district name for more information:
December 12, 2023
Oklahoma State Senate District 32 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A special election for Oklahoma State Senate District 32 was called for December 12, 2023. A primary took place on October 10, 2023. The candidate filing deadline was August 2, 2023.[2] The special election was ordered after John Montgomery (R) announced his intention to resign on August 1, 2023, after being chosen as the next president and CEO of the Lawton Fort Sill Chamber of Commerce.[3] General electionSpecial general election for Oklahoma State Senate District 32Dusty Deevers defeated Larry Bush in the special general election for Oklahoma State Senate District 32 on December 12, 2023.
Democratic primary electionSpecial Democratic primary for Oklahoma State Senate District 32Larry Bush defeated Johnny Jernigan in the special Democratic primary for Oklahoma State Senate District 32 on October 10, 2023.
Republican primary electionSpecial Republican primary for Oklahoma State Senate District 32Dusty Deevers defeated Jean Hausheer, JJ Francais, and Jennifer Ellis in the special Republican primary for Oklahoma State Senate District 32 on October 10, 2023.
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Historical data
There were 902 state legislative special elections that took place from 2010 to 2022. Oklahoma held 21 special elections during the same time period; nearly two per year on average. The largest number of special elections in Oklahoma took place in 2017 when seven 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
- State legislative special elections, 2019
- Oklahoma State Legislature
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Justia US Law, "2014 Oklahoma Statutes Title 26. Elections §26-12-106. Vacancies in the Legislature," accessed February 3, 2023 (Statute 26-12-106(A), Oklahoma Statutes)
- ↑ Office of the Governor, State of Oklahoma, "EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT - EXECUTIVE PROCLAMATION," July 18, 2023
- ↑ Oklahoma Senate, "Sen. Montgomery announces resignation, accepts new role with Lawton Chamber," July 7, 2023
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