Utah constitutional amendment would allow Legislature to repeal initiatives, prohibit foreign influence

By

Ethan Rice

Welcome to the Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, Brew. 

By: Ethan Rice

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

  1. Utah constitutional amendment would give Legislature authority to repeal initiatives, prohibit foreign influence in ballot measure elections
  2. A closer look at New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District Democratic primary
  3. Republicans control 10.57% more state legislative seats than Democrats

Utah constitutional amendment would give Legislature authority to repeal initiatives, prohibit foreign influence in ballot measure elections

The Utah Legislature passed a constitutional amendment on Aug. 21 that will appear on the Nov. 5 ballot. If approved by voters, the proposed amendment would give the Legislature explicit power to amend or repeal voter-approved ballot initiatives. It would also ban foreign individuals, entities, or governments from influencing, supporting, or opposing initiatives and referendums.

Nationally, 21 states allow citizens to initiate state statutes, with 10 states having some type of restriction on how and when the legislature can amend or repeal them. Utah is one of 11 states without restrictions on the legislature’s ability to alter or repeal citizen initiatives.

Nine states have banned foreign nationals or governments from contributing to ballot measure campaigns. Ballot measures prohibiting foreign contributions were passed in Colorado in 2002, Missouri in 2016, North Dakota in 2018, and Maine in 2023, though the Missouri measure was found unconstitutional.

On Aug. 21, the Utah Legislature referred Senate Joint Resolution 401 (SJR 401) to the Nov. 5 ballot. In the Senate, the vote was 20-8. Two Republicans joined the six Senate Democrats to oppose the amendment. The remaining 20 Senate Republicans voted for the amendment. In the House, the amendment passed 54-21. All 14 House Democrats opposed the amendment, while Republicans were divided 54-7.

The Legislature convened a special session to pass the amendment in response to the Utah Supreme Court’s ruling in League of Women Voters v. Utah State Legislature. Plaintiffs challenged the legislature’s repeal and replacement of Proposition 4, a 2018 voter-approved initiative that would have created an independent advisory redistricting commission. Under Proposition 4, the commission would recommend redistricting maps to the Legislature, which would then be required to either approve or reject them. If the Legislature rejected a commission-recommended map, it would have been required to create its own map using the same criteria outlined in Proposition 4. One provision of Proposition 4 would have explicitly banned the practice of “divid[ing] districts in a manner that purposefully or unduly favors or disfavors any incumbent elected official, candidate or prospective candidate for elective office, or any political party.”

In the lawsuit, plaintiffs said the Legislature “rescinded critical Proposition 4 reforms and enacted watered-down versions of others.” They also argued that the legislative redistricting process violated Utahns’ right to vote and right to free speech by dividing Salt Lake County, which has the state’s largest concentration of voters for minority parties, into four congressional districts.

The court ruled on July 11, 2024, that the Legislature could not repeal or undo an initiative meant to reform government: “The people’s right to alter or reform the government through an initiative is constitutionally protected from government infringement, including legislative amendment, repeal, or replacement of the initiative in a manner that impairs the reform enacted by the people.”

Between 2010 and 2022, Utah voters approved three initiated state statutes, all of which were on the ballot in 2018. The Legislature subsequently amended all three. During the same period, the Legislature placed 23 constitutional amendments on the ballot. Voters approved 18 (78.26%). 

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A closer look at New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District Democratic primary

Throughout the year, we’ll bring you coverage of the most compelling elections — the battlegrounds we expect to have a meaningful effect on the balance of power in governments or to be particularly competitive. You can catch our previous coverage of other battleground races here. 

Today, we’re looking at the Democratic primary for New Hampshire’s 2nd Congressional District. Maggie Goodlander (D) and Colin Van Ostern (D) are running in the Sept. 10 primary. Incumbent Rep. Annie Kuster (D), who was first elected in 2012, is not running for re-election. Kuster is one of 45 House incumbents not running for re-election.

New Hampshire Public Radio’s Josh Rogers said, “So far in this race, there’s little to choose between the two Democrats, save for their biographies. As far as issues go, both Goodlander and Van Ostern mostly agree.” According to Rogers, the candidates used their backgrounds to distinguish themselves in the primary. Referencing Goodlander’s government experience, Van Ostern said, “I’m in this race to fix Washington, not to defend it.” Regarding Van Ostern’s past runs for office, Goodlander said, “I’m not a perennial candidate; I’m not a professional politician.”

Goodlander was a senior White House aide in President Joe Biden‘s (D) administration and served in the U.S. Department of Justice as a counselor to the attorney general and later deputy assistant attorney general. Goodlander was also an advisor to U.S. Sens. John McCain (R) and Joe Lieberman (I).  

Van Ostern represented District 2 on the New Hampshire Executive Council from 2013 to 2017.[4] In 2016, he ran for governor. Chris Sununu (R)  defeated Van Ostern 49% to 46.7%. Van Ostern has worked for multiple companies, including Stonyfield Yogurt, Alumni Ventures, and Southern New Hampshire University.

Kuster endorsed Van Ostern, who was a campaign manager for her 2010 congressional campaign. EMILY’s List, an organization that works to elect Democratic pro-choice women to office, endorsed Goodlander.

In the 2022 election, Kuster defeated Bob Burns (R) 55.8%-44.1%, a smaller margin of victory than the average 28.4 percentage point margin for House Democrats that year. Daily Kos calculated what the results of the 2020 presidential election in this district would have been following redistricting. Joe Biden (D) would have defeated Donald Trump (R) 53.6%-44.7%. The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato’s Crystal Ball, and Decision Desk HQ and The Hill rate the district Likely Democratic. 

All 435 seats in the U.S. House are up for election. Republicans have a 220 to 213 majority with two vacancies. As of August 2024, 45 members of the U.S. House had announced they were not running for re-election. To read more about the U.S. House elections taking place this year, click here.

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Republicans control 10.57% more state legislative seats than Democrats

As a part of Ballotpedia’s coverage of state legislatures, we produce a monthly report detailing the partisan breakdown of state legislatures. As of the most recent report, nationwide, Republicans control 781 (10.57%) more state legislative seats than Democrats. Republicans control 4,052 (54.86%) state legislative seats to Democrats’ 3,271 (44.29%). Independent, nonpartisan, and other state legislators hold 23 (0.31%) of those seats, while 40 (0.54%) are vacant.

  1. Across the lower chamber of state legislatures, Republicans control 2,938 seats to Democrats’ 2,427.
  2. Across the upper chamber of state legislatures, Republicans control 1,114 seats to Democrats 844.

Least competitive state legislatures by overall composition

  1. Hawaii and Rhode Island have the most Democratic legislators by percent, with Democrats controlling 86.27% (66 seats) of the Hawaii Legislature and 86.67% (97 seats) in the Rhode Island Legislature.
  2. Wyoming and South Dakota have the most Republican legislators by percent, with Republicans controlling 91.94% (86 seats) of the Wyoming Legislature and 90% (94 seats) in the South Dakota Legislature.

Most competitive state legislatures by overall composition

  1. Pennsylvania and New Hampshire have the most competitive overall legislative compositions by percent, with Democrats having a 0.49% (five seats out of 253 total) edge in Pennsylvania and Republicans having a 1.25% edge in New Hampshire. In New Hampshire, Republicans control 213 seats to Democrats’ 204, with two held by third-party members and five vacancies. 

Eighty-five state legislative chambers will hold regularly scheduled elections in 2024. Ballotpedia has identified 10 of those chambers as state legislative battlegrounds:

In even-year election cycles from 2010 to 2022, an average of nine chambers changed party control. The year with the most changes was 2010 (22), and the year with the least was 2020 (two). For a full list of all of these changes, click here.

Heading into the 2024 elections, Republicans control six battleground chambers, and Democrats control two. The Alaska Senate and the Alaska House of Representatives have a multipartisan coalition in charge, although Republicans have an 11-9 numerical majority in the Senate and a 22-13 numerical majority in the House. Click here to learn more about state legislative battleground chambers.

To learn more about competitiveness in state legislatures this year, click here.Keep reading