Tagfiling deadline

Massachusetts sees 19 U.S. House candidates this year, fewer than in 2020 and 2018

By Juan Garcia de Paredes
In 2022 elections
August 30, 2022 at 5:28 PM

The filing deadline for candidates running for Congress in Massachusetts this year was June 7, 2022. Nineteen candidates are running for Massachusetts’s nine U.S. House districts, including nine Democrats and ten Republicans. That’s 2.1 candidates per district, less than the three candidates per district in 2020 and the 3.44 in 2018.

Here are some other highlights from this year’s filings:

  • This is the first election to take place under new district lines following the 2020 census. Massachusetts was apportioned nine districts, the same number it was apportioned after the 2010 census.
  • The 19 candidates running this year are eight fewer than the 27 candidates who ran in 2020 and 12 fewer than the 31 who ran in 2018. Fourteen candidates ran in 2016, 20 in 2014, and 28 in 2012.
  • All incumbents are running for re-election, meaning there are no open seats this year. There was one open seat in 2020 and 2018, no open seats in 2016 and 2014, and one open seat in 2012.
  • The 8th and 9th districts drew the most candidates this year, with one Democrat and two Republicans running in each. 
  • There are two contested primaries this year, both Republican. That’s three fewer than in 2020, when there were five contested primaries, and six fewer than in 2018, when there were eight contested primaries. There was one contested primary in 2016, three in 2014, and nine in 2012.
  • No incumbents are facing primary challengers this year. That number is down from 2020, when three incumbents faced primary challengers, and 2018, when five incumbents did. No incumbents faced primary challengers in 2016, two did in 2014, and three did in 2012.
  • The 4th district is guaranteed to Democrats because no Republicans filed. No districts are guaranteed to Republicans because no Democrats filed.

Massachusetts is holding primary elections on September 6, 2022. In Massachusetts, the winner of a primary election is the candidate who receives the greatest number of votes, even if the candidate does not receive an outright majority of votes cast.



July 22 is the final major-party statewide filing deadline of the cycle

By Jerrick Adams
In 2022 elections
July 21, 2022 at 2:27 PM

July 22, 2022, is the filing deadline for statewide candidates in Louisiana. This is the last filing deadline for major-party candidates for statewide office in the 2022 election cycle. The first filing deadline in the current election cycle took place in Texas on December 13, 2021. 

  • December 2021: 1 state.
  • January 2022: 3 states.
  • February 2022: 3 states.
  • March 2022: 19 states.
  • April 2022: 9 states. 
  • May 2022: 4 states. 
  • June 2022: 8 states. 
  • July 2022: 3 states

The following states changed their filing deadlines for major-party, statewide candidates, either by court order or legislative action: 

  • Kentucky: On January 6, 2022, Gov. Andy Beshear (D) signed HB172 into law, extending the filing deadline for partisan candidates from January 7, 2022, to January 25, 2022.
  • Maryland: On March 15, 2022, the Maryland Court of Appeals postponed the primary election from June 28, 2022, to July 19, 2022. The court also extended the filing deadline from March 22, 2022, to April 15, 2022.
  • North Carolina: On December 8, 2021, the Supreme Court of North Carolina ordered the postponement of the statewide primary, originally scheduled for March 8, 2022, to May 17, 2022. The court also suspended candidate filing, which subsequently resumed on February 24, 2022, and concluded on March 4, 2022.
  • Pennsylvania: On February 9, 2022, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania suspended the candidate filing period for the primary election. The original filing deadline was set for March 8, 2022. The court later fixed March 15, 2022, as the filing deadline for statewide offices and the U.S. Congress.
  • Utah: On February 14, 2022, Gov. Spencer Cox (R) signed SB170 into law, moving the candidate filing deadline to March 4, 2022. The original filing deadline was set for March 11, 2022.

In the 2020 election cycle, two states postponed filing deadlines for major-party, statewide candidates: Louisiana and Michigan. Several others left deadlines unchanged but reduced or eliminated petition signature requirements. 



Five candidates file to run for U.S. House in Maine

By David Luchs
In State
March 31, 2022 at 12:49 AM

The filing deadline for candidates running for state or federal office in Maine was March 15. This year, five candidates are running for Maine’s two U.S. House districts, including three Republicans and two Democrats. That’s 2.5 candidates per seat, down from 3 candidates per seat in 2020 and 5 per seat in 2018.

Here are some other highlights from this year’s filings:

  • This is the first election to take place under new district lines following the 2020 census. Maine was apportioned two seats, the same number it was apportioned after the 2010 census.
  • Neither of Maine’s two U.S. House seats are open this year, with incumbents Chellie Pingree (D) and Jared Golden (D) both running for re-election.
  • The last time a U.S. House seat in Maine was open was in 2014, when Mike Michaud (D) ran for governor rather than run for re-election in the 2nd District.
  • Neither Pingree nor Golden faces a primary challenger; the three other candidates who filed for U.S. House are all Republicans.

Maine’s U.S. House primaries will take place June 14. Although Maine uses ranked-choice voting for primaries, the only contested primary (the Republican primary in the 2nd District) has two candidates running, meaning there will not be multiple rounds of vote-counting and whichever candidate wins the most first-round votes will win the primary outright.

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Kentucky filing deadline update: 51% of state legislative districts are contested by only one of the two major parties

By Douglas Kronaizl
In State
February 18, 2022 at 11:42 AM

The filing deadline for candidates running for state or federal office in Kentucky was Jan. 25, 2022. State legislative elections will take place in 19 of the 38 state Senate districts and all 100 state House districts. In all, 256 candidates filed for those 119 districts: 88 Democrats and 168 Republicans. This equals 2.2 candidates per district, up from 2.0 in 2020 but lower than the 2.4 in 2018.

Republicans currently hold a 30-8 majority in the Senate and the 75-24 majority in the House. One House district, most recently represented by Rep. Reginald Meeks (D), is vacant and will be filled in a Feb. 22 special election.

Here are some other highlights from this year’s filings:

  • Of the 119 districts holding elections, either a Democrat or Republican is likely to win 61 (51.3%) because no candidates from the opposing party filed. Democrats will likely win 12 districts—one in the Senate and 11 in the House—because no Republicans filed to run for them. Republicans will likely win 49 districts—nine in the Senate and 40 in the House. This is the least amount of major party competition in the state since 2012 when 63 districts saw no major party competition (52.9%).
  • Twenty-one of the 119 districts holding elections (17.6%) are open, meaning no incumbent is running. This is a larger percentage than 2020 (14.2%) but lower than 2018 (18.5%). Four of these districts are open because the incumbents representing those districts were drawn into new districts as a result of redistricting.
  • There will be 59 contested primaries out of a possible 238 (24.8%). This is the largest number of contested primaries in the state since at least 2014.

Kentucky’s primaries are the sixth in the nation alongside four other states: Idaho, North Carolina, Oregon, and Pennsylvania. All five states will hold primary elections on May 17.

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Alabama filing deadline update: 75% of state legislative districts are contested by only one of the two major parties

By Douglas Kronaizl
In State
February 9, 2022 at 3:36 PM

The filing deadline for candidates running for state offices in 2022 in Alabama was Jan. 28. State legislative elections will take place in all 35 Senate and 105 House districts. Overall, 271 candidates filed for those 140 districts: 88 Democrats, 182 Republicans, and one Libertarian. This equals 1.94 candidates per district, down from 2.15 in 2018 and 2.02 in 2014. 

Alabama holds state legislative elections every four years during midterm cycles.

Here are some other highlights from this year’s filings:

  • Of the 140 districts holding elections, either a Democrat or Republican is likely to win 105 (75.0%) because no candidates from the opposing party filed. Democrats will likely win 27 districts—six in the Senate and 21 in the House—because no Republicans filed to run for them. Republicans will likely win 78 districts—21 in the Senate and 57 in the House. This is the lowest rate of major party competition in the state since at least 2014.
  • Twenty-five of the 140 districts holding elections (17.9%) are open, meaning no incumbent is running. This is a decrease from the 37 open districts in 2018 but more than the 20 in 2014.
  • Sixty-three of the 280 possible major party primaries (22.5%) are contested, meaning more than one candidate filed for a party’s nomination in a given district. This is the lowest number of contested primaries since at least 2014, which had 64 contested primary elections.

Alabama’s primaries are the 11th in the nation, alongside Arkansas and Georgia. All three states will hold primary elections on May 24. In all three states, if no candidate wins a majority of the vote in the primary, the top two finishers will advance to a runoff election on June 21.

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Three candidates file for Maine House special election

By Jaclyn Beran
In State
November 30, 2021 at 5:18 PM

Political parties had until Nov. 29 to nominate candidates to run in the special election for District 27 of the Maine House of Representatives. The unaffiliated candidate filing deadline also passed on the same day. James Boyle (D) and Timothy Thorsen (R) were both nominated by their respective political parties to run in the Jan. 11 special election. Suzanne Phillips also filed to run as an unenrolled candidate. The filing deadline for write-in candidates is Dec. 6.

Boyle previously served in the Maine state Senate from 2012 to 2014. He was defeated in his re-election bid in 2014. Thorsen is a retired Marine Corps colonel and works as a project management professional for a manufacturing and construction company in Sanford, Maine. Phillips currently serves as a Gorham Town Council member.

The winner of the special election will serve until December 2022. The seat became vacant after Kyle Bailey (D) resigned on Oct. 15 to pursue another job opportunity. He was elected to the state House in 2020 with 59% of the vote.

Democrats currently have an 80-65 majority in the Maine House with five third-party members and one vacancy. Maine has a Democratic 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 November, 10 state legislative special elections have been scheduled to take place in 2022. Between 2011 and 2020, an average of 75 special elections took place each year. Maine held 15 state legislative special elections from 2011 to 2020.

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Filing deadline approaches for South Carolina State Senate special election

By Megan Feeney
In State
November 18, 2021 at 4:26 PM

Candidates interested in running in the special election for South Carolina State Senate District 31 have until Dec. 11 to file. A primary election is scheduled for Jan. 25, and the general election is set for Mar. 29. If no candidate earns a majority of the vote in the primary, a primary runoff election will take place Feb. 8.

The special election was called after Hugh Leatherman (R) passed away on Nov. 12. Leatherman served from 1981 to 2021.

South Carolina has a Republican state government trifecta, meaning that the Republican Party controls the office of the governor and both chambers of the state legislature. Republicans have a 29-16 majority in the South Carolina State Senate with one vacancy.

As of November 2021, 10 state legislative special elections have been scheduled for 2022 in seven states. Between 2011 and 2020, an average of 75 special elections took place each year.

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Filing deadline approaches for Miami municipal election

By Megan Feeney
In Local
September 9, 2021 at 9:23 AM

The filing deadline to run for elected office in Miami is on Sept. 18. Prospective candidates may file for mayor and two seats on the five-seat city commission.

The general election is scheduled for Nov. 2. If no candidate earns more than 50% of the vote, a runoff election will be held Nov. 16.

Miami is the second-largest city in Florida and the 44th-largest city in the U.S. by population.

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Colorado school district filing deadline is this week

By Marielle Bricker
In State
August 24, 2021 at 10:20 AM

The filing deadline to run for election to Colorado school boards is on Aug. 27. Ballotpedia is covering prospective candidates who file to run in the following school districts:

  1. Academy School District 20
  2. Adams 12 Five Star Schools
  3. Aurora Public Schools
  4. Bennett School District
  5. Cherry Creek School District
  6. Cheyenne Mountain School District 12
  7. Colorado Springs School District 11
  8. Denver Public Schools
  9. Douglas County School District
  10. Falcon School District 49
  11. Harrison School District Two
  12. Jeffco Public Schools
  13. Manitou Springs School District 14
  14. School District 27J
  15. St. Vrain Valley School District
  16. Widefield School District 3

The general election is scheduled for Nov. 2.

These 16 school districts served a combined total of 533,272 students during the 2016-2017 school year. 

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Minor party filing deadline to pass on Aug. 4 in special election for two Michigan state Senate seats

By Caitlin Vanden Boom
In State
August 3, 2021 at 2:58 AM

The minor-party filing deadline for the Michigan State Senate Districts 8 and 28 special elections is on Aug. 4.

The major party primary is scheduled for Aug. 3, and the general election is scheduled for Nov. 2. 

In District 8, seven Republicans and two Democrats will compete in the Aug. 3 primaries. For District 28, there are two Democrats and three Republicans competing.

The District 8 special election was called after Peter Lucido (R) was elected Macomb County Prosecutor. The District 28 special election was called after Peter MacGregor (R) was elected Kent County Treasurer. 

As of August 2, the Michigan State Senate is composed of 16 Democrats and 20 Republicans. Michigan has had a divided government since 2019. A divided government occurs when different parties control the state senate, state house, and governorship. There are currently 12 states with divided governments.

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