What Is a Runoff Election? How It Works and Where 2026 Could Go to One

By Dr. AtlasPublished Sep 17, 2026

A runoff election is a second round of voting. It is held when the law requires the winner to reach a set share of the vote, usually a majority, and no candidate gets there the first time. ^[2][3] Federal Election Commission (FEC) regulations recognize two kinds, each “prescribed by applicable State law”: a runoff “held after a primary election” to decide a party’s nominee, and one “held after a general election” to decide who takes office. ^[1]

Runoff rules are state law. The Constitution leaves the “Times, Places and Manner” of congressional elections to each state’s legislature, subject to any law Congress passes, so whether a race can go to a second round depends on where you vote. ^[4]

How a runoff election works

Georgia’s statute shows the mechanics. “Except as otherwise provided in this Code section,” it says, no candidate is nominated or elected “unless such candidate shall have received a majority of the votes cast.” ^[2] A majority means more than 50%. ^[3][5] When nobody reaches it, the top two meet again:

“In instances where no candidate receives a majority of the votes cast, a run-off primary, special primary runoff, run-off election, or special election runoff between the candidates receiving the two highest numbers of votes shall be held.”

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-501(a)(1) ^[2]

The same subsection sets the date: “the twenty-eighth day after the day of holding the preceding general or special primary or general or special election.” The statute calls the runoff “a continuation of” the first election for that office, and whoever gets the most votes in the runoff wins. ^[2]

Primary runoff vs. general election runoff

The more common kind is the primary runoff, in which a party’s voters return to pick a nominee from the top two finishers. The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), on a page updated January 22, 2025, names nine states that use them: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota and Texas. (The page’s introduction says “seven states” but lists these nine.) ^[3] The list predates Louisiana’s June 27, 2026 party runoffs, which the Louisiana Illuminator reported were the first “since a 2024 state law change to move away from the open ‘jungle’ primaries” the state had long used. ^[19]

The threshold is not always 50%. North Carolina gives the nomination to a candidate with a “substantial plurality,” which its statute sets at more than 30% of the vote. Below that, the first-place finisher is still the nominee “unless the aspirant receiving the second highest number of votes shall request a second primary,” which is held 10 weeks after the first. ^[12] South Dakota’s bar is 35%, NCSL says. ^[3]

Texas law says a primary candidate “must receive a majority of the total number of votes received by all the candidates for the nomination.” ^[13] Oklahoma’s State Election Board tells voters: “If no candidate receives a majority of the votes, the two candidates receiving the highest number of votes will advance to the runoff primary election in August.” ^[14] Alabama holds its runoff in the fourth week after the primary, NCSL says. ^[3]

A general election runoff is rarer. “Outside of primaries, three states—Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi—require runoff elections in general elections,” NCSL says. ^[3] A state can demand a majority for nominations and not for the final vote. Texas law says: “Except as otherwise provided by law, to be elected to a public office, a candidate must receive more votes than any other candidate for the office.” ^[6]

Where November 3, 2026 could go to a runoff election

Georgia. State law says: “Except for presidential electors, to be elected to public office in a general election, a candidate must receive a majority of the votes cast in an election to fill such public office.” ^[2] That covers contests such as the U.S. Senate race, where Republican Mike Collins faces Sen. Jon Ossoff. ^[17]

The Secretary of State’s 2026 calendar sets the “DATE OF GENERAL ELECTION RUNOFF” as December 1, 2026, with polls open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. ^[7] The same calendar lists:

• November 2: registration deadline for a December federal runoff. ^[7]
• November 20: last day to request an absentee-by-mail ballot for the December runoff. ^[7]
• November 23: advance voting must begin by this date; November 25 is its last day. ^[7]
• December 4 at 5:00 p.m.: deadline to cure an absentee ballot and for eligible military and overseas ballots to arrive. ^[7]
• December 18: last day for the Secretary of State’s office to certify votes in federal and statewide contests. ^[7]

Those dates matter only if a contest actually goes to a runoff. ^[2][7] The Georgia voting guide covers the November 3 deadlines.

Louisiana. The Federal Election Commission’s 2026 primary calendar, with data as of May 18, 2026, lists the state’s U.S. House primary, including the 6th District, on November 3 and a runoff, if one is necessary, on December 12. A footnote says “House elections have been postponed to 11/3/2026 following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais.” ^[9] The chart warns that its dates are subject to change, so confirm them with the Louisiana Secretary of State. ^[9] Louisiana’s U.S. Senate nominations were settled earlier, in party primaries on May 16 and party runoffs on June 27. ^[9][19]

Texas, by contrast. The Texas Senate race has three certified candidates: Republican Ken Paxton, Democrat James Talarico and Libertarian Ted Brown. ^[16] Under the plurality rule quoted above, the one with the most votes wins, with or without a majority. ^[6]

2026 nominees who won a runoff election

These five nominations, all in races the Ledger tracks, went to a second round. ^{[8][11][17][18][19]}

In Texas and Oklahoma the first-round leader lost the runoff. ^[8][10][11] Alabama’s Secretary of State shows the Republican Party certified its runoff results on June 24, 2026. ^[15] The Texas Secretary of State’s ballot certification, dated August 28, 2026, lists Paxton as the Republican candidate for U.S. senator, and the Oklahoma State Election Board’s November list of elections shows Mazzei as the Republican candidate for governor. ^[16][20] Both parties held runoffs: Democrats Everett Wess in Alabama and Jamie Davis in Louisiana also won U.S. Senate nominations in a second round. ^[15][18][19] More in the 2026 Senate map, the Texas Senate race and who is running for Oklahoma governor.

What is a general election, a special election and an incumbent?

General election. This is the election that fills the office; primaries and runoff primaries, in the Oklahoma State Election Board’s words, select “nominees (or candidates) for the general election ballot.” ^[14] For federal offices, FEC regulations define a general election as one “held in even numbered years on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November”; in 2026 that is November 3. ^[1][9] More in when Election Day is and what midterm elections are.

Special election. FEC regulations define it as “an election which is held to fill a vacancy in a Federal office” and add that it “may be a primary, general, or runoff election,” as the same section defines those terms. ^[1] The Constitution requires one for every House vacancy: the state’s executive “shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.” For the Senate, the Seventeenth Amendment also calls for an election but lets a legislature “empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.” ^[4] Georgia’s majority rule reaches special elections too, so a special election can produce its own runoff. ^[2]

A special election often shares the ballot with regular contests. The Summit County, Ohio, Board of Elections’ candidate list for November 3, 2026, shows a U.S. Senate contest for an “UNEXPIRED TERM TO END 01/03/29”; Jon Husted (R) and Sherrod Brown (D) are among the candidates listed. ^[22] The Ledger tracks it as Ohio’s special Senate election.

Incumbent. The incumbent is the person who holds the office now. The U.S. Election Assistance Commission’s glossary entry for one kind, the “appointed incumbent,” reads: “A candidate who is currently serving in an office they were appointed to, and they are a candidate for election to the same office.” ^[5] Holding the office does not guarantee the nomination: Cornyn, a sitting senator, lost the Texas Republican runoff. ^[8]

What to check before a runoff

1. Check whether your contest is on the runoff ballot. Only offices where no one reached the required share go to a second round. ^[2]
2. Check the date. The gap varies by state: on the FEC’s 2026 chart, South Carolina’s congressional runoff came two weeks after its primary (June 9, then June 23) and Texas’s came 12 weeks after (March 3, then May 26). ^[9]
3. Check the deadlines. For Texas’s May 26 runoff, registration closed April 27 and early voting ran May 18 to May 22. ^[21] The Ledger’s guides for Georgia, Texas and Oklahoma carry the November deadlines.

Questions and answers