Year: 2021
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Andre Dickens and Felicia Moore advance to a runoff election for Atlanta mayor
Andre Dickens and Felicia Moore advanced to a runoff election following the general election for mayor of Atlanta on November 2. Incumbent Keisha Lance Bottoms announced on May 6 that she would not seek re-election, making her the first Atlanta mayor since World War II to choose not to run for a second term Since…
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Tucson voters approve increasing the local minimum wage to $15 by 2025
On Nov. 2, Tucson voters approved Proposition 206, an initiative designed to incrementally increase the local minimum wage to $15 by 2025, and tie it to inflation thereafter. According to unofficial election results, 65% of voters approved Proposition 206. Currently, the minimum wage is $12.15. The minimum wage will increase by the following increments: $13…
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Maine transmission line company files lawsuit over constitutionality of Question 1
Voters in Maine approved Question 1 on November 2. The citizen-initiated ballot measure received 59% of the vote with 97% of precincts reporting. Question 1 was designed to stop the New England Clean Energy Connect (NECEC), a 145-mile long, high-voltage transmission line project that would transmit around 1,200 megawatts from hydroelectric plants in Quebec to electric utilities…
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Democrats flip Maine state House seat in Nov. 2 special election
Democrats picked up a seat in the Maine House of Representatives on Nov. 2. In the District 86 special election, Augusta City Council member Raegan LaRochelle (D) defeated U.S. Army veteran James Orr (R) with 56.2% of the vote. LaRochelle’s term will last until December 2022. To keep hold of her seat, LaRochelle will have…
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California Supreme Court Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar resigns
California Supreme Court Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar resigned on Oct. 31 to become president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C. Former Gov. Jerry Brown (D) appointed Cuéllar to the state supreme court in July 2014, and voters retained him in November 2014 with 68% of the vote. Before joining the California Supreme…
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Documenting America’s Path to Recovery #311: November 4, 2021
Welcome to Documenting America’s Path to Recovery. Today we look at several multistate lawsuits aimed at a federal vaccine mandate, changes in coronavirus restrictions in Hawaii, and other news since October 28. We’ll also give the latest tracking on: Lawsuits about state actions and policies Vaccine distribution State-level mask requirements COVID-19 emergency health orders School…
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U.S. Senate confirms two nominees to lifetime federal judgeships
The U.S. Senate on Nov. 1 confirmed two of President Joe Biden’s (D) federal judicial nominees to lifetime Article III judgeships: Beth Robinson, to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, by a vote of 51-45 Toby Heytens, to the United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, by a vote…
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President Biden announces new federal judicial nominees
President Joe Biden (D) announced a new slate of nominees to lifetime Article III judgeships on U.S. circuit and district courts on Nov. 3. Leonard Stark, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Jacqueline Corley and Trina Thompson, to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California Ruth Bermudez Montenegro,…
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Biden administration implements vaccine mandate through emergency rulemaking
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on Nov. 4 issued an emergency rule effective immediately to implement President Joe Biden’s (D) proposed vaccine mandate on certain private business employees. The rule requires the roughly 80 million individuals who work for companies with 100 or more employees to receive a COVID-19 (coronavirus) vaccine or undergo weekly testing.…