1. 13 state legislative special elections on tap for January—most since 2011
2. Congressional filing deadlines pass in Kentucky, Mississippi
3. Looking ahead at the 2020 congressional primary season

13 state legislative special elections on tap for January -- most since 2011

Last night, special elections for six state legislative seats were held in five states. Another seven special elections are scheduled to take place by the end of January. This month's 13 special elections are the most in any January since we began our comprehensive coverage of such races in 2011. Seven special elections took place in January 2019.

Twenty-seven special elections have been scheduled so far in 2020. These contests will be held for 12 seats previously held by a Democrat and 15 seats previously held by a Republican. The incumbent being appointed, elected, or running for election to another office triggered nine. The retirement of an incumbent caused seven. An incumbent’s death caused another seven, and the resignation of an incumbent related to criminal charges caused four.

An average of 77 state legislative special elections took place each year between 2011 and 2019. The most special elections held in a single year was 99 in 2018, while the fewest was 40 in 2014. During this period, Democrats had a net gain in seats in four of those years while Republicans lost seats. In the other five years, the opposite was true—Republicans gained seats and Democrats lost seats.

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Congressional filing deadlines pass in Kentucky, Mississippi

Congressional filing deadlines passed last Friday—Jan. 10—in both Kentucky and Mississippi. These are the 8th and 9th eclipsed deadlines of this cycle. Here’s a quick breakdown:

Kentucky

• Eighteen major-party candidates—10 Democrats and 8 Republicans—filed for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R). McConnell is running for re-election. He was first elected to the Senate in 1984 and is the longest-serving senator in Kentucky’s history. 

• Ballotpedia has identified the Democratic primary for this seat as a 2020 battleground election. Battlegrounds are elections that Ballotpedia expects to have a meaningful effect on the balance of power in governments or to be particularly competitive or compelling.

• Twenty-one major-party candidates filed for the state’s six U.S. House seats. All six incumbents are running for re-election. Five incumbents are Republican and one is a Democrat.

Mississippi

• Four major-party candidates—three Democrats and one Republican—filed to run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Cindy-Hyde-Smith (R). Hyde-Smith is running for a full Senate term, having won a special election in 2018.

• Fifteen major-party candidates filed for the state’s four U.S. House seats. All four incumbents are running for re-election. Three U.S. House members are Republican and one is Democratic.

All 435 House members and 35 of the Senate’s 100 seats are up for election this year. As of Jan. 13, 2,494 major party candidates filed to run for those seats so far in 2020.

While no new congressional retirements were announced last week, Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter (CA-50) resigned effective Jan. 13. California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced he would not call a special election to fill the seat. This brings the total of open-seat congressional elections to 36. 

Not including those who left office early, four senators (three Republicans and one Democrat) and 35 representatives (26 Republicans and nine Democrats) are not running for re-election. In 2018, 55 members of Congress—18 Democrats and 37 Republicans—did not seek re-election.

Webinar on 2020 congressional primary battlegrounds coming Jan. 22

Our Heart of the Primaries newsletter relaunches today! Each issue includes news about the issues, money, polling, and strategy involved in the race to the general election ballot. We publish both a Democratic and Republican version each week. Click here to subscribe to start receiving either party’s edition (or both) in your email.

To kick things off, we're taking our first look at the 2020 congressional primary season in our upcoming webinar. Join me and some of Ballotpedia’s political experts to discuss the early intraparty conflicts involving both Democrats and Republicans in the key races. 

The webinar is in one week—on Jan. 22 at 11 am C.T.

Reserve your spot today→

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