North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) has announced dates for a special election to represent North Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District. The winner of the election will complete the term of former Rep. Walter Jones (R), who passed away on February 10, 2019.
Six Republicans have already declared their intention to run for the seat. Jones faced two opponents in the May 2018 Republican primary but was unopposed in the general election last year.
The filing deadline to run in the special election is March 8, and primaries are scheduled for April 30. There are two possible schedules beyond that, depending on whether a primary runoff is required.
If no candidate receives more than 30 percent of the vote in either party primary, runoff elections will take place on July 9. In this scenario, the general election will be held on September 10. However, if no primary runoffs are required, the general election will be held on July 9.
The special election is one of two special elections currently scheduled to complete a term in the U.S. House in the current Congress. The second is in Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District on May 21, 2019. A third special election, in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District, is also set to take place in 2019. The North Carolina State Board of Elections will meet on March 4 to set the calendar for that election.
There is currently one special election scheduled to complete a term in the U.S. Senate. It is in Arizona, where voters will choose someone to complete the term that former Sen. John McCain (R) was elected to in 2016. McCain passed away on August 25, 2018. The special election is scheduled for November 3, 2020.