A special election was held on Sept. 14 for District 29 of the Tennessee House of Representatives. Greg Vital (R) defeated DeAngelo Jelks (D) in the general election. Vital and Jelks earned 80% and 19.8% of the vote, respectively. Once sworn in, Vital will serve until November 2022.
The seat became vacant after the death of Mike Carter (R) on May 15. Carter had represented the district since 2012.
Republicans have a 73-26 majority in the Tennessee House. Tennessee 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.
As of September, 64 state legislative special elections have been scheduled for 2021 in 21 states. Between 2011 and 2020, an average of 75 special elections took place each year. Tennessee held 11 state legislative special elections from 2011 to 2020.
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