Welcome to the Wednesday, April 2, Brew.

By: Briana Ryan

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

1. As Utah bans water fluoridation, we’re looking back at four 1970s ballot measures on the issue
2. Two candidates are running in the St. Louis mayoral general election on April 8
3. Louisiana voters reject four constitutional amendments on Saturday, March 29

As Utah bans water fluoridation, we’re looking back at four 1970s ballot measures on the issue

On March 27, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) signed House Bill 81 (HB 81), which bans fluoride in public drinking water. Although Utah is the first state to ban fluoridation, other states have also sought to regulate it.

During the 1970s, South Dakota, Oregon, and Washington voters defeated ballot measures on water fluoridation.

• South Dakota Initiative 1 sought to repeal a 1969 law requiring fluoride in municipal water.
• Oregon Measure 11 sought to prohibit the addition of fluoride or fluorine-containing compounds to any community water supply system.
• Washington Initiative 322 sought to prohibit fluoridation of public water supplies.

Although those three measures were unsuccessful, a fourth was successful—Utah Initiative A. In 1976, voters approved the measure 50.1% to 49.9%. Initiative A prohibited the state’s Board of Health from requiring fluoride and other medications in public water supplies. However, it allowed fluoridation if voters approved it through local citizen initiatives.

In 1998, the Utah Legislature expanded this policy by allowing local governments to place fluoridation questions on the ballot. In 2000, voters in Salt Lake County approved an initiative to add fluoride to public water supplies. HB 81 repealed Initiative A’s provisions and prohibited fluoridation in previously authorized areas like Salt Lake County. On March 27, the Utah House of Representatives passed the bill 51-19, and the Utah Senate passed it 18-8.

State Sen. Todd Weiler (R), who opposed the bill, said, “I don’t really have a dog in the fight whether we fluoridate our water or not. But I’m not sure I’m comfortable with the legislature telling Salt Lake City, Brigham City, Helper, and Davis County that their local authorities can’t do what their residents have voted to do.” State Sen. Stephanie Pitcher (D), who supported the bill, said Salt Lake County hadn’t voted on the issue since 2000 and that public fluoridation is “incredibly invasive for those individuals who don’t want fluoride in their water.”

The Utah law prohibiting fluoride in public water will go into effect on May 7. 

NBC News’ Rebecca Cohen and Aria Bendix wrote, “Lawmakers in Kentucky, Montana, and Tennessee have filed bills to make fluoridation optional for water systems or prevent the mineral from being added to systems altogether. And in Florida, a bill proposed in the current legislative session aims to ban ‘additives,’ including fluoride, from drinking water.”

To check out more ballot measures on water policy, click here.

Two candidates are running in the St. Louis mayoral general election on April 8

As part of our ongoing coverage of local elections across the U.S., we’re spotlighting this year’s nonpartisan mayoral election in St. Louis, Missouri. Incumbent Mayor Tishaura Jones and Cara Spencer are running in the April 8 general election.

This election won’t be the first time St. Louis voters will see Jones and Spencer face off to lead the city. St. Louis Public Radio’s Rachel Lippmann wrote, ​​”The matchup is a repeat of the 2021 race, but the landscape is much different this time. Jones won the 2021 primary by more than 5,000 votes. But in March, Spencer more than doubled Jones’ vote total—23,826 for the alderwoman versus 11,612 for the incumbent.”

Now, let’s take a closer look at the candidates.

Although the position is officially nonpartisan, both candidates are affiliated with the Democratic Party.

Jones was first elected in 2021. She is campaigning on her record, saying, “We’ll be able to show people exactly where we have improved some of the things that they are most concerned about, and also let them know how we’re going to improve things in our second term.”

Spencer is a St. Louis Board of Aldermen member, representing Ward 8. She is campaigning to reduce government corruption: “Governments are failing our communities, and the city of St. Louis is failing our communities. And if I’m elected mayor, what I’ll do to rebuild trust is root out corruption in every single city department…zero tolerance for corruption.”

St. Louis Public Radio’s Lara Hamdan and Rachel Lippmann wrote, “The next mayor of St. Louis will come into office with crime numbers mirroring the national downward trend…she will also face a lot of challenges, including: Uncertainty over the city’s financial picture…Questions about whether the city will receive promised federal funds from the Trump administration…[and] a declining population.”

For more information on this general election, click here. Also, if you’re a St. Louis resident, check out our Sample Ballot Lookup here to prepare for Election Day.

Louisiana voters reject four constitutional amendments on Saturday, March 29

On Saturday, March 29, Louisiana voters rejected four constitutional amendments.

Axios’ Chelsea Brasted wrote that these election results are “significant [losses] for Gov. Jeff Landry (R), who campaigned in support of all four, and it’ll likely reshape how lawmakers do business during the upcoming legislative session.”

Landry said, “Although we are disappointed…we do not see this as a failure. We realize how hard positive change can be to implement in a State that is conditioned for failure. This is not the end for us.”

Of the four amendments, Amendment 2 received the highest number of votes this year, with 634,168—224,085 in favor and 410,083 against.

From 2003 to 2023, Louisiana voters decided on 48 constitutional amendments during odd-numbered years. They approved 33 (68.75%) and rejected 15 (31.25%).

Historically, odd-year measures have lower voter turnout than even-year elections. For example, in 2024, voters decided on the measure with the highest number of votes (1,871,151) on Nov. 5, a Tuesday during a presidential election year. The four other ballot measures that year were decided on Saturday, Dec. 7, and had a markedly lower number of votes, with 332,181 being the highest recorded.

Similar results were seen in 2022, with a ballot measure on Nov. 8 (a Tuesday midterm election) garnering 1,335,315votes. Voters decided on three measures on Saturday, Dec. 10. The biggest vote-getter was Louisiana Amendment 1, which got 428,486 votes. 

Voters decided on all measures in 2021 and 2023 on Saturdays, either in October or November. In 2021, the highest number of votes was 413,714, and in 2023, on the same date as a gubernatorial election, it was 1,017,297.

Now, let’s take a closer look at those amendments.

• Amendment 1 would have authorized the Louisiana Supreme Court to discipline out-of-state lawyers for unethical legal practices in the state and provide the court with the power to establish trial courts of limited and specialized jurisdiction.
• Amendment 2 would have amended the state constitution concerning taxes and the state budget.
• Amendment 3 would have allowed the Louisiana Legislature to determine in state law which specific felony crimes can result in a juvenile being tried as an adult.
• Amendment 4 would have provided that judicial vacancies should be filled by calling a special election at the earliest available date pursuant to state law.

For more information on those measures, click here.