Tracking the 115th Congress's Special Elections

Often cited by political pundits as bellwethers for changing voter preferences, special elections are called by a state's governor to fill a seat in Congress that became vacant because a lawmaker resigned or was removed from office. So far, seven seats in the 115th Congress have become vacant, and we wanted to make it easy for you to track when those elections occur and understand the process governing them.

Any vacancy in the House of Representatives that occurs during the first session (or year) of the two-year Congress is required by law to be filled through a special election. But during the second year of a Congress the process varies, as it's a regularly-scheduled election year so the vacancy is already slated to be filled, and whether a state holds a special election can depend on the amount of time between the vacancy and the November election. Thus far, the 115th Congress seven vacancies have opened up.

Vacancies in the Senate can in most cases be filled through an appointment by the state's governor, although the newly-appointed senator may still face a special election depending on when in the former senator's term the seat became vacant. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 36 states allow the interim senator to serve until the next regularly-scheduled general election while the remaining 14 require a special election to be held. Of the states that require special elections, five prohibit governors from appointing an interim senator, so the seat remains vacant until the election. Only one Senate vacancy has occurred in the 115th Congress so far.

Here are the vacancies in the 115th Congress:

Kansas' 4th District

• Vacated by Mike Pompeo (R), now CIA Director
• Election Date: April 11, 2017 — Estes (R) 52.5%==; Thompson (D) 45.7%
• Candidates: Ron Estes (R), Jim Thompson (D), Chris Rockhold (L)
• Congressman-elect Ron Estes to be sworn in April 25, 2017

Montana's At-Large District

• Vacated by Ryan Zinke (R), now Secretary of the Interior
• Election Date: May 25, 2017 — Gianforte (R) 50.7%; Quist (D) 43.5%
• Candidates: Greg Gionforte (R), Rob Quist (D), Mark Wicks (L)

California's 34th District

• Vacated by Xavier Becerra (D), now California Attorney General
• Election Date: June 6, 2017 Gomez (D) 60.1%; Ahn 39.9%
• Candidates: Robert Lee Ahn (D), Jimmy Gomez (D)

Georgia's 6th District

• Vacated by Tom Price (R), now Secretary of Health and Human Services
• Election Date: June 20, 2017 Handel (R) 52.5%; Ossoff (D) 47.5%
• Candidates: Karen Handel (R), Jon Ossoff (D)

South Carolina's 5th District

• Vacated by Mick Mulvaney (R), now Director of the Office of Management and Budget
• Election Date: June 20, 2017 Norman (R) 51.1%; Parnell (D) 47.9%
• Candidates: Ralph Norman (R), Archie Parnell (D)

Alabama - U.S. Senator

• Vacated by Jeff Sessions (R), now Attorney General
• Filled by Sen. Luther Strange (R), formerly Alabama Attorney General
• Election Date: December 12, 2017 Jones (D) 49%; Moore (R) 48%
• Candidates: Roy Moore (R), Doug Jones (D)

Utah's 3rd District

• Vacated by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R)
• Election Date: November 7, 2017 Curtis (R) 57%; Allen (D) 27%
• Candidates: John Curtis (R), Kathie Allen (D)

Pennsylvania's 18th District

• Vacated by Rep. Tim Murphy (R)
• Election Date: March 13, 2017
• Candidates: Rick Saccone (R), Conor Lamb (D)

— Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: BarbaraLN via Flickr / Creative Commons)