Year: 2024
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164 candidates are running for Texas’ 38 U.S. House districts—the most since 2016
This year’s filing deadline for candidates running for Congress in Texas was Dec. 11, 2023. One hundred sixty-four candidates are running for Texas’ 38 U.S. House districts, including 63 Democrats and 101 Republicans. That’s 4.3 candidates per district, the lowest number since 2016, when 3.5 candidates ran. In 2022, the first election after the number…
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OIRA reviewed 45 significant rules in January (2024)
The White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) in January 2024 reviewed 45 significant regulatory actions issued by federal agencies. OIRA approved three of these rules with no changes and approved the intent of 38 rules while recommending changes to their content. OIRA reviewed 40 significant regulatory actions in January 2023 and 26…
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South Carolina lawmakers advance unemployment insurance indexing bill
South Carolina lawmakers on January 25, 2024, advanced a bill out of committee proposing to index the length of unemployment insurance benefits to the state’s unemployment rate. House Bill 4710 would reduce the maximum number of benefit weeks to 12 when the unemployment rate is at or below 5.5%. The bill would cap the maximum…
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State agriculture commissioners join ESG pushback
Agriculture commissioners from 12 states sent a letter on January 29 to the heads of six banks, arguing that ESG efforts to promote net-zero carbon policies would hurt farmers and inflate consumer food prices. Ballotpedia tracks support for and opposition to the environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) investing movement. To learn more about arguments…
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New RCV bans on the table, but bills supporting ranked-choice outnumber opposition legislation in 2024 sessions
Republican legislators have introduced new ranked-choice voting (RCV) prohibitions in five states so far this year. These efforts come after three states approved Republican-sponsored bans last year. The number of active bills supporting RCV continues to outnumber those banning or repealing its use. Of the 75 RCV bills currently active in state legislatures: Twenty-three of…
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Tracker: Article III federal judicial nominations by president by days in office since 2001
There were 59 vacancies in the 890 authorized federal judicial posts as of January 31, 2024. Fifty-eight of those were for Article III judgeships. This report is limited to Article III courts, where appointees are confirmed to lifetime judgeships. From December 14, 2023, to January 31, 2024: By January 31, 2024—1,107 days in office—President Joe…
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Georgia, South Carolina, and Texas ballots have featured political party platform advisory questions in recent years
Ballotpedia has tracked nonbinding political party platform advisory questions in three states—Georgia, South Carolina, and Texas. Democratic and Republican parties have placed these questions on statewide ballots to gauge voters’ support for various policy proposals. All three states have open primaries, meaning that voters do not have to formally affiliate with a political party in…