Year: 2025
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Emily Dean and Andy Shirtliff to face off in election for Helena mayor
Emily Dean and Andy Shirtliff are running in the nonpartisan general election for mayor of Helena, Montana, on Nov. 4, 2025. Shirtliff and Dean advanced from the nonpartisan primary on Sept. 9, 2025. Shirtliff received 48.33% of the vote and Dean received 36.53%. This election was the first since 2001 in Helena to require a…
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School board incumbents won by larger margins in 2024 than in their previous races
How did school board incumbents fare in 2024 compared to their last elections? Ballotpedia’s core school board election coverage includes the 200 largest school districts by student enrollment and the school districts that overlap the 100 largest cities by population. In 2024, we covered 1,058 seats up for election that fell within our core coverage…
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs three bills that may affect speed of election results
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed three bills into law in the first few days of October that change the state's rules for processing and counting ballots. In some instances, these new laws may result in quicker unofficial election results. California typically takes longer to deliver election results than most other states. This is partly…
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2025 recall success rate behind 15-year average
Out of the 306 elected officials named in recall efforts in 2025, 32 had been removed from office in a recall election as of Oct. 10, a success rate of 10%. That rate is lower than the 17% success rate Ballotpedia tracked from 2010 to 2024. The highest success rate occurred in 2011, when 83…
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A look at state executive election competitiveness in 2025
Ballotpedia's 2025 study of competitiveness in state executive official elections found that 50% of incumbents (4 incumbents across 8 seats) did not seek re-election, leaving those seats open. An average of 41.7% of state executive seats were open in odd-year elections from 2011-2023. An average of 58.3% state executive incumbents sought re-election in odd years…
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On this date 114 years ago, California became the twelfth state to adopt the initiative and referendum process
On October 10, 1911, California became the twelfth state to establish an initiative and referendum process. On that date, California voters approved two constitutional amendments related to direct democracy. The first, Proposition 7, created the initiative and referendum process. It gave Californians the power to propose constitutional amendments, state statutes, and veto referendums. The measure…