Special election for vacant Minnesota Senate district will determine partisan control of the chamber
In Wednesday’s Brew, we previewed the Nov. 5 special election for Minnesota Senate District 45. The previous incumbent, Kelly Morrison (D), resigned to run for U.S. House, leaving the Senate with a 33-33 partisan split. Minnesota senators are elected to four-year terms in midterm years, meaning the outcome of this election will determine control of the chamber through the 2026 midterms or until another member leaves office.
Because Democrats control the state House and a Democrat is governor, the outcome of this election will also determine Minnesota’s trifecta status.
Two candidates are running in the general election for a seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court
On Monday, we took at the North Carolina Supreme Court race between incumbent Justice Allison Riggs (D) and Jefferson Griffin (R). North Carolina is one of eight states that uses partisan elections to select state supreme court justices.
Heading into the 2020 election, Democrats held a 6-1 majority on the court. They lost two seats, reducing their majority to 4-3. In 2022, Republicans won two seats, giving them a 5-2 majority. In 2024, the court could remain a 5-2 Republican majority or become a 6-1 Republican majority.
There are 605 rematches this year between candidates who last faced off in 2020 or 2022
This election cycle, we are tracking 605 rematches this year between candidates who last faced each other in 2020 or 2022. Of this total, 536 rematches are between candidates running for offices with two-year terms who last faced off in 2022, and 69 are between candidates running for offices with four-year terms who last faced off in 2020.
Ballotpedia releases its Top 15 elections to watch this Nov. 5
On Friday, we released our Top 15 elections to watch. These elections were chosen based on past election results, unique election-specific circumstances, and election forecasters’ race ratings. The final selections were made with the goal of including a mix of federal and state races.