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Arkansas state legislative special elections, 2026

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2026 State Legislative
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As of December, two special elections have been called to fill vacant seats in the Arkansas General Assembly.

Click here to read more about the special elections.

Senate special elections called:

House special elections called:

How vacancies are filled in Arkansas


If there is a vacancy in the Arkansas General Assembly, the governor must call for a special election to fill the vacancy. The election must be called by the governor without delay.[1][2] For all special elections in the Senate, the county that first established the district is responsible for conducting the election.[3] If the special election is to fill a House seat, the county board of election commissioners representing the vacant district conducts the election.[4][5]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: Arkansas Stat. Ann. § 7-11-103 and Arkansas Cons. Art. 5, § 6


About the legislature

The Arkansas General Assembly is the legislative branch of the Arkansas government. The General Assembly consists of an upper branch, the Arkansas State Senate, and a lower branch, the Arkansas House of Representatives. There are 100 representatives and 35 senators. The General Assembly convenes on the second Monday of every other year. A session lasts for 60 days unless the legislature votes to extend it. The governor of Arkansas can issue a "call" for a special session during the interims between regular sessions.

The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the most recent general elections prior to 2026. For the most up-to-date numbers on partisan composition in this legislature, see here (Senate) and here (House).

Arkansas State Senate
Party As of November 5, 2024 After November 6, 2024
     Democratic Party 6 6
     Republican Party 29 29
Total 35 35


Arkansas House of Representatives
Party As of November 5, 2024 After November 6, 2024
     Democratic Party 18 19
     Republican Party 82 81
Total 100 100

Special elections

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

March 3, 2026

Historical data

There were 1,007 state legislative special elections that took place from 2010 to 2024. Arkansas held 16 special elections during the same time period. The largest number of special elections in Arkansas took place in 2018 when five 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, 2026

As of December 2025, 20 state legislative special elections have been scheduled for 2026 in 12 states. Between 2011 and 2024, an average of 70 special elections took place each year.

Breakdown of 2026 special elections

In 2026, special elections for state legislative positions are being held for the following reasons:

  • 8 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
  • 10 due to resignation
  • 2 due to the death of the incumbent

Impact of special elections on partisan composition

The partisan breakdown for the special elections is as follows:

As of December 3rd, 2025, Republicans controlled 55.32% of all state legislative seats nationally, while Democrats held 43.49%. Republicans held a majority in 57 chambers, and Democrats held the majority in 39 chambers. Two chambers (Alaska House and Alaska Senate) were organized under multipartisan, power-sharing coalitions. One chamber (Minnesota House of Representatives) was split evenly between both parties.

Partisan balance of all 7,386 state legislative seats
Legislative chamber Democratic Party Republican Party Grey.png Other Vacant
State senates 827 1,120 6 20
State houses 2,385 2,966 21 41
Total: 3,212

4,086

27

61


The table below details how many seats changed parties as the result of a special election in 2026. 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 have been held and not the total number of vacant seats.

Partisan Change from Special Elections (2026)
Party As of Special Election After Special Election
     Democratic Party 9 0
     Republican Party 11 0
     Independent 0 0
Total 20 0

Flipped seats

In 2026, as of December, no seats flipped as a result of state legislative special elections.


See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Arkansas Legislature, "Arkansas Code - Unannotated," accessed February 9, 2021 (Statutes, 10-2-118)
  2. ↑ Arkansas Legislature, "Arkansas Code - Unannotated," accessed February 9, 2021 (Statutes, 10-2-119)
  3. ↑ Arkansas Legislature, "Arkansas Code - Unannotated," accessed February 9, 2021 (Statutes, 10-2-120(a)(1))
  4. ↑ Arkansas Legislature, "Arkansas Code - Unannotated," accessed February 9, 2021 (Statutes, 7-11-103(a))
  5. ↑ Arkansas Legislature, "Arkansas Code - Unannotated," accessed February 24, 2025 (Statutes, 7-11-105 1 (a)-(c))
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 The general election was originally scheduled for June 9, 2026
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 The primary was originally scheduled for March 3, 2026
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 The primary runoff was originally scheduled for March 31, 2026
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Governor of Arkansas, "Sanders Announces Update in Special Election to Fill Vacancy in Office for State Representative for District 70, State Senator for District 26," November 16, 2025
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Arkansas State Statutes, "7-7-105. Filling vacancies in certain offices — Special primary elections," accessed October 23, 2025
  11. ↑ Talk Business & Politics, "Court rules against Gov. Sanders in Senate District 26 special election," October 22, 2025
  12. ↑ Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, "Sanders Announces Update in Special Election fo Fill Vacancy for State Senator for District 26," September 26, 2025
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Arkansas Advocate, "Sanders moves Arkansas special elections, but calls court orders ‘unlawful,’" November 16, 2025
  14. ↑ Arkansas Times, "State Sen. Gary Stubblefield has died at 74," September 2, 2025
  15. ↑ Arkansas Advocate, "Arkansas judge rules against Sanders in second special election lawsuit," October 31, 2025
  16. ↑ Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, "Sanders Announces Special Election to Fill Vacancy in Office for State Representative for District 70," October 10, 2025
  17. ↑ KNWA Fayetteville, ""Carlton Wing named Arkansas PBS Executive Director, CEO,"" September 27, 2025
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