A handful of states are teeing up special elections in the beginning of 2026 in some of the earliest tests for Democrats as they look to continue their streak of wins and overperformances ahead of the midterms.
Texas, New Jersey and Georgia are among the states holding elections that will determine the margins in the House leading up to November.
Meanwhile, Alabama and Pennsylvania are set to hold special elections for a handful of state House seats in some of the first big state legislative races of the year.
Here are the special elections to watch in early 2026:
Alabama
In the Yellowhammer State, voters in parts of Tuscaloosa County will head to the polls Tuesday to weigh in on a special election for state House District 63.
The seat became vacant after Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) selected then-state Rep. Cynthia Lee Almond (R) to helm the Alabama Public Service Commission. Republican Norman Crow, a Tuscaloosa City Council member, is running against Democrat Judith Taylor, a retired college professor and chair of the Tuscaloosa County Democratic Executive Committee.
As Bolts noted, the county has gone for both Democrats and Republicans over the past decade, though Republicans are favored to win the seat. Former Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.), now running for Alabama governor, won Tuscaloosa County during his 2017 upset against former Sen. Roy Moore (R-Ala.).
But Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) won the county by 10 points against Jones in 2020. The county later went for Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) in 2022 by 26 points and for President Trump by 20 points in 2024.
But the special election could serve as a test of how much Democrats’ overperformance carries into deep-red states this year. Democrats overperformed in a special election for a South Carolina House seat this week that was separated by less than a couple dozen votes, according to the last count.
Texas
Two Democrats are squaring off in the runoff for the Houston-based 18th Congressional District after former Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Texas) died last year.
Former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards (D) and Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee (D) are vying for the seat on Jan. 31 after no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote outright in November to avoid a runoff.
Menefee earned 29 percent of the vote, while Edwards had 26 percent.
Given the runoff is taking place between two Democrats, the race won’t impact partisan control of the seat. But it will offer Democrats another seat in Congress, further narrowing the GOP’s already-slim majority in the House.
Right now, Republicans hold a 218-213 edge in the lower chamber.
New Jersey
A dozen Democrats are running for the party’s nod on Feb. 5 to succeed New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill (D) in the northern 11th Congressional District. Sherrill resigned from her House seat after she won the governor’s race against Republican Jack Ciattarelli in November.
Among those running are Analilia Mejia, Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) national political director for his 2020 presidential campaign; former Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.); Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill; and Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way, among others.
Whoever wins the February primary will run against Randolph Mayor Joe Hathaway (R) in the April 16 general election.
Sherrill flipped the seat in 2018, and the district went for former Vice President Harris by nearly 9 points in 2024, according to The Downballot.
Pennsylvania
Four special elections are taking place between late February and mid-March to fill seats in the Pennsylvania House, where Democrats maintain a 100-99 edge.
On Feb. 24, two special elections are taking place for House Districts that were vacated by two Democrats.
Julian Guridy (D), a former aide to state Sen. Nick Miller (D), is running against former Allentown School Board President Robert Smith (R) for the House District 22 in Leigh County, while Dormont Borough Council President Jennifer Mazzocco (D) is running against Joseph Leckenby (R), a recent graduate of Duquesne University’s law school, for House District 42 in Allegheny County.
On March 17, there will be two more special elections for state House seats that were vacated by Republicans: one in the 79th District in Blair County, and the other in the 193rd District in portions of the Cumberland and Adams counties. Candidates in both races have not been selected yet.
Observers don’t expect any upsets in the four special elections, though they’re being closely watched given the state House’s narrow Democratic edge. Assuming Democrats retain the 22nd and 42nd districts and Republicans keep the 79th and 193rd districts, Democrats will maintain a narrow edge of 102-101.
Georgia
Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), once one of Trump’s most fervent allies and now one of his most prominent critics, resigned from her seat in Congress representing northwest Georgia in the state’s 14th Congressional District.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) has scheduled the special election to fill her seat on March 10, and more than a dozen Republicans and two Democrats are running to fill it. The special election is unique because all candidates, regardless of party, are listed under the same ballot for the seat.
The race heads to an April 7 runoff between the top two vote-getters if no candidate outright receives more than half of the vote in March.
Among some of the candidates running are Sen. Colton Moore (R); Jim Tully, the GOP chair of Greene’s district and a former staffer for her; businessman Brian Stover; and former Federal Emergency Management Agency official Star Black.
Retired Brig. Gen. Shawn Harris (D), who ran and lost to Greene in 2024, is running for the seat on the Democratic side.
Greene won the district by close to 37 points in 2024, according to The Downballot, meaning Republicans are favored to keep the seat in March.