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Maine state legislative special elections, 2021

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Two special elections were called to fill vacant seats in the Maine State Legislature in 2021. Click here to read more about the special elections.

Senate special elections called:

House special elections called:

How vacancies are filled in Maine

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures


If there is a vacancy in the Maine State Legislature, a special election must be held to fill the vacant seat.[1][2] The governor must call for an election and inform political committees of the nomination deadline.[3][1][2] The person elected to the seat serves for the remainder of the unexpired term.[4]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: Maine Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 21-A, § 382 Maine Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 21-A, §366 and Maine Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 21-A, § 381


About the legislature

The Maine State Legislature is a bicameral body composed of the Maine House of Representatives, with 151 members, and the Maine State Senate, with 35 members. The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the November 2020 general election. For the most up-to-date numbers on partisan composition in this legislature, see here (Senate) and here (House).

Maine State Senate
Party As of November 3, 2020 After November 4, 2020
     Democratic Party 21 22
     Republican Party 14 13
Total 35 35


Maine House of Representatives
Party As of November 3, 2020 After November 4, 2020
     Democratic Party 87 80
     Republican Party 56 67
     Independent 5 4
     Common Sense Independent 1 0
     Vacancy 2 0
Total 151 151

Special elections

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

March 9, 2021


November 2, 2021

Historical data

There were 782 state legislative special elections that took place from 2010 to 2020. Maine held 15 special elections during the same time period. The largest number of special elections in Maine took place in 2011 when four 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, 2021

In 2021, 66 state legislative special elections were held in 21 states. Between 2011 and 2020, an average of 75 special elections took place each year.

Breakdown of 2021 special elections

In 2021, special elections for state legislative positions were held for the following reasons:

  • 27 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
  • 23 due to resignation
  • 4 due to a resignation related to criminal charges
  • 12 due to the death of the incumbent

Impact of special elections on partisan composition

The partisan breakdown for the special elections was as follows:

The table below details how many seats changed parties as the result of a special election in 2021. 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. In elections between 2011 and 2020, either the Democratic Party or Republican Party saw an average net gain of four seats across the country.

Note: This table reflects information for elections that were held and not the total number of vacant seats.

Partisan Change from Special Elections (2021)
Party As of Special Election After Special Election
     Democratic Party 33 33
     Republican Party 33 33
     Independent 0 0
Total 66 66

Flipped seats

In 2021, six 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

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Maine Legislature, "Maine Revised Statutes," accessed February 11, 2021 (Statute 21A-381)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Maine Legislature, "Maine Revised Statutes," accessed February 11, 2021 (Statute 21A-382)
  3. ↑ Maine Legislature, "Constitution of the State of Maine," accessed February 11, 2021 (Article IV, Section 5)
  4. ↑ Maine Legislature, "Maine Revised Statutes," accessed February 11, 2021 (Statute 21A-361)
  5. ↑ Maine.gov, "Proclamation," accessed December 17, 2020
  6. ↑ Central Maine, "Special election set for Winthrop-area state Senate seat, left vacant by new secretary of state," December 16, 2020
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Spectrum News, "Parties to choose Augusta House candidates," August 20, 2021
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