Current and Upcoming U.S. House Vacancies

There are currently 222 Democrats and 210 Republicans in the U.S. House, with three vacancies in previously GOP-held seats. To view, select 'Current House' above the 2022 House Interactive Map.

The number of vacancies will increase to five in the near future, as one member from each party has announced his resignation. 

An update on each of these districts follows. Special elections will take place using the existing district boundaries; some of them coincide with a regular statewide primary. The 2022 midterm elections (starting with the primaries), will take place using redistricted boundaries. 

Current Vacancies

For more detail on the races to fill these seats, read this analysis from Split Ticket.

California District 22

Republican Devin Nunes resigned in January to lead Trump Media & Technology Group. A special primary will be held next Tuesday, April 5. 

In California, all candidates appear on a single primary ballot. In regular elections, the top two advance to the general election. This is also the case in special elections, unless one candidate gets a majority of the primary vote. In that case, they are elected. If a special general election is needed, that will take place on June 7, the same date as the statewide primary. There are four Republicans and two Democrats on the primary ballot.

There's a good chance that the winner of the special election will only serve in Congress until the end of the year. California is losing a district, and the current District 22 is essentially being eliminated, its current borders largely folded into the new Districts 5, 20 and 21.

• Republican Tom McClintock (current CA-4) and Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (current CA-23) are running in Districts 5 and 20. While both face some opposition in the June 7 top two primary, none of those are participants in the special election. 
• Democrat Jim Costa (current CA-16) is running in District 21. His three June 7 primary challengers - two Republicans and one Democrat - are all participants in the special election. Costa and one of the Republicans are likely to advance in a district that has been made safer for Democrats in redistricting.
• The other three entrants in the special election did not file for any seats in the regular 2022 election.

Minnesota District 1

Republican Jim Hagedorn died in February. Party primaries will be held May 24, with the general election on August 9. That is the date of the statewide primary.

A large field - 10 Republicans and 8 Democrats - will be seeking their respective party nominations.

District 1 was largely unchanged in redistricting: Donald Trump had a margin of victory of about 10% over Joe Biden in both configurations.

Alaska At-Large

Republican Don Young, the dean of the U.S. House, died earlier this month. Young was serving in his 25th term, having been first elected in a 1973 special election. 

A primary election will be held on June 11. It will be the first conducted under a new system approved by voters in 2020. All candidates from all parties will appear on a single ballot. The top four finishers will advance to the August 16 general election, which will be conducted using ranked choice voting.

August 16 is also the date for the statewide primary.

Upcoming Vacancies

Nebraska District 1

After being convicted of multiple felonies last week, nine-term incumbent Republican Jeff Fortenberry announced his resignation over the weekend. It will be effective at the end of the month. 

Fortenberry was indicted last October. In November, he drew a credible Democratic challenger, state Senator Patty Pansing Brooks. In January, state Senator Mike Flood entered the race as an intraparty challenger for the Republican nomination. Although there are other candidates in the primaries, these two are seen as likely nominees.

The May 10 statewide primary will occur before the special election. A date has not yet been set, but it will be before the end of June. Nominees for the special election will be selected directly by each party. It would not be surprising to see Pansing Brooks and Flood chosen here as well.

Although Republicans will be favored to hold the seat, redistricting did make the district slightly more competitive. Donald Trump had a margin of victory over Joe Biden of 15% under the old boundaries; that falls to 11% under the new boundaries.

Texas District 34

Last March, Democrat Filemon Vela became the first Democrat this cycle to announce a retirement. Last week, Vela said he would leave Congress before the end of his term to join a lobbying firm.

As Texas has already conducted its statewide primary, this sets up an odd situation for a special election, whenever that is held. Vela's retirement coupled with redistricting had pushed Democrat Vicente Gonzalez (current TX-15) to run in the new TX-34. The new TX-34 is safer for a Democrat than the new TX-15.

Vela won the Democratic nomination and will be the favorite in TX-34 this fall. However, as the current TX-15 Representative, he won't be running in the special election. Under the old lines, this is a competitive seat - Joe Biden won by just 4% over Donald Trump in 2020. Republicans are expected to make a strong push to win the special election as a way to highlight the party's increasing strength in South Texas. Their nominee for the November election is Mayra Flores. She has already announced her candidacy for a special election.