The dates have been set for the special elections to fill the vacancy in the 17th Senatorial district.Governor Haslam issued a “writ of election” on Friday setting the primary date for Nov. 7 and the general election for Dec. 19.The vacancy was created with the resignation of Mae Beavers, who announced she was devoting all of time to her campaign for governor.“We anticipated these would be the dates of the special elections, and now that we know for sure we can officially begin the tasks that are required by law and make final preparations,” said Dennis Stanley, DeKalb County administrator of elections. The qualifying deadline for candidates is noon, Sept. 28. Winners of the respective primaries will then square off in the general election along with any independent candidates that qualified by the deadline.Early voting for the Nov. 7 special primary will be held from Oct. 18 through Nov. 2.