General view of the House of Representatives as U.S. President Donald J. Trump delivers his address to a joint session of Congress, at the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, DC, February 28, 2017. (Getty)
The Georgia 6th District special election has come to an end, with two candidates making it into a runoff which will be held in June.
National attention was drawn to this election, as it had the potential to shift a district from Republican to Democratic. It was also the first election of this kind to occur during the Trump administration, and an outright win for the Democrats would be a blow to President Trump; this did not end up happening.
But there are several more similar elections of significance coming up across the country in states like South Carolina, Montana, California, and Alabama. Might any of these shift the balance of power in the United States?
Here’s a look at the biggest special elections scheduled for the next few months which, like that of Georgia, are worth paying attention to.
1. South Carolina’s 5th District
South Carolina’s 5th congressional district will have a special election this May. This will be to replace Mick Mulvaney, the Congressman who earlier this year became Donald Trump’s director of the Office of Management and Budget.
This primary will be held on May 2nd, and if no one gets 50 percent of the vote, a primary runoff election will be held shortly after, on May 16th. The general election is then held on June 20th.
On the Republican side, the candidates are Ralph Norman, a South Carolina state representative; Tommy Pope, another South Carolina state representative; Chad Connelly, former chair of the South Carolina Republican Party; Sheri Few, an education activist; Tom Mullikin, an attorney; and Kris Wample, another attorney.
Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, the candidates are Alexis Frank, a young Army veteran; Les Murphy, a Marine Corps veteran; and Archie Parnell, a Goldman Sachs adviser.
State Representative Tommy Pope is currently the favorite to win this race. When Mick Mulvaney was elected to represent the district in 2010, he was the first Republican to earn that position since 1883; all of the representatives of this district throughout the 20th century were Democrats.
2. Montana’s At-Large Congressional District
Also in May, Montana’s at-large congressional district will be holding a special election.
This is to replace Ryan Zinke, who earlier this year became Donald Trump’s Secretary of the Interior. The special election will take place on May 25th.
Both the Democrats and the Republicans have already selected their nominees. The Republican party’s nominee is Greg Gianforte, a businessman who founded a software company and who unsuccessfully ran for governor of Montana in 2016.
The Democratic party’s nominee is Rob Quist, a musician who has never had any involvement in politics until this past January.
A recent poll from Gravis Marketing showed Gianforte ahead of Quist 50 percent to 38 percent. Montana’s at-large congressional district has not had a Democratic representative since 1997.
3. California’s 34th Congressional District
In June, California’s 34th congressional district will hold a special election as well.
This will be to replace Xavier Becerra, who recently became the attorney general of California. In a special primary election held earlier this year, no candidate reached 50 percent of the vote, and so a runoff will take place on June 6th.
The two candidates in the June 6th election are Jimmy Gomez, California state assembly, and Robert Lee Ahn, Los Angeles City planning commissioner. Both of them are Democrats, and so this is not one of the elections where the balance of power could shift as a result.
4. Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District
Pennsylvania’s 10th congressional district will soon hold a special election.
This will be to replace Tom Marino, who is Donald Trump’s nominee for director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
A lot is still unknown about this special election, though; Marino has not yet resigned, and so the governor has not yet called the election. But according to Penn Live, the special election could come as early as this summer.
Before Tom Marino, the most recent representative from Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional district was a Democrat. However, before Democrat Christopher Carney, all the representatives going back to 1961 were Republicans.
5. Alabama Senate Special Election
Finally, there is an upcoming special election which will decide who becomes the next senator to represent Alabama.
This comes after Jeff Sessions, former senator from Alabama, resigned to become Donald Trump’s attorney general. At the moment, Luther Strange is serving in this position, as he was appointed by the governor of Alabama. But this is just temporary, and he will be replaced by whomever wins the special election.
The special election primary will be held on August 15th, with a primary runoff scheduled for September 26th. The general election will take place on December 12th, 2017.
On the Republican side, the two candidates are Ed Henry, a Alabama state representative, and Luther Strange, former Alabama attorney general who is currently serving as senator from Alabama; he is running to permanently win the seat that he was appointed to temporarily.
On the Democratic side there is Ron Crumpton, an activist who ran for Senate last year.
This seat is considered to be safely Republican.