Year: 2025
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All 18 uncontested state legislative incumbents in 2025 are Democrats
All 18 state legislative incumbents who do not have general election challengers this November are Democrats. There are 168 incumbents running for re-election. That means 10.7% of the state legislative incumbents running this year in New Jersey and Virginia are guaranteed re-election. Ballotpedia uses the number and percentage of incumbents in uncontested general elections to…
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Ballotpedia releases federal judicial vacancy count for September 2025
In this month’s federal judicial vacancy count, Ballotpedia tracked nominations, confirmations, and vacancies from Aug. 2 through Sept. 1, 2025. Ballotpedia publishes the federal judicial vacancy count at the start of each month. HIGHLIGHTS New vacancies There were 50 vacancies out of 870 active Article III judicial positions, a total vacancy percentage of 5.7, which…
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12 states permitted unlimited contributions from individuals to state-level candidates in 2024
During the 2023-2024 election cycle, 12 states permitted unlimited contributions from individuals to state-level candidates. Unlike presidential and congressional elections, where federal law stipulates uniform campaign finance laws, each state is responsible for implementing and enforcing its own campaign finance laws for state-level elections. Generally speaking, campaign finance laws regulate the sources and amounts of…
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President Donald Trump (R) has appointed five federal judges through Sept. 1 of his first year of his second term
President Donald Trump (R) has appointed and the Senate has confirmed five Article III federal judges through September 1, 2025, his first year of his second term in office. This is the fewest Article III judicial appointments through this point in all presidents’ second terms since Bill Clinton (D). The average number of federal judges…
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ICYMI: Top stories of the week
Utah ordered to redraw congressional districts ahead of the 2026 elections On Aug. 25, a federal judge ordered Utah to redraw its congressional map, making Utah one of 13 states where congressional district boundaries may change before the 2026 elections. Most notably, on Aug. 29, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed a new congressional map…
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California Prop 50 campaigns top $41.4m, exceeding combined funding for three prior initiatives to create, expand, and repeal the Citizens Redistricting Commission
The campaign committees surrounding California Proposition 50 received a combined $41.4 million as of Sept. 4. Supporters received $21.3 million, while opponents received $20.1 million. That combined total ($41.4 million) for Proposition 50, which qualified for the ballot on Aug. 21, exceeds the aggregate total surrounding the three citizen-initiated ballot measures to create the Citizens…