ICYMI: Top stories of the week

We’ve got May 24 primary election results!

We covered elections in seven states Tuesday, including statewide primaries in Arkansas, Alabama, and Georgia and statewide primary runoffs in Texas. Here’s a look at some noteworthy results from battleground races:

Britt, Brooks advance to runoff in Alabama Republican primary: Katie Britt and Mo Brooks were the top two finishers in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Alabama. Britt had 45% of the vote to Brooks’ 29%. The two advanced to a June 21 runoff since neither received more than 50% of the vote.
McBath defeats Bourdeaux in incumbent-vs.-incumbent primary: Incumbent Lucy McBath defeated fellow incumbent Carolyn Bourdeaux in the Democratic primary for Georgia’s 7th Congressional District. McBath had 63% of the vote to Bourdeaux’s 31%. The two were running against one another as a result of new district lines following the 2020 census. Bourdeaux is the fourth member of the U.S. House to lose a primary so far in 2022.
Incumbent Brian Kemp wins re-nomination as governor of Georgia: Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp won the Republican nomination for a second term with 74% of the vote, followed by former U.S. Sen. David Perdue with 22%. Kemp was endorsed by former Vice President Mike Pence (R), while Perdue was endorsed by former President Donald Trump (R).

See full results at the link below.

Mayor of Anaheim resigns amid FBI corruption investigation

On May 23, Anaheim, Calif., Mayor Harry Sidhu announced he would resign after information about an ongoing federal corruption investigation was made public earlier this month. Sidhu’s resignation was effective May 24. The city council has 60 days to fill the vacancy by appointment. Otherwise, the city charter requires a special election to be held.

The mayors of 62 of the country’s 100 largest cities are affiliated with the Democratic Party. Republicans hold 25 mayoral offices, independents hold four, and seven mayors are nonpartisan. One mayor’s partisan affiliation is unknown. With Sidhu’s resignation, there is one vacancy.

Number of contested state legislative primaries up 38% compared to 2020

There are 38% more contested state legislative primaries this year than in 2020, including 77% more Republican primaries and 18% more top-two/top-four primaries. Democratic primaries are down 7%. We provide regular updates on this data. This week, our data includes 20 states, which account for 2,476 (40%) of the 6,166 state legislative seats up for election this year.

For the first time since 1964, there’s no statewide initiative on California’s primary ballot

The June 7 California primary ballot won’t feature any state ballot measures for the first time since 1964. This year’s lack of measures follows a decline in primary ballot initiatives. Based on decades, the average has declined over time, with an average of 11 on primary ballots in the 1970s and 1980s, 10 in the 1990s, seven in the 2000s, and three in the 2010s.

Checking in on ballot measure certifications

Ninety-four statewide measures have been certified for the ballot in 33 states so far this year, 15 less than the average number certified at this point in other even-numbered years from 2010 to 2020.

Here’s an update on the latest ballot measure activity:

One measure was withdrawn last week: California Changes to Medical Malpractice Lawsuits Cap Initiative
Signatures have been submitted and are pending verification for 11 initiatives in California, Idaho, Missouri, and South Dakota: