A closer look at today’s elections in 11 states

By

Ethan Rice

Welcome to the Tuesday, May 21, 2024, Brew. 

By: Ethan Rice

Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

  1. A closer look at today’s elections in 11 states
  2. Voters in northeastern Gwinnett County, Georgia, to vote on ballot measure creating a new city, Mulberry
  3. SCOTUS upholds Consumer Financial Protection Bureau funding structure 

A closer look at today’s elections in 11 states

As the 2024 primary season continues, 11 states are holding primaries and elections today, including presidential, state legislative, special elections, recalls, judicial elections, and local elections. We’ve been previewing a variety of these states over the past week in the Brew. Here’s a summary:

  • California is holding a special general election for U.S. House California District 20. Five congressional special elections have been held so far this year to fill vacancies in the U.S. House. Five special elections, including today’s special election in California, are set to occur in the U.S. House, along with two in the U.S. Senate. 
  • Florida, Kentucky, and Oregon are holding special elections for local offices. 
  • Oregon is holding three statewide primaries for attorney general, secretary of state, and treasurer. There are a total of  11 gubernatorial, nine lieutenant gubernatorial, 10 attorney general, and seven secretary of state offices up for election this year. Including down-ballot races, there are 164 state executive offices up for election in 29 states.
  • Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, and Oregon are holding state legislative primaries. Georgia and Idaho have Republican trifectas, Oregon has a Democratic trifecta, and Kentucky has a divided government. 
  • Voters in Kamiah, Idaho, will decide whether to recall Mayor Betty Heater. Twenty-six recall efforts have targeted mayors so far this year. 
  • Georgia, Idaho, and Oregon are holding state supreme court elections. Georgia and Idaho are holding non-partisan general elections, while Oregon is holding a non-partisan primary election to decide who will run in the Nov. 5 general election. Kentucky’s primary election was not needed after only two candidates filed for the one seat on the ballot.
  • Georgia, Idaho, and Oregon are holding intermediate appellate court elections. Kentucky’s primary election was not needed after only two candidates filed for the one seat on the ballot.
  • Georgia is holding school board primaries in 150 counties that Ballotpedia covers. Ballotpedia’s coverage includes all school districts in the 100 largest cities by population and the 200 largest school districts by student enrollment, plus an increasing number of school board elections in smaller districts. New York is also holding a general election for Lackawanna City School District, and Montgomery County, Kentucky, is holding a special school board election. 
  • Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, and Oregon are holding municipal elections within Ballotpedia’s coverage scope. Ballotpedia’s local coverage includes elections in the 100 largest U.S. cities by population, as well as elections for mayors, city council members, and district attorneys in each state capital.

To follow Ballotpedia’s coverage of upcoming elections across the nation, click here. 

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Voters in northeastern Gwinnett County, Georgia, to vote on ballot measure creating a new city, Mulberry

Ballotpedia’s coverage of local elections is growing. Throughout 2024, we’ll be adding local elections in 20 states to our existing coverage of the nation’s biggest cities, school districts, and state capitals. Our goal: to provide comprehensive information on elections from school board to president in all 50 states.

Speaking of the local elections, we’re covering more than 30,000 of them this year. In a previous Brew, we told you about a local election in California to establish a new city.  In northeastern Gwinnett County, Georgia, voters will decide on a ballot measure on May 21 to create a new city called Mulberry. Mulberry would have around 41,245 residents. If approved, this would make Mulberry the 24th largest city in Georgia. 

The Georgia General Assembly referred the measure to the ballot in a vote that divided Republicans and Democrats. The Georgia Senate voted 30-15 to pass the bill, SB 333, on Feb. 1, 2024. Senate Republicans supported SB 333, while Democrats opposed it. The Georgia House of Representatives voted 101-63 to pass the bill on Feb. 8. In the House, five Democrats supported it, and the remaining 63 opposed it. All Republican House members supported SB 333. Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed the bill on Feb. 13, 2024.

State Sen. Clint Dixon (R-45), who represents the proposed city, said, “SB 333 will greatly impact my constituents of the 45th Senate District, who have been negatively affected by zoning issues in our area. I am confident that the incorporation of the City of Mulberry will return power and local control to the citizens of Gwinnett County.” State Sen. Nikki Merritt (D-9), who represents part of Gwinnett County, voted against the bill. She said, “We’re seeing this pattern of: I don’t want it in my backyard. I don’t want those people coming in my backyard. I want to create a boundary of my own and consolidate my affluency. And I want to keep certain people out.”

The measure includes Mulberry’s proposed charter, which would create a five-member city council. Council members would be elected by district. Council members would select, by a majority vote, from among themselves for one of them to serve as mayor, who could be removed and replaced at any time by majority vote.

If voters approve the measure, they will elect the five city council members at the general election in Nov. 2024, which Ballotpedia would cover as part of our ongoing local election coverage.

To learn more about local ballot measure elections this year, click here.

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SCOTUS upholds Consumer Financial Protection Bureau funding structure 

On May 16, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court held 7-2 in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Community Financial Services Association of America, Limited that Congress statutorily authorized the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to draw money directly from the Federal Reserve System. The court ruled that the CFPB’s funding structure therefore does not violate the appropriations clause of the U.S. Constitution. 

Industry groups sued the CFPB after the bureau issued a rule aiming to enforce disciplinary action against certain payday lenders. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit rejected the challenge to the rule but held that the CFPB’s funding structure, which flows from the Federal Reserve rather than through explicit congressional appropriations, violates the appropriations clause. Former Pres. Donald Trump (R) appointed all three judges on the panel. 

The Supreme Court found that the CFPB’s funding structure satisfies the definition of a congressional appropriation. “The Bureau’s funding statute contains the requisite features of a congressional appropriation,” wrote Justice Clarence Thomas in the majority opinion. “The statute authorizes the Bureau to draw public funds from a particular source … And, it specifies the objects for which the Bureau can use those funds—to ‘pay the expenses of the Bureau in carrying out its duties and responsibilities.’”

Justice Samuel Alito authored a dissenting opinion, joined by Justice Neil Gorsuch, arguing “that the Appropriations Clause demands legislative control over the source and disposition of the money used to finance Government operations and projects” and that the CFPB’s funding mechanism through the Federal Reserve limits congressional oversight of the bureau’s policies.

Of the 60 cases the court agreed to hear in the 2022-2023 term, only six were decided 7-2. Furthermore, Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, who joined the majority opinion, have one of the lowest agreement rates with Justice Thomas, only joining with Thomas about 64% of the time. 

Ballotpedia’s coverage of the administrative state provides an encyclopedic overview. It includes information about the United States government’s administrative and regulatory activities, concepts, laws, court cases, executive orders, scholarly work, and other material related to the administrative state. For more on legislation governing the administrative state, check out Ballotpedia’s Administrative State Legislation Tracker.

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