Governor Terry McAuliffe declared a special election will take place on November 4, 2014 to fill the seat vacated by Representative Eric Cantor.

Representative Cantor, who lost the Republican primary election on June 10, recently announced that he would resign from Congress effective August 18.

Cantor has been the representative from Virginia’s 7th District for the last seven terms.

Photo of Gov. Terry McAuliffe by Kate Wellington on Wikimedia Commons.

A state judge ordered the Florida Legislature to redraw two congressional districts by August 15, 2014. In Rene Romo, et al v. Ken Detzner, et al, Judge Terry Lewis of the Leon County Circuit Court in Tallahassee found the redistricting maps drawn by the Legislature for the 5th and 10th Congressional Districts to be created “in contravention of the constitutional mandates” found in Article III, Section 20 of the Florida Constitution.

In addition to a new redistricting map drawn by the Legislature, the secretary of state and the supervisor of elections must present a proposed special election schedule by August 15, 2014.

A hearing is scheduled August 20, 2014, where objections to the proposed map and special election schedule will be heard. The judge is still tasked with determining whether a special election is necessary before a new Congress takes office in January 2015. While it is not an option to use a newly drawn map for the upcoming November 4, 2014, elections, Lewis pointed to the possibility of pushing the general election date back to allow for a special election in 2014 for any affected districts.

Republican leaders are considering an appeal to the ruling. In the interim, Lewis’ ruling forces the Legislature to convene a special session to revise its map by the August 15 deadline.

Today Texas Gov. Perry announced a special election will be held September 9, 2014, for the State Senate District 28 seat.

State Sen. Robert Duncan resigned on July 3, 2014, in order to serve as chancellor of the Texas Tech University System. The winner of the election will serve out the unexpired term of Duncan, which expires in 2017.

Duncan has served in both the state House and the Senate since 1993.

A special election is expected for Florida’s House District 13, a district covering the heart of Jacksonville and its surrounding areas. Incumbent state Rep. Reggie Fullwood was projected to run unopposed, but problems were found with his qualifying papers. Jacksonville City Council member Johnny Gaffney now plans to enter the race.

Gov. Rick Scott must determine the date of the special election, although Duval County Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland projects the primary for the special election to be November 4, 2014. If necessary, a runoff would likely be in December 2014.

Lawmakers have passed a measure to keep the lieutenant governor’s office vacant until the November general election.

Senate Bill 139 allows Gov. Mike Beebe to postpone a special election for the vacancy left by former Lt. Gov. Mark Darr, who left office following $11,000 in fines for ethics violations.

The bill awaits Beebe’s signature.

A Missouri judge recently denied a request to compel Gov. Jay Nixon to set special legislative elections. County Circuit Judge Dan Green issued a one-sentence written opinion but provided no reasoning for the ruling. After the lawsuit was filed in January, Nixon set special elections to fill three of the four vacancies. He has not called an election to fill the seat vacated by Sen. Ryan McKenna.

McKenna left office in December after being appointed by Nixon to serve as Labor Department Director.

Photo of Gov. Jay Nixon courtesy of Bernard Pollack on Wikimedia Commons.

Lawmakers agreed by resolution to consider a bill aimed at avoiding a special election for the lieutenant governor’s office, which was vacated by former Lt. Gov. Mark Darr following ethics violations. Senate Bill 139 would enable Gov. Mike Beebe to call a special election “as soon as practicable” if calling a special election within 150 days of the vacancy would be impracticable or burdensome.

The bill was introduced in an effort to avoid the cost of a special election until the general election on November 4, 2014. The resolutions required a two-thirds vote in the House and Senate because they occurred during the fiscal session.

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon called an August 5 special election to fill three vacant seats in the state House of Representatives. The announcement came after being confronted with a lawsuit seeking to compel him to call special elections for four legislative seats. He has yet to set an election date to fill the Senate vacancy.

On February 13 House Republican Mike Moon filed articles of impeachment against Nixon for the delay in filling all four vacancies – a delay he says has denied representation for almost 300,000 Missourians.

Due to inclement weather, Governor Bentley has re-scheduled the special general election for House District 104 in Mobile and the special primary run-off elections for House District 31 covering Elmore and Coosa counties and House District 53 in Birmingham, all scheduled to take place Tuesday, January 28, 2014.

The elections will now be held on February 4, 2014.

Ten Missouri residents filed suit in early January asking a judge to compel Gov. Jay Nixon to call special elections to fill vacant legislative seats. The governor is granted constitutional authority to do so and is required to issue a writ of election without delay.

Perhaps most problematic are the political ramifications of the Democratic governor’s refusal to act. With the vacancies, House Republicans sit just one vote shy of the two-thirds majority needed to override gubernatorial vetoes.

Plaintiffs contend constituents living in the affected districts are being deprived of a representative voice. Nevertheless, Nixon has yet to definitively set special election dates. If he wants the elections to coincide with the April 8 municipal elections, he needs to issue election proclamations by January 17.

Photo of Gov. Jay Nixon courtesy of Bernard Pollack on Wikimedia Commons.

With the appointment of Mel Watt to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the 12th Congressional District seat in North Carolina is vacant. Governor Pat McCrory announced that he will not call a special election for that seat, but instead will wait until the regularly scheduled primary and general elections, on May 6, 2014 and November 4, 2014, respectively.

The governor’s decision has caused much controversy as many North Carolina citizens feel they will be unrepresented in Congress for an unreasonable amount of time. The 12th District encompasses an area from Charlotte through High Point to Greensboro, containing approximately 700,000 citizens.

The North Carolina chapter of the NAACP has threatened a lawsuit against the state if Governor McCrory does not change his mind. McCrory’s decision to leave the seat vacant until the regularly scheduled 2014 elections is partly due to the large expense a special election typically costs taxpayers. Despite the threat of a lawsuit, McCrory has given no indication of calling a special election.

A special election for the Massachusetts Second Suffolk Representative District has been called to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of state Representative Eugene L. O’Flaherty. The Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin announced the special primary election will be held on March 4, 2014. The general election will follow on April 1, 2014. O’Flaherty has been appointed as the city of Boston’s corporation counsel by Mayor Martin J. Walsh.

Delegates from the Republican party have selected State Representative Julian Garrett to run in the special election for Iowa Senate District 13, which takes place November 19.

The special election will fill the seat vacated earlier this month by Kent Sorenson.

The Democrats will select their candidate Monday. Regardless of the outcome of this special election, the Democrats will retain control of the Iowa Senate.

Gov. Nathan Deal has issued writs of election to fill vacancies in House Districts 100, 104, 127, and Senate District 14.

The special elections will be held on November 5, 2013. House Districts 100, 104, and Senate District 14 became vacant due to resignations.

House District 127 became vacant due to the passing of Representative Quincy Murphy.