Elections & terms
special election
An off-schedule election to fill a vacancy. House vacancies require one; Senate vacancies are usually filled by gubernatorial appointment until one is held.
In full
When a House seat opens mid-term, the Constitution requires the governor to call a special election, there is no appointment to the House. For the Senate, the Seventeenth Amendment lets state legislatures authorize the governor to appoint a temporary senator until a special or regular election, which nearly all states do. The differing rules are why a House vacancy can sit empty for months while a Senate one is filled within days.
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A plain-language explanation for civic education, not legal advice. When in doubt, the official source named above controls.