ICYMI: Top stories of the week


WeeklyBrewHeader.png

We’ve got June 7 primary election results!

We covered elections in seven states on Tuesday, including statewide primaries in California, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, and New Mexico. 

Here’s a look at some noteworthy results:

  • Franken to face Grassley in November: Michael Franken defeated Abby Finkenauer and Glenn Hurst in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Iowa.
  • Caruso and Bass advance to November general election: Karen Bass and Rick Caruso advanced from the nonpartisan primary for mayor of Los Angeles, California, on June 7, 2022. Since neither candidate received more than 50% of the vote, the two will participate in a Nov. 8 general election.
  • San Francisco recalls District Attorney Chesa Boudin: San Francisco voters recalled District Attorney Chesa Boudin, with unofficial results showing 61.3% voting “Yes.” The issue of crime was a focal point in this election. Supporters alleged Boudin did not do enough to make residents feel safe. Boudin said his goal had been reforming the criminal justice system and that the recall was politically motivated.

See full results at the link below.

Read more

Louisiana joins growing list of states deciding ballot measures on involuntary servitude this year

On June 1, the Louisiana Senate placed a legislatively-referred constitutional amendment on this year’s ballot that would remove language from the state constitution allowing involuntary servitude as a punishment for a crime. Louisiana is the fifth state to place a measure regarding involuntary servitude on the ballot this year.

Read more

How public schools are funded

According to the Education Commission of the States, 33 states and the District of Columbia use a student-based foundation model to allocate funds. Ten states use a resource-based model, five use a hybrid approach, and two states—Vermont and Wisconsin—use a guaranteed tax base approach. See our recent feature in our weekly newsletter Hall Pass for an in-depth look at public school funding.

Read more

Checking in on ballot measure certifications

So far this year, we’ve tracked 103 measures in 34 states. Here’s an update on the those measures:

Six new measure were certified in two states for the November ballot last week:

​Signatures have been submitted and awaiting verification for 12 initiatives in six states:

One indirect initiative was approved by the legislature and is pending the governor’s signature or veto:

One measure was certified for the 2023 ballot last week:

Read more

An update on upcoming Article III judicial vacancies

According to the latest vacancy data from the U.S. Courts, there were 41 total announced upcoming vacancies for Article III judgeships. There are 11 nominees pending for upcoming vacancies. In addition to these 41 upcoming vacancies, there are 75 current Article III vacancies in the federal judiciary out of the 870 total Article III judgeships.

Read more