Welcome to the Wednesday, July 30, 2025, Brew.
By: Lara Bonatesta
Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- State legislatures approved 30% of indirect initiated state statutes between 2018 and 2024
- Roy Cooper’s entrance into U.S. Senate race makes him the seventh N.C. governor to run for Senate since 1914
- Republican National Committee raised twice as much money as Democratic National Committee in June
State legislatures approved 30% of indirect initiated state statutes between 2018 and 2024
As part of our ongoing coverage of direct democracy in the United States, Ballotpedia has completed an overview of all indirect-initiated state statutes that legislatures approved between 2018 and 2024.
An indirect-initiated state statute is a citizen initiative that amends a state law. Unlike a direct initiative, which is placed on the ballot once supporters file the required number of valid signatures, an indirect initiative is first presented to the state legislature.
Legislators have a certain number of days to adopt the initiative into law. If legislators take no action or reject the initiative, it’s put on the ballot for voters to decide. Legislatures in five states can also propose an alternative that would appear alongside the indirect initiative as a competing measure.
Nine states have indirect initiatives. Between 2018 and 2024, legislatures in three of these states approved 10 of the 33 indirect-initiated state statutes (30.3%) that qualified for the ballot. Voters decided the remaining 23.
The Michigan and Washington Legislatures each approved four, and the Alaska Legislature approved two.
The Michigan Legislature approved four of five certified initiatives (80%) – the highest percentage in the country.
The Washington Legislature considered eight initiatives and approved four.
Initiatives were also presented to the Maine, Massachusetts, and Ohio legislatures, but none were approved. No initiatives were presented to the Nevada, Utah, or Wyoming legislatures.
Legislatures approved the most indirect initiatives in 2018. That year, Michigan approved three initiatives and Alaska approved one.
The specific process for certifying an indirect initiative to go before the legislature, including signature requirements, varies.
Utah and Ohio are the only states with two distinct signature requirements for indirect-initiated state statutes. In those two states, petitioners need to gather a number of signatures to place the initiative before the legislature. If the legislature rejects the measure, petitioners must gather additional signatures to put the initiative on the ballot for voters to decide.
Only Utah and Washington permit both indirect and direct initiated state statutes.
In five of the nine states that allow indirect initiatives, the governor can veto a legislatively approved indirect initiative. In four states — Alaska, Michigan, Washington, and Wyoming — the governor cannot veto an indirect initiative approved by the legislature. Between 2018 and 2025, legislatures approved two indirect initiatives in states where the governor lacked veto power, but the governor opposed the measures. Both were in Michigan.
For a deeper dive into which measure legislators considered as well as data on how they voted, click here.
Roy Cooper’s entrance into U.S. Senate race makes him the seventh N.C. governor to run for Senate since 1914
On July 28, former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) announced his bid for U.S. Senate, making him the first governor to announce a 2026 Senate candidacy. Cooper is the seventh North Carolina governor to run for Senate since 1914.
Daily Brew readers may recall that Ballotpedia recently analyzed more than a 100 years’ worth of data to get a sense of how senators fare when they run for governor and vice versa. This analysis spans from 1913–when the ratification of the 17th Amendment established the direct election of senators–to the present day.
Here’s a look at the history of governors running for U.S. Senate in North Carolina.
Including Cooper, six Democratic and one Republican governor have run for Senate. The first governor to run for Senate was Clyde Hoey (D) in 1944, and the most recent was Pat McCrory (R) in 2022.
All governors, except for James Hunt (D), who ran at the end of his term in 1984, had left office when they ran for Senate. The shortest period of time between a governor leaving office and running for U.S. Senate was one year, and the longest was 21 years.
Four governors were elected to the Senate. One governor was defeated in the general election, and one was defeated in the primary. Between 1944 and 1954, three governors–all Democrats– ran and all three were elected. Between 1984 and 2024, two Democrats and one Republican ran. Only one, Terry Sanford (D), was elected in 1986.
North Carolina is one of 12 states where governors running for Senate have had a success rate of more than 50%. North Carolina governors’ success rate is 67%.
Thirty-three of the 100 U.S. Senate seats are up for election in 2026. Of these, Republicans currently hold 20, and Democrats hold 13. Voters in North Carolina will elect one member to the Senate in 2026. On June 29, 2025, incumbent Thom Tillis (R) announced he would not be seeking re-election.
Republicans hold a 53-46 majority in the U.S. Senate—two independent senators caucus with the Democratic Party.
Click here to learn more about the results of governors running for the U.S. Senate.
Republican National Committee raised twice as much money as Democratic National Committee in June
As of June 30, the end of the most recent party committee campaign finance filing period, the three committees associated with the Republican Party raised a cumulative $214 million and spent $140 million. The three committees associated with the Democratic Party raised a cumulative $176 million and spent $165 million.
The three Democratic committees are the Democratic National Committee (DNC), the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). The three Republican committees are the Republican National Committee (RNC), National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), and National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC).
The RNC leads the DNC in the amount of money raised and in cash on hand. The DNC has spent more than the RNC through June 30. The DCCC has spent more than the NRCC and has more cash on hand. The NRCC has raised more than the DCCC. The NRSC has raised and spent more than the DSCC. The DSCC has more cash on hand. See the table below for exact figures.
Through June 30, the Democratic committees have raised a total of $176 million. That is less than their their total at this point in the 2022 election cycle ($204 million). It’s more than their total at this point in the 2024 election cycle ($156 million). The Republican committees have raised a total $214 million. That is less than their June 2021 fundraising total ($215 million). It’s more than their June 2023 fundraising total ($134 million).
Click here to learn more about party committee fundraising in the 2026 election cycle.