Special elections to the 118th United States Congress (2023-2024)
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Special elections to the United States Congress are required in the event of vacancies. This page is a compilation of all special elections to the 118th Congress in 2023-2024.
As of January 2024, three special elections had been held to complete a term in the U.S. House, and there are three upcoming special elections scheduled to take place. The following special elections are upcoming:
- New York's 3rd Congressional District on February 13, 2024.
- California Senate on November 5, 2024.
- Nebraska Senate on November 5, 2024.
The following special elections already occurred:
- Utah’s 2nd Congressional District on November 21, 2023.
- Rhode Island's 1st Congressional District on November 7, 2023.
- Virginia's 4th Congressional District on February 21, 2023
There are two special elections scheduled for November 5, 2024. One special election is to fill the last two years of the six-year term that Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) was elected to in 2020. Sasse resigned from the U.S. Senate on January 8, 2023, after being appointed president of the University of Florida.[1][2][3] On January 12, 2023, Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen (R) appointed Pete Ricketts (R) to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy that Sasse's resignation caused.[4]
The other special election is to fill the rest of the six-year term that Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) was elected to in 2018. Feinstein died on Sept. 29, 2023. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) appointed Laphonza Butler (D) to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by Feinstein's death.[5]
Sixty-seven special elections to the United States Congress were called during the 113th through 117th Congresses. During that time, special elections were called for 23 seats vacated by Democrats and 44 vacated by Republicans.
Special elections to Congress occur when a legislator resigns or is removed from office. Depending on the specific state laws governing vacancies, a state can either hold an election within the same calendar year or wait until the next regularly scheduled election.
Special elections
House
Senate
Special election results
House
| Results of special elections to the 118th Congress (House) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race | Election date | Incumbent | Winner | Election MOV | Previous election MOV | 2020 Presidential election MOV[6] |
| New York's 3rd Congressional District | February 13, 2024 |  George Santos |
TBD | TBD | R+7.5 | D+8.2 |
| Rhode Island's 1st Congressional District | November 7, 2023 |  David Cicilline |
Gabe Amo |
D+29.6 | D+27.6 | D+29.1 |
| Utah's 2nd Congressional District | November 21, 2023 | Chris Stewart |
Celeste Maloy |
R-21.6 | R+25.7 | R+17.1 |
| Virginia's 4th Congressional District | February 21, 2023 | Donald McEachin |
Jennifer McClellan |
D+44.4 | D+27.6 | D+36.0 |
Senate
| Results of special elections to the 118th Congress (Senate) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race | Election date | Incumbent | Winner | Election MOV | Previous election MOV | 2020 Presidential election MOV (statewide)[7] |
| California Senate | November 5, 2024 | Dianne Feinstein |
TBD | TBD | D+8.4 | D+29[8] |
| Nebraska Senate | November 5, 2024 | Ben Sasse |
TBD | TBD | R+38.3 | R+19[9] |
Historical election data
Special elections, 2013-2022
From 2013 to 2022, 67 special elections to the United States Congress were called during the 113th through 117th Congresses. During that time, special elections were called for 23 seats vacated by Democrats and 44 vacated by Republicans.
The table below details how many congressional seats changed parties as the result of a special election between 2013 and 2022. The numbers on the left side of the table reflect how many vacant seats were originally held by each party, while the numbers on the right side of the table show how many vacant seats each party won in special elections.
| Congressional special election vacancies and results, 113th Congress to 117th Congress | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Congress | Total elections held | Vacancies before elections | Seats held after elections | Net change | ||
| Democrats
|
Republicans
|
Democrats
|
Republicans
| |||
| 117th Congress | 17 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 10 | No change |
| 116th Congress | 10 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 6 | +1D, -1R |
| 115th Congress | 17 | 4 | 13 | 8 | 9 | +4 D, -4 R |
| 114th Congress | 7 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 5 | No change |
| 113th Congress | 16 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 9 | No change |
| Averages | 13 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 7 | N/A |
| U.S. Senate special election partisan change from special elections, 113th Congress to 117th Congress | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of special election | After special election | ||||
| Democrats |
5 | 8 | ||||
| Republicans |
7 | 4 | ||||
| Total | 12 | 12 | ||||
| U.S. House special election partisan change from special elections, 113th Congress to 117th Congress | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | As of special election | After special election | ||||
| Democrats |
18 | 20 | ||||
| Republicans |
37 | 35 | ||||
| Total | 55 | 55 | ||||
Special elections, 1986-2012
The table below presents the results of special elections to Congress from 1986 to 2012. Contact Ballotpedia at editor@ballotpedia.org for access to earlier data.
| Results of special elections to Congress (1986-2012) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Election cycle | Total special elections | U.S. House elections | Seats changing partisan control | U.S. Senate elections | Seats changing partisan control | |
| 2011-2012 | 11 | 11 | None | None | None | |
| 2009-2010 | 15 | 10 | 3 (2 Democratic gains; 1 Republican gain) | 5 | 2 (all Republican gains) | |
| 2007-2008 | 14 | 12 | 3 (2 Republican gains; 1 Democratic gain) | 2 | None | |
| 2005-2006 | 12 | 12 | 3 (all Democratic gains) | None | None | |
| 2003-2004 | 6 | 6 | None | None | None | |
| 2001-2002 | 6 | 5 | 2 (all Democratic gains) | 1 | 1 (Republican gain) | |
| 1999-2000 | 9 | 8 | 1 (Republican gain) | 1 | 1 (Democratic gain) | |
| 1997-1998 | 3 | 3 | None | None | None | |
| 1995-1996 | 11 | 9 | 1 (Republican gain) | 2 | 1 (Democratic gain) | |
| 1993-1994 | 9 | 6 | 1 (Republican gain) | 3 | 3 (all Republican gains) | |
| 1991-1992 | 10 | 7 | 2 (all Republican gains) | 3 | 1 (Democratic gain) | |
| 1989-1990 | 10 | 8 | 1 (Democratic gain) | 2 | None | |
| 1987-1988 | 12 | 12 | 3 (2 Democratic gains; 1 Republican gain) | None | None | |
| 1985-1986 | 8 | 8 | 1 (Republican gain) | None | None | |
| Total | 136 | 117 | 21 (11 Democratic gains; 10 Republican gains) | 19 | 9 (6 Republican gains; 3 Democratic gains) | |
See also
- United States Congress
- United States Senate
- United States House of Representatives
- Filling vacancies in the U.S. Senate
Footnotes
- ↑ Tampa Bay Times, "Sen. Ben Sasse chosen as 13th UF president in unanimous vote of trustees," November 1, 2022
- ↑ Fox 42, "Sen. Ben Sasse has been confirmed as President of the University of Florida," November 9, 2022
- ↑ Siouxland News, "Nebraska's Ben Sasse resigning from US Senate," December 5, 2022
- ↑ KETV Omaha, "Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen announces Pete Ricketts will replace US Sen. Ben Sasse," January 12, 2023
- ↑ Office of Governor Gavin Newsom, "Governor Gavin Newsom Appoints Laphonza Butler to Complete Senator Feinstein’s Term in the U.S. Senate," Oct. 1, 2023
- ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' presidential results by congressional district for 2020, 2016, and 2012," accessed April 6, 2021
- ↑ 270towin, "Historical Timeline," accessed March 25, 2022
- ↑ 270towin, "California," accessed October 17, 2023
- ↑ 270towin, "Nebraska," accessed March 7, 2023
- ↑ Both general election candidates were Republicans.
- ↑ This race was unopposed.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Both general election candidates were Democrats.
- ↑ Lamb won by a margin of 0.4 percentage points.
- ↑ Wild won by a margin of 0.2 percentage points.
- ↑ The state Board of Elections declined to certify the results of the 2018 election following allegations of absentee ballot fraud.
- ↑ Collins won by 0.3 percentage points.
- ↑ This special election was called to fill the vacancy left by 2020 Congressman-elect Luke Letlow (R), who died before being sworn in to Congress.
- ↑ Runoff MOV between two Republican candidates.
- ↑ Runoff MOV between two Democratic candidates.
- ↑ Runoff MOV between two Republican candidates.
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