Welcome to the Friday, November 12, Brew.
By: Doug Kronaizl
Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- Louisiana’s primary elections being held tomorrow
- Detroit voters approve entheogenic plants and reparations measures and reject measure on initiative appropriations
- #FridayTrivia: In what month will the first candidate filing deadlines of the 2022 election cycle occur?
Louisiana’s primary elections being held tomorrow
We’re not done with the 2021 elections yet!
Louisiana voters will cast ballots tomorrow in the state’s fall elections following a one-month delay. On Sept. 9, 2021, Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) signed an executive order postponing the state’s fall elections due to damage from Hurricane Ida. The primary, originally scheduled for Oct. 9, was changed to Nov. 13. The general election, if needed, was changed from Nov. 13 to Dec. 11.
Statewide, voters will decide four ballot measures concerning topics including taxes and the state budget. The Louisiana Constitution limits legislation and constitutional amendments in odd-numbered years exclusively to matters concerning the state’s budget, government finance, and taxation.
When it comes to races involving candidates, Louisiana’s elections use the majority-vote system. All candidates, regardless of party affiliation, run in the same primary. A candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50% of the vote in the primary. If no candidate crosses that mark, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election.
There will also be special state legislative primaries in one district of the Louisiana State Senate and two districts of the Louisiana House of Representatives. Republicans currently hold a 26-12 majority in the Senate and a 68-23-3 majority in the House. The winners of these elections will hold office until Jan. 8, 2024.
- In Senate District 27, Dustin Granger (D), Jake Shaheen (R), and Jeremy Stine (D) are running to fill a vacancy left by Ronnie Johns (R). Johns resigned in July after Gov. Bel Edwards appointed him as chairman of the Louisiana State Gaming Control Board.
- In House District 16, Charles Bradford (D), Alicia Calvin (D), and Adrian Fisher (D) are running. This seat became vacant after Frederick D. Jones (D) resigned after being elected to the state’s Fourth Judicial District Court.
- In House District 102, Delisha Boyd (D) and Jordan Bridges (D) are running to replace Gary Carter Jr. (D), who was elected to the state Senate in a June 12 special election. Since there are only two candidates, this election will determine the seat’s winner outright.
At the local level, New Orleans voters will decide primaries for mayor, city council, sheriff, assessor, coroner, and civil and criminal district court clerks. Additional elections in Ballotpedia’s coverage scope include two judicial seats are on the ballot in Baton Rouge and a special election primary is being held for one seat on the Caddo Parish Public Schools school board.
Detroit voters approve entheogenic plants and reparations measures and reject measure on initiative appropriations
Voters in Detroit, Mich., decided three ballot measures on Nov. 2, including two citizen-initiated initiatives and an advisory question. Voters approved two measures regarding the decriminalization of entheogenic plants and the creation of a reparations committee. A third measure, which would have removed language from the city’s charter prohibiting initiatives from appropriating funds, was defeated. Here’s a breakdown:
Proposal E was designed to decriminalize the possession and therapeutic use of entheogenic plants, including psilocybin mushrooms, peyote, and iboga. The initiatives received 61% of the vote. As of 2021, at least 10 local governments, including Ann Arbor in Michigan, had passed laws either decriminalizing or changing law enforcement priorities regarding psilocybin. Two of these laws passed as ballot measures in Denver, Colo., and Washington, D.C., making Detroit’s Proposal E the third ballot measure to decriminalize psilocybin. Additionally, in 2020, voters approved Oregon Measure 109, which created a statewide program for administering psilocybin to individuals over the age of 21.
Proposal R advised the Detroit City Council to establish a reparations committee to recommend housing and economic development programs for Black residents. The advisory question passed with 80% of the vote. In June 2021, the city council passed a resolution that established a process “to specifically address the creation of generational wealth and to boost economic mobility and opportunity in the black community.” The committee, supported through Proposal R, will now be part of that process. Voters in Greenbelt, Md., also approved a measure to create a reparations committee on Nov. 2.
Proposal S would have removed language from the Detroit City Charter that prohibited initiatives from appropriating funds. It was defeated with 54% of the electors voting no.
#FridayTrivia: In what month will the first candidate filing deadlines of the 2022 election cycle occur?
In Tuesday’s Brew, we took a look at two states—North Carolina and Texas—whose upcoming candidate filing deadlines will be the earliest in the 2022 election cycle. These deadlines will set the stage for primary elections in these states later on. In what month will the first candidate filing deadlines of the 2022 election cycle occur?