Welcome to the Tuesday, Jan. 14, Brew.
By: Briana Ryan
Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- Ten candidates are running in the special Republican primary in Florida’s 1st Congressional District on Jan. 28
- Voters in 19 states decided on ballot measures on Nov. 5 to change state or local election laws and policies
- Sixty-one years ago today, North Carolina voters rejected a measure to increase the size of the state Senate
Ten candidates are running in the special Republican primary in Florida’s 1st Congressional District on Jan. 28
Ten candidates are running in the Republican primary on Jan. 28 for a special election in Florida’s 1st Congressional District. Two candidates—Jimmy Patronis (R) and Joel Rudman (R)—lead in media attention and endorsements.
The previous incumbent—Rep. Matt Gaetz (R)—won re-election to the U.S. House on Nov. 5 but resigned on Nov. 13 before taking on office. On that same day, President-elect Donald Trump (R) nominated him for attorney general. Gaetz later withdrew from consideration for the nomination on Nov. 21. Florida Ron DeSantis called the special election Nov. 25.
After Gaetz resigned, the expected 220 to 215 Republican majority in the U.S. House dropped to a 219 to 215 majority. Gaetz had the fifth-highest margin-of-victory of the 20 Republicans who won the elections in their respective districts.
Florida is one of five states that have resign-to-run laws which require the current holder of an office to resign from that office before they can run for another office.
Patronis’ experience and platform
Patronis has served as Florida’s chief financial officer since 2017. His resignation from the office is effective March 31. He served on the Florida Public Service Commission from 2015 to 2017 and represented District 6 in the Florida House of Representatives from 2006 to 2014. Patronis also served on the Florida Constitution Revision Commission (CRC) of 2017-2018.
Patronis said, “There’s nobody that will work harder than Jimmy because for the folks of Congressional District 1, I’ve got a heck of a work record of accomplishments, and I intend to take what I’ve been doing for the last 10 years for the entire state of Florida and make a difference in CD1.”
Rudman’s experience and platform
Rudman is a physician specializing in family medicine. Since 2005, he has owned and operated the Holley Navarre Medical Clinic. Rudman previously worked for 13 years as a NASCAR staff physician at Daytona International Speedway. Rudman represented District 3 in the Florida House from 2022 through 2024. His resignation from the state House to run in the special election was effective on Jan. 1.
Rudman said, “People see me as a freedom fighter. And I think my record speaks for itself. You know, in my one term in the Florida House I passed a medical freedom law that was the first of its kind in the nation. And then for a follow up act, I came back in my second session, and I sponsored a common-sense 2nd Amendment Bill, one that got me named Florida legislator of the Year by the Gun Owners of America.”
Endorsements
President-elect Donald Trump endorsed Patronis. In a campaign ad, Patronis said, “When President Trump asked me to run for Congress, to go to Washington and fight for him, my answer was ‘Yes, sir.’” Rudman said, “I didn’t get a call from D.C. to run for this race. I got a call from the citizens who are sitting in this room to run for this race, and that’s why I’m here.”
Eight other Republican candidates are also running in the primary: Aaron Dimmock (R), Kevin Gaffney (R), Jeff Macey (R), Greg Merk (R), John Mills (R), Jeff Peacock (R), Michael Thompson (R), and Gene Valentino (R).
The primary winner will run against Gay Valimont (D), Stephen E. Broden (No Party Affiliation), and four write-in candidates in the special general election on April 1.
The special elections for this district and Florida’s 6th Congressional District are the first special election for the 119th Congress. Since the 113th Congress, there have been 82 special elections to fill vacant seats.
Voters in 19 states decided on ballot measures on Nov. 5 to change state or local election laws and policies
On Nov. 5, voters in 19 states and Washington, D.C., decided on ballot measures that proposed changes to state or local election laws and policies. Today, we’ll look at those measures and how they fared on election day.
Approved statewide ballot measures
Voters in 10 states and Washington D.C. approved 11 such measures.
Voters in eight states—Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Wisconsin—each approved constitutional bans on noncitizen voting. Missouri’s Amendment 7 also banned ranked-choice voting (RCV).
Nevada voters approved Question 7, which requires residents to present photo identification to verify their identity while voting in person. Voters can also confirm their identity using the last four digits of their driver’s license or Social Security number when voting by mail. In Nevada, voters must approve initiated constitutional amendments in two even-numbered election years. That means voters will decide on the measure again on Nov. 3, 2026.
Connecticut voters approved a measure allowing the General Assembly to pass legislation allowing any voter to request a mail-in ballot.
Finally, Washington, D.C. voters approved Initiative 83, adopting RCV.
Defeated statewide ballot measures
Voters in eight states defeated 10 measures that aimed to change state election laws and policies.
Voters in seven of those states—Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and South Dakota—defeated eight measures that would have established some form of primary election in which all candidates, regardless of political party affiliation, run in the same primary, such as top-two, top-four, and top-five primaries.
Montana voters also defeated a measure that would have required candidates to receive a majority of votes to win in certain elections.
Alaska voters defeated a measure that would have repealed the state’s use of top-four primaries and RCV.
Approved and defeated local ballot measures
Three California cities decided on four local measures to change local election laws and policies:
- In Albany, voters approved Measure V, allowing anyone 16 or older to vote in municipal and school board elections, if officials “determine that including 16- and 17-year old voters in such elections will be cost-effective and feasible…”
- In Richmond, voters approved two conflicting local ballot measures. Measure J created a top-two primary system for city council and mayoral elections, where a candidate may win direct election in the primary by receiving a majority of votes. Measure L would have adopted RCV for the general election in those same offices. Because the measures conflicted, the one that received the most votes—Measure J—was enacted. Measure J was approved 58.12% to 41.88%. Measure L won 54.39% to 45.61%.
- In Santa Ana, voters defeated Measure DD, which would have allowed non-citizen residents to vote in municipal elections.
In Oak Park, Illinois, voters approved a measure to elect the Oak Park President and Village Board of Trustees using RCV. Peoria adopted a measure advising the state government to adopt ranked-choice voting for statewide and federal elections.
Voters in Bloomington, Minnesota, defeated Question 1, which would have repealed RCV for mayoral and city council elections.
In Oakridge, Oregon, voters defeated Measure 20-364, which would have enacted STAR voting for municipal elections for three election cycles (2026, 2028, and 2030). STAR voting is a system in which voters rate the candidates for a given office on a scale of zero to five, with zero indicating no support and five indicating maximum support.
Sixty-one years ago today, North Carolina voters rejected a measure to increase the size of the state Senate
On this date in 1964, North Carolina voters rejected a constitutional amendment to increase the size of the state Senate from 50 to 70 members and reduce the size of the House of Representatives from 120 to 100 members. The vote was 64.17% to 35.83%.
North Carolina is one of five states with a 50-member state Senate, and one of two states with a 120-member state House. Compared to the sizes of other state Senates and state Houses both chambers are towards the high end.
The last time that voters altered the size of a state legislature via ballot measure was in 1980 when Illinois voters approved Illinois Ballot Question 1 which reduced the size of the state House from 177 to 118 members.
Our coverage of this measure is part of our Historic Ballot Measures project (HBM), which will document nearly 200 years of direct democracy in the U.S. This ongoing research effort will provide an unparalleled resource for researchers, reporters, and the voting public on how ballot measures have evolved, the issues they’ve covered, and the role they have played in our civic life.