Candidates interested in running in special elections for Mississippi state Senate Districts 32 and 38 have until Sept. 13 to file. The general election is scheduled for Nov. 2. If no candidate wins a majority of the vote in the general elections, runoffs will be held on Nov. 23.

In District 32, the special election was called after Sampson Jackson (D) retired on June 30. He served from 1992 to 2021. 

The District 38 seat became vacant when Tammy Witherspoon (D) was elected as mayor of Magnolia, Mississippi. Witherspoon served from 2016 to 2021.

Mississippi has a Republican state government trifecta. A trifecta exists when one political party simultaneously holds the governor’s office and majorities in both state legislative chambers. Republicans control the Mississippi state Senate by a margin of 36 to 14 with two vacancies.

As of September 2021, 57 state legislative special elections have been scheduled for 2021 in 20 states. Between 2011 and 2020, an average of 75 special elections took place each year. Mississippi held 42 special elections from 2010 to 2020.