Welcome to the Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025, Brew.
By: Lara Bonatesta
Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- Only nine state supreme court justices have lost retention elections since 1990
- A look at which state legislatures are still in session and next year’s session dates
- Bryan Calvo to be third mayor of Hialeah, Florida in less than a year
Only nine state supreme court justices have lost retention elections since 1990
Thirty-eight states require supreme court justices to run for re-election, including 20 that use retention elections. Retention elections are elections where voters vote for or against a specific justice, as opposed to voting for multiple candidates.
Most recently, Pennsylvania voters retained three Democratic state supreme court justices in retention elections on Nov. 4, keeping the court’s 5-2 Democratic majority. Only one justice has lost a retention election in Pennsylvania since they were established in 1968: Russell Nigro (D) in 2005.
In fact, since 1990, state supreme court justices have won 98.4% of retention elections nationwide.
Since 1990, only nine justices have lost retention elections across seven states, out of 578 total state supreme court retention elections since 1990.
The last justice to lose retention was Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice Yvonne Kauger in 2024. The year with the most losses was 2010, when voters chose not to retain three Iowa justices.
On average, voters have retained state supreme court justices with 71.5% of the vote. Maryland has the highest average vote (84.9%) and Alaska has the lowest average vote (61.6%.) The average vote to retain a justice in Pennsylvania was 67.7%.
Since 1990, the years with the highest average percentage in favor of retention were 2001 and 2013, with the average justice receiving 71.4%. However, both years were odd-year elections, with only one justice up for election in each year. In even years, the highest percentage in favor of retention was 2004, when the average vote to retain a justice was 75.3%. Ten states held 24 retention elections in that year.
To read the full results of the analysis, click here.
A look at which state legislatures are still in session and next year’s session dates
According to the latest update from the 2026 MultiState Insider Resource, 38 state legislatures are scheduled to begin their 2026 legislative sessions in January. Five are scheduled for February, one for March, and two are scheduled for April.
Forty-six state legislatures hold sessions every year. In four states—Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, and Texas—the legislature meets only in odd-numbered years.
California and Ohio will begin the earliest 2026 legislative sessions on Jan. 5. The two latest states (Arkansas and North Carolina) will begin their sessions in April. Arkansas, New Mexico, Oregon, and Wyoming are currently scheduled to have the shortest sessions, each lasting about one month.
For the 2025 legislative term, nine states are still in regular or special session.
Ten state legislatures have full-time legislators.
Click here to learn more about the 2025 legislative sessions.
Bryan Calvo to be third mayor of Hialeah, Florida, in less than a year
Bryan Calvo defeated Jesús Tundidor, incumbent Jackie Garcia-Roves, and two other candidates in the primary election for mayor of Hialeah, Florida, on Nov. 4. A general election was scheduled for Dec. 9, but was canceled after Calvo won the election outright with a majority of the primary vote. At the age of 27, Calvo is the youngest person to be elected mayor of Hialeah. When he is sworn in on Jan. 12, 2026, he will also be the third person to serve as Hialeah mayor in less than a year.
Garcia-Roves was the interim mayor. She assumed office on April 29, 2025, following Esteban Bovo Jr.'s resignation to take a position in Washington, D.C. Before she became mayor, Garcia-Roves was Hialeah's City Council president. She was first elected to the City Council in 2019.
Hialeah’s mayoral elections are nonpartisan. Calvo previously ran for Miami-Dade County Tax Collector as a Republican. In June 2025, a representative from Garcia-Roves’ office told Ballotpedia that Garcia-Roves is a Republican. Bovo was a former Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives.
Calvo was a former member of the Hialeah City Council. Calvo completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. In his response, he wrote, "I’m committed to lowering taxes, eliminating wasteful spending, fixing our broken public transportation system, and creating task forces to crack down on condominium corruption and money laundering tied to foreign interests."
Tundidor was a member of the Hialeah City Council. Tundidor’s priorities included reducing government waste, public safety, and fiscal responsibility.
Marc Anthony Salvat and Benny Rodriguez also ran.
Hialeah City Council races are still being held on Dec. 9, 2025. Mayors of Hialeah can serve two consecutive four-year terms and can run again after a four-year break.
Hialeah is the 100th populous city in the U.S. There were 19 mayoral elections in the 100 most populous U.S. cities on Nov. 4, including 18 general elections and the primary in Hialeah. In those elections, 15 incumbents ran for re-election, including New York mayor Eric Adams, who suspended his campaign but still appeared on the ballot. Eight incumbents were re-elected, three incumbents were defeated in the primaries, and three incumbents were defeated in the general elections. One incumbent–Tim Keller in Albuquerque, New Mexico–is running in that city’s runoff on Dec. 9.
No cities had changes in mayoral partisan control as a result of the elections on Nov. 4.
Mayoral races advanced to runoffs in Albuquerque, Jersey City, New Jersey, and Miami, Florida. The incumbents and candidates in Albuquerque and Jersey City are all Democrats. In Miami, Eileen Higgins and Emilio Gonzalez are running to succeed incumbent Francis Suarez (R). Miami’s mayoral elections are also nonpartisan. Higgins is affiliated with the Democratic Party, and Gonzalez is affiliated with the Republican Party.
Click here to learn more about Hialeah’s mayoral election.