Year: 2021

  • Maine governor appoints Valerie Stanfill to state supreme court

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    Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) appointed Valerie Stanfill to fill a vacancy on the Maine Supreme Judicial Court on May 10. The seat became vacant when former Chief Justice Leigh Saufley retired on April 14, 2020, to become dean of the University of Maine School of Law. Under Maine law, Stanfill requires confirmation by the…

  • President Biden announces intent to nominate six to federal judgeships

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    President Joe Biden (D) announced his intent to nominate six individuals to Article III judgeships with lifetime terms on May 12: Gustavo Gelpí, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit Eunice Lee, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit Veronica Rossman, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit Angel Kelley, U.S. District…

  • Documenting America’s Path to Recovery #246: May 13, 2021

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    The next 24 hours What is changing in the next 24 hours? Illinois (Democratic trifecta): The state will move to the Bridge Phase of reopening on May 14. To see changes to business restrictions in the Bridge Phase, click here. Since our last edition What rules and restrictions are changing in each state? For a…

  • Jean Stothert wins re-election to third term as mayor of Omaha, Nebraska

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    Incumbent Jean Stothert (R) defeated RJ Neary (D) in the nonpartisan mayoral general election in Omaha, Nebraska, Tuesday, winning election to a third term. Unofficial results showed Stothert received 67% of the vote to Neary’s 33% at the time of his concession. Stothert described her campaign for re-election as an effort to continue projects that…

  • Anchorage mayoral race remains uncertain as ballots continue to be counted

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    The outcome of the Anchorage, Alaska, mayoral election remains unclear after preliminary results posted by the city showed Forrest Dunbar leading Dave Bronson with 50.8% of the vote. As of the posting, at least 6,600 ballots had not yet been counted, and mail-in ballots continued to arrive. Mail-in ballots postmarked no later than election day,…

  • Redistricting news

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    Redistricting review – a summary of this week’s map-making news Last week, I briefed you on U.S. House apportionment counts based on the 2020 Census. As a reminder, six states gained seats in the U.S. House, and seven states lost a seat each. Here’s today’s update on redistricting activity.  Ohio On May 12, the U.S.…

  • Arizona to vote on in-state tuition for non-citizen residents in 2022

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    In 2022, Arizonans will vote on a ballot measure to expand in-state tuition to some residents without legal citizenship status. The ballot measure would make in-state tuition available to non-citizen residents who (a) attended school in Arizona for at least two years and (b) graduated from a public school, private school, or homeschool in Arizona.…

  • Eight candidates file to run in two Georgia state House special elections

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    Candidates interested in running in the special elections for Georgia House of Representatives Districts 34 and 156 had until May 7 to file. The general election in both districts is scheduled for June 15. If no candidate earns a majority of the vote in the general election, the top two vote-getters will advance to a…

  • Glenn Youngkin wins Virginia Republican Party’s gubernatorial nomination

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    Glenn Youngkin wins Virginia Republican Party’s gubernatorial nomination Glenn Youngkin won the Virginia Republican Party’s gubernatorial nomination on May 10 after six rounds of vote-counting using ranked-choice voting. Youngkin defeated six candidates, including business owner Pete Snyder, state Sen. Amanda Chase, and former House Speaker Kirk Cox. After the final round of vote-counting, Youngkin received…

  • Florida governor signs bill limiting contributions to ballot initiative petition drive campaigns to $3,000

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    On May 7, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a bill—Senate Bill 1890—to set $3,000 limits on campaign contributions to committees in support of or opposition to ballot initiatives until the secretary of state certifies the measure for the ballot and assigns it a ballot position and number designation. The bill was designed to lift…