Alaska state legislative special elections, 2020

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In 2020, one special election was called for a seat in the Alaska State Senate.

Click here to read more about the special election.

Senate special elections called:

* District M: November 3

## Contents

* 1 How vacancies are filled in Alaska
* 2 About the legislature
* 3 Special elections
* 3.1 November 3, 2020
* 4 Special elections throughout the country
* 4.1 Breakdown of 2020 special elections
* 4.2 Impact of special elections on partisan composition
* 4.3 Flipped seats
* 4.3.1 Seats flipped from D to R
* 4.3.2 Seats flipped from R to D
* 5 See also
* 6 Footnotes

#### How vacancies are filled in Alaska[edit]

If there is a vacancy in the Alaska State Legislature, the governor is responsible for selecting a replacement. The governor must select the replacement within 30 days after the vacancy happens. The governor cannot appoint a replacement if the vacancy happens before a new legislative session is scheduled to convene.[1]

See sources: Alaska Stat. §15.40.320

### About the legislature[edit]

The Alaska State Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of Alaska. It is a bicameral institution, consisting of the lower Alaska House of Representatives, with 40 members, and the upper house Alaska State Senate, with 20 members.

The boxes below show the partisan composition of both chambers directly before and after the most recent general elections prior to 2020. For the most up-to-date numbers on partisan composition in this legislature, see here (Senate) and here (House).

Alaska State Senate

Party  | As of November 6, 2018  | After November 7, 2018
| Democratic Party | 6  | 7
| Republican Party | 14 | 13
Total |  20 |  20
Alaska House of Representatives

Party  | As of November 6, 2018  | After November 7, 2018
| Democratic Party | 17  | 16
| Republican Party | 20 | 23
| Independent  | 3  | 1
Total |  40 |  40

## Special elections[edit]

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

### November 3, 2020[edit]

Alaska State Senate District M |

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See also: Alaska state legislative special elections, 2020

A special election for Alaska State Senate District M was called for November 3, 2020. A primary election took place on August 18, 2020. The candidate filing deadline was June 1, 2020.

The special election was called after Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) appointed Josh Revak (R) on September 27, 2019.[2] Revak succeeded former Sen. Chris Birch (R) following his death on August 8, 2019.[3]

General election

##### Special general election for Alaska State Senate District M

Incumbent Josh Revak defeated Andy Holleman in the special general election for Alaska State Senate District M on November 3, 2020.

|  |

Candidate

Votes

|
|
|

✔ |

| Josh Revak (R)  |

57.6

| 10,410

| Andy Holleman (Independent) |

42.1

| 7,607
|  | Other/Write-in votes |

0.3

| 56

* * *

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

| Total votes: 18,073

|
|

= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

#### Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

* Anita Thorne (D)

Republican primary election

##### Special Republican primary for Alaska State Senate District M

Incumbent Josh Revak defeated Ray Metcalfe and Harold Borbridge in the special Republican primary for Alaska State Senate District M on August 18, 2020.

Candidate

Votes

|
|
|

✔ |

| Josh Revak |

66.3

| 2,499

| Ray Metcalfe |

24.2

| 911

| Harold Borbridge |

9.6

| 362

* * *

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

| Total votes: 3,772

|
|

= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Alaska Democratic and Independence parties primary election

##### Special Alaska Democratic and Independence parties primary for Alaska State Senate District M

Anita Thorne defeated Nicholas Willie in the special Alaska Democratic and Independence parties primary for Alaska State Senate District M on August 18, 2020.

Candidate

Votes

|
|
|

✔ |

| Anita Thorne |

87.5

| 2,732

| Nicholas Willie |

12.5

| 389

* * *

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

| Total votes: 3,121

|
|

= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

## Special elections throughout the country[edit]

See also: State legislative special elections, 2020

In 2020, 59 state legislative special elections were held in 27 states. Between 2011 and 2019, an average of 77 special elections took place each year.

### Breakdown of 2020 special elections[edit]

In 2020, special elections for state legislative positions were held for the following reasons:

* 23 due to appointment, election, or the seeking of election to another position
* 5 due to a resignation related to criminal charges[4]
* 18 due to retirement
* 13 due to the death of the incumbent

### Impact of special elections on partisan composition[edit]

The partisan breakdown for the special elections was as follows:

* 21 Democratic seats
* 38 Republican seats

As of September 12, 2022, Republicans controlled 54.07% of all state legislative seats nationally, while Democrats held 44.33%. Republicans held a majority in 62 chambers, and Democrats held the majority in 36 chambers. One chamber (Alaska House) was organized under a multipartisan, power-sharing coalition.[5]

Partisan balance of all 7,383 state legislative seats

Legislative chamber  |  |  |  Other  | Vacant
State senates | 864  | 1,092  | 7  | 9
State houses | 2,409  | 2,900  | 33  | 69
Total: | 3,273

| 3,992

| 40

| 78

The table below details how many seats changed parties as the result of a special election in 2020. 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 2019, either the Democratic Party or Republican Party saw an average net gain of four seats across the country. Between 2018 and 2019, Democrats had a net gain of six seats.

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

Partisan Change from Special Elections (2020)

Party  | As of Special Election  | After Special Election
| Democratic Party | 21  | 27
| Republican Party | 38  | 32
| Independent  | 0  | 0
Total |  59  |  59

### Flipped seats[edit]

In 2020, eight seats flipped as a result of state legislative special elections.

#### Seats flipped from D to R[edit]

* Kentucky House of Representatives District 99 (February 25)

#### Seats flipped from R to D[edit]

* New Hampshire House of Representatives Merrimack 24 District (March 10)
* Massachusetts State Senate Second Hampden & Hampshire District (May 19)
* Massachusetts State Senate Plymouth & Barnstable District (May 19)
* Massachusetts House of Representatives Third Bristol District (June 2)
* Kentucky State Senate District 26 (June 23)
* South Carolina House of Representatives District 115 (August 11)
* Oregon State Senate District 10 (November 3)

## See also[edit]

* State legislative special elections, 2020
* State legislative special elections, 2019
* State legislative special elections, 2018
* Alaska State Legislature

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ Alaska Legal Resource Center, "Alaska Election Law," accessed February 8, 2021 (Statute 15.40.320)
2. ↑ Anchorage Daily News, "Republicans confirm state Rep. Josh Revak for vacant Senate seat," November 3, 2019
3. ↑ US News & World Report, "Republican Alaska State Sen. Chris Birch Dies," August 8, 2019
4. ↑ Arkansas State Rep. Mickey Gates (R) was expelled by a vote of the House membership.
5. ↑ Nebraska is officially nonpartisan but was held by a Republican majority. For more information on how Ballotpedia determined the partisan affiliation for Nebraska senators, please click here.

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