Year: 2025

  • New Hampshire becomes 26th state to adopt Parents’ Bill of Rights

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    What’s the story? New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R) signed House Bill (HB) 10 on June 10, adopting a statewide Parents’ Bill of Rights.  This bill establishes parents’ rights regarding their child’s education, prohibits schools from infringing those rights, and allows parents to seek legal relief if these rights are violated. The bill also requires…

  • Four states have ended judicial deference in 2025, most recently in Missouri and Oklahoma

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    Welcome to the Monday, June 16, 2025, Brew.  By: Lara Bonatesta Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day: Four state legislatures have passed bills ending judicial deference in 2025, most recently Missouri and Oklahoma In the 2025 legislative sessions, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Texas enacted laws prohibiting judicial deference by state courts…

  • Louisiana voters to decide on raising judicial retirement age from 70 to 75 in April 2026

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    Louisiana voters will decide on a constitutional amendment that would increase the judicial retirement age from 70 to 75. It will appear on the ballot on April 18, 2026. Currently, 31 states and the District of Columbia have mandatory retirement ages for judges. These laws require judges to retire either upon reaching a specified age…

  • Democrats to hold firehouse primary for Virginia’s 11th Congressional District June 28

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    On June 3, 2025, Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) called a special election for Virginia’s 11th Congressional District to be held Sept. 9, 2025. Incumbent Gerald Connolly (D) died on May 21, 2025. Virginia law requires political parties to nominate their candidates 60 days before special elections, in this case by July 11. The 11th Congressional…

  • Nonpartisan offices make up a majority—58%—of those Ballotpedia has covered since 2023

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    Since 2023, Ballotpedia has covered elections for approximately 66,000 local offices. Of that total, 58% have been nonpartisan, and 42% have been partisan. In this analysis, a nonpartisan office is one where voters elect candidates without any party labels on the ballot. A partisan office, on the other hand, is one where candidates either secure…

  • The Ballot Bulletin: Ballotpedia’s Weekly Digest on Election Administration, June 13, 2025

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    Welcome to The Ballot Bulletin: Ballotpedia’s Weekly Digest on Election Administration. Every Friday, we deliver the latest updates on election policy around the country, including nationwide trends and recent legislative activity.  In this week’s Ballot Bulletin, we cover 170 bills state legislatures acted on in the past week. Weekly highlights The big takeaways from the…

  • ICYMI: Top stories of the week

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    Indiana to become 10th state to hold partisan school board elections  On May 6, Indiana Gov. Mike Braun (R) signed Senate Bill 287 into law, making Indiana the 10th state to require or allow partisan school board elections. The law will take effect on July 1. Currently, candidates in over 90% of school board elections…

  • Nonpartisan offices make up a majority—58%—of those Ballotpedia has covered since 2023

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    Welcome to the Friday, June 13, Brew.  By: Briana Ryan Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day: Nonpartisan offices make up a majority—58%—of those Ballotpedia has covered since 2023 Since 2023, we have covered elections for approximately 66,000 local offices, of which 58% have been nonpartisan. In this analysis, a nonpartisan…

  • At least one incumbent defeated in New Jersey’s state legislative primaries

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    New Jersey held state legislative primaries on Tuesday, June 10, the first of two states doing so this year. Virginia will hold state legislative primaries on June 17. At least one Democratic incumbent—Garnet Hall—lost, representing 1.3% of the 76 incumbents running for re-election and 2.9% of the 35 contested incumbents. With 35 incumbents (46%) in…

  • Jack Ciattarelli won the New Jersey Republican primary for governor

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    Jack Ciattarelli (R) defeated Bill Spadea, Jon Bramnick, and three other candidates in the June 10, 2025, Republican primary for governor of New Jersey. Gov. Phil Murphy (D) was term-limited, meaning the office was open. The last Republican governor was Chris Christie, who left office in 2018. Rider University’s Micah Rasmussen said, “It has been…