Year: 2025

  • Hall Pass: Your Ticket to Understanding School Board Politics, Edition #141

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    Welcome to Hall Pass, a newsletter written to keep you plugged into the conversations driving  school board governance, the politics surrounding it, and education policy.  In today’s edition, you’ll find: Reply to this email to share reactions or story ideas! On the issues: The debate over policy responses to school shootings In this section, we…

  • What to know about the margins of victory in 2024 state legislative elections

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    Across all 5,807 state legislative seats up for election in 2024, the average margin of victory was 27.3%. An electoral margin of victory (MOV) is the difference between the share of votes cast for the winning candidate and the second-place candidate in an election. Only races with more than one candidate were included in this…

  • 58 minor party candidates received more votes than the margin of victory in the 2024 federal, state, and local elections

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    Welcome to the Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, Brew.  By: Lara Bonatesta Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day: 58 minor party candidates received more votes than the margin of victory in the 2024 federal, state, and local elections  Of the more than 75,000 elections Ballotpedia covered last year, at least 58…

  • Sean Duffy confirmed as secretary of transportation

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    The U.S. Senate voted to confirm Sean Duffy as secretary of transportation on Jan. 28, 2025. The Senate voted 77-22 in favor of his nomination with 23 Democrats, one independent who caucuses with Democrats, and 53 Republicans voting in favor. This was the sixth member of President Donald Trump’s (R) Cabinet confirmed in his second…

  • Scott Bessent confirmed as secretary of the Treasury

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    The U.S. Senate voted to confirm Scott Bessent as secretary of the Treasury on Jan. 27, 2025. The Senate voted 68-29 in favor of his nomination with 15 Democrats, one independent who caucuses with Democrats, and 52 Republicans voting in favor. This was the fifth member of President Donald Trump’s (R) Cabinet confirmed in his…

  • Texas sends letter opposing bank DEI policies

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    In this week’s edition of Economy and Society: Around the world Canadian banks leave Net-Zero Banking Alliance What’s the story? Four of Canada’s largest banks—BMO, National Bank, TD Bank Group, and CIBC—announced Jan. 17 they had left the Net-Zero Banking Alliance.  Why does it matter? The move followed the departure of six of America’s largest…

  • Voters in 30 states have decided on 42 constitutional amendments to create state initiative and referendum processes since 1898

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    In the U.S., 26 states have adopted constitutional amendments for citizen-initiated ballot measures. As state constitutional amendments require voter approval, except in Delaware, creating ballot initiative processes requires ballot measures, either from state legislatures or constitutional convention. Most of these amendments originated during the progressive and populist movements of the 1890s to 1920s. Beginning in…

  • A recap on President Donald Trump’s first week of his second term in office

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    Welcome to the Tuesday, Jan. 28, Brew.  By: Briana Ryan Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day: A recap on President Donald Trump’s first week of his second term in office With President Donald Trump’s (R) first week in office now in the rearview, here’s a brief recap comparing his activity…

  • Virginia’s two-session rule for constitutional amendment: House of Delegates election could affect the future of proposed amendments on abortion, marriage, and voting

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    Virginia voters may decide on constitutional amendments related to abortion, same-sex marriage, and voting rights restoration for persons convicted of felonies in 2026. However, their placement on the 2026 ballot may depend on a Democratic majority in the state legislature following the state legislature elections later this year. In Virginia, for a constitutional amendment to…

  • Kristi Noem confirmed as secretary of homeland security

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    The U.S. Senate voted to confirm Kristi Noem as secretary of homeland security on Jan. 25, 2025. The Senate voted 59-34 in favor of her nomination with 23 Republicans and 7 Democrats voting in favor. This was the fourth member of President Donald Trump’s (R) Cabinet confirmed in his second presidential term.  Trump announced on…