Breaking down the states with public service commissions this year

By

Ballotpedia staff

Welcome to the Monday, October 7, Brew. 

By: Briana Ryan

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

  1. Breaking down the five states with public service commission elections happening this year
  2. 50 states in 25 days—Ohio and Nebraska
  3. So far, 433 elections on Ballotpedia have full Candidate Connection survey participation

Breaking down the five states with public service commission elections happening this year

Five states—Alabama, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, and North Dakota—are holding public service commission elections this year.

Public service commissioners are state-level positions in all 50 states.  Their duties vary from state to state, but their general role involves regulating essential utility services such as energy, telecommunications, and water. The commissions’ selection method and partisan breakdown also vary.

  • Voters elect commissioners in 10 states, governors appoint commissioners in 38 states, and the legislature chooses commissioners in two states.
  • Forty states have nonpartisan commissions, nine have majority Republican commissions, and one has a majority Democratic commission.

Among those holding public service commission elections, three states have contested races:

  • Louisiana: One of the commission’s five seats is up for election. Incumbent Craig Greene (R) is not running for re-election. Nick Laborde (D), Jean-Paul Coussan (R), and Julie Quinn (R) are running in the primary election on Nov. 5. Republicans have a 3-2 majority on the commission. The Louisiana Illuminator’s Wesley Muller wrote, “Greene, a moderate Republican, holds enormous power as the lone swing vote between two GOP members and two Democrats on the panel. He has wielded that influence in subtle but impactful ways, casting the deciding vote on several controversial proposals. Whoever takes his seat gets to decide whether to hold onto that power with a similarly moderate stance or relinquish it and toe the party line.” 
  • Montana: Three of the commission’s five seats are up for election. Two seats are open because the incumbents are not running for re-election. Susan Bilo (D) and Brad Molnar (R) are running in District 2. Leonard Williams (D) and Jeffrey Welborn (R) are running in District 3. Incumbent Jennifer Fielder (R) and write-in candidate Elena Evans (Independent) are running in District 4. Currently, all commissioners are Republicans. Montana Free Press’ Amanda Eggert wrote that the next commissioners will likely be asked “to decide the fates of a new NorthWestern Energy rate hike request and a rulemaking petition that arose out of a lawsuit challenging Montana’s role in permitting fossil fuel plants.”
  • North Dakota: One of the commission’s three seats is up for election. Incumbent Randel Christmann (R) and Tracey Wilkie (D) are running. Currently, all commissioners are Republicans. The Dickinson Press’ James B. Miller Jr. wrote, “The elected commissioner will play a vital role in shaping the state’s energy policies, impacting both economic development and environmental standards.”

Incumbents are running unopposed in two states:

  • Alabama: One of the commission’s three seats is up for election. Incumbent Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh (R) is running unopposed in the general election. Currently, all three commissioners are Republicans.
  • Nebraska: Two of the commission’s five seats are up for election. Dan Watermeier (R) and Tim Schram (R), both incumbents, are running unopposed for re-election. Currently, all five commissioners are Republicans.

Georgia was scheduled to hold public service commission elections in 2024, but commission elections have been on hold since 2022 due to an ongoing lawsuit challenging the structure of the elections. Currently, all five commissioners are Republicans.

Keep reading

50 states in 25 days—Ohio and Nebraska

Election Day is fast approaching. Long-time Brew readers will remember our 50 states in 50 days and 50 states in 25 days series from previous election years. On Friday, we looked at what’s on the ballot in Indiana and Montana. With 20 business days between now and the final Friday before the election, let’s continue digging into what voters across the country can expect to see on their ballots. Today, we’re looking at Ohio and Nebraska.

Ohio

Let’s start with a look at some key dates and deadlines in Ohio.

  • The deadline for registering in person, by mail, and online is Oct. 7. The deadline for in-mail registration is a receipt deadline. Early voting begins Oct. 8 and ends on Nov. 3. 
  • All polls open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Everyone in line when the polls close must be allowed to vote. Voters can find polling locations here.

Here’s what is on the ballot: 

Nebraska

Next, let’s check out Nebraska’s elections. We’ll start with some key dates and deadlines.

  • The deadline for registering in person, by mail, and online is Oct. 18. The deadline for in-mail registration is a postmark deadline. Early voting begins Oct. 7 and ends on Nov. 4. 
  • Nebraska is divided between Central and Mountain time zones. As a result, some polling locations are open from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Central Time, and others are from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Mountain Time. Everyone in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote. Find your polling place here.

Here’s what is on the ballot:

Want to learn more about the elections you’ll be voting in this year? Click here to use our Sample Ballot Lookup tool!

The information above is just a small snippet of the detailed information on Ballotpedia for each state. You can check out our deep dive into Ohio’s 2024 elections here and Nebraska’s 2024 elections here.

Also, make sure to check back to our hub page, linked below, for future installments of the series.

Keep reading 

So far, 433 elections on Ballotpedia have full Candidate Connection survey participation

This year, there have been 433 elections across 42 states in which every candidate has participated in Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection survey. Those include offices for congressional, state executive, state legislative, judicial, school board, and municipal offices. 

A few battleground races in which every candidate has participated in Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection survey include New York’s 1st Congressional District, Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, and the Michigan Supreme Court election.

We believe that everyone deserves meaningful, reliable, trustworthy information about their candidates. We also know that good information—especially at the local level—is hard to find. That’s why we created the Candidate Connection survey back in 2018. Since then, more than 15,000 candidates have taken the survey, giving voters in-depth information to help prepare for the polls.

We ask all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. Our survey helps voters better understand how their candidates think about the world and how they intend to govern—information they need to feel confident they’re picking the best person for the role.

Questions vary depending on the office the candidate is running for. For the most part, candidates can decide which questions to answer. However, we require every candidate to answer the following two questions:

  • Who are you? Tell us about yourself.
  • What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

We believe that these best illustrate why a candidate is running and what they hope to achieve in office. In the races listed on the page linked below, you can directly compare each candidate’s responses to questions they both chose to answer on our survey. This provides voters with valuable information they cannot get anywhere else.

Keep reading