Subject: General Election Runoffs for US House?
From: David Lublin
Date: 6/6/2006, 3:04 AM
To: election-law@majordomo.lls.edu

Does anyone happen to know which, if any, states require runoffs after the general election for the U.S. House if no candidate achieves a majority in the initial election?

My understanding is that Louisiana now holds its open general election (i.e. there is no primary so potentially many candidates from the same party) for the U.S. House on Election Day but runoffs are still held afterward if needed, though they usually are not.
 
I know that Georgia used to hold runoffs if no one received a majority, but I thought that the Georgia legislature abolished this requirement after Sen. Wyche Fowler was defeated for reelection in a runoff in 1992.  Is this correct?
 
Do any other states require general election runoffs today?

Many thanks,
David Lublin
 
Professor of Government, American University
Research Fellow, German Marshall Fund, Brussels