Resign-to-run law

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Resign-to-run laws require officeholders to resign from their current office in order to run for another. Five states have resign-to-run laws — Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, and Texas.

Supporters of resign-to-run laws claim campaigning can lead to neglect of official duties and an unfair advantage if officeholders leverage resources such as official staff. Opponents of these laws claim they can lead to less competitive races, disadvantage those for whom public service is a full-time job, and leave constituents unrepresented for long periods of time. Click here to learn more.

States

Arizona

Title 38, Article 6, Section 296 of the Arizona Revised Statutes states:

A. Except during the final year of the term being served, no incumbent of a salaried elective office, whether holding by election or appointment, may offer himself for nomination or election to any salaried local, state or federal office. B. An incumbent of a salaried elected office shall be deemed to have offered himself for nomination or election to a salaried local, state or federal office on the filing of a nomination paper pursuant to section 16-311, subsection A. An incumbent of a salaried elected office is not deemed to have offered himself for nomination or election to an office by making a formal declaration of candidacy for the office.

*Note: Changes passed by the legislature in 2013 allowed elected officials to publicly announce their candidacy for another office. Previously, they could not disclose their intentions to voters, as they would have had to resign upon formally announcing candidacy for a different office. As of 2013, officeholders did not have to resign their current office unless they filed formal nominating papers and were not in their final year of office. The text above reflects these changes.

Florida

Title IX, Chapter 99, Section 99.012 of the Florida Statutes states:

(3)(a) No officer may qualify as a candidate for another state, district, county, or municipal public office if the terms or any part thereof run concurrently with each other without resigning from the office he or she presently holds. (b) The resignation is irrevocable. ... (4)(a) Any officer who qualifies for federal public office must resign from the office he or she presently holds if the terms, or any part thereof, run concurrently with each other. (b) The resignation is irrevocable. ... (7) This section [99.012] does not apply to: (c) Persons seeking the office of President or Vice President of the United States. ... (8) Subsections (3) and (4) do not apply to persons holding any federal office. Subsection (4) does not apply to an elected officer if the term of the office that he or she presently holds is scheduled to expire and be filled by election in the same primary and general election period as the federal office he or she is seeking.

*Note: On May 24, 2023, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed SB 7050 into law, which exempts those running for president or vice president from Florida's resign-to-run law. The bill declared, "Any person seeking the office of President or Vice President of the United States is not subject to the requirements of chapter 99, Florida Statutes, which govern candidate qualifying, specifically those which require the submission of certain documents, full and public disclosures of financial interests, petition signatures, or the payment of filing fees." The resign-to-run portion of the law went into effect the same day.

Previously, in 2018, the Florida Legislature expanded the resign-to-run statute to include all federal officials.

Georgia

Article II, Section II, Paragraph V of the Georgia Constitution states:

The office of any state, county, or municipal elected official shall be declared vacant upon such elected official qualifying, in a general primary or general election, or special primary or special election, for another state, county, or municipal elective office or qualifying for the House of Representatives or the Senate of the United States if the term of the office for which such official is qualifying for begins more than 30 days prior to the expiration of such official's present term of office.

Hawaii

Article II, Section 7 of the Hawaii Constitution states:

	Any elected public officer shall resign from that office before being eligible as a candidate for another public office, if the term of the office sought begins before the end of the term of the office held.

In Cobb v. State by Watanabe the Hawaii Supreme Court clarified Section 7:

The question raised by this original proceeding is whether article II, section 7 of the Hawaii State Constitution requires Plaintiff Steve Cobb to resign his State Senate seat in order to become a candidate for the United States House of Representatives. ... we cannot say with any certainty that the drafters of article II, section 7 intended for it to apply to candidates for federal offices. In view of the uncertainty, we conclude that Cobb should not have to resign from the State Senate in order to run for Congress.

Texas

Article XVI, Section 65 of the Texas Constitution states:

(a) This section applies to the following offices: District Clerks; County Clerks; County Judges; Judges of the County Courts at Law, County Criminal Courts, County Probate Courts and County Domestic Relations Courts; County Treasurers; Criminal District Attorneys; County Surveyors; County Commissioners; Justices of the Peace; Sheriffs; Assessors and Collectors of Taxes; District Attorneys; County Attorneys; Public Weighers; and Constables. (b) If any of the officers named herein shall announce their candidacy, or shall in fact become a candidate, in any General, Special or Primary Election, for any office of profit or trust under the laws of this State or the United States other than the office then held, at any time when the unexpired term of the office then held shall exceed one year and 30 days, such announcement or such candidacy shall constitute an automatic resignation of the office then held, and the vacancy thereby created shall be filled pursuant to law in the same manner as other vacancies for such office are filled.

*Note: In 2011, Texas voters approved Proposition 10 amending this section. The text above reflects these changes.

Arguments in favor of resign-to-run laws

The following are arguments in favor of resign-to-run laws:

• Officeholders should not divide their time in office between their official duties and their personal advancement. Proponents argue that campaigning can lead to neglect of official duties.
• Officeholders can unfairly leverage their present position against other candidates, to include resources such as staff, while retaining that position as a backup.
• Candidates may focus more on the constituency they are campaigning for instead of the one they are representing as an officeholder.

Arguments against resign-to-run laws

The following are arguments against resign-to-run laws:

• The laws can disproportionately affect those for whom public service is a full-time job. For these individuals, quitting their present position to campaign may not be a financially viable option.
• Elections can be less competitive under resign-to-run laws because they can discourage local and down-ballot officeholders from seeking higher offices. The laws may also discourage those wanting to hold a particular office from running for lower offices earlier in their political careers.
• The U.S. Constitution does not require an officeholder to resign from another office in order to run for Congress.
• If an officeholder resigns to campaign for another office, their former constituents may go without representation for long periods of time depending on the state's vacancy-filling procedures.

See also

• Elections
• Election calendar
• Election results