A special Democratic primary was held for Alabama House District 78 on May 25. Kenyatté Hassell and Donald Williams advanced to the Democratic primary runoff after defeating Terance Dawson and Roderick Thornton.
The primary runoff is scheduled for June 22. The Democratic primary runoff winner will face Loretta Grant (R) in the general election on Sept. 7. Grant was the only Republican candidate to file, so the Republican primary was canceled.
The special election was called after Kirk Hatcher (D) was elected to the Alabama State Senate in a special election on March 2. Hatcher served in the state House from 2018 to 2021.
As of May 2021, 38 state legislative special elections have been scheduled for 2021 in 16 states. Between 2011 and 2020, an average of 75 special elections took place each year. Alabama held 23 state legislative special elections from 2010 to 2020, about two per year on average.
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