Each week, The Weekly Brew brings you a collection of the most viewed stories from The Daily Brew, condensed. Here are the top stories from the week of August 3 - August 7.
Voters defeated three measures that Republican Legislatures put on the ballot in Missouri and Kansas
On Aug. 4, voters in Missouri and Kansas defeated three constitutional amendments that their Republican-controlled legislatures put on the ballot. Based on the vote totals as of 11 a.m. on Aug. 7, voters defeated Missouri’s Amendment 5 and Amendment 4 by the third and eighth-largest margins in state history.
Missouri Amendment 4, which voters defeated 80.3 to 19.7%, would have required voter approval of citizen-initiated constitutional amendments in each congressional district, rather than statewide. Missouri Amendment 5, which voters defeated 83.3% to 16.7%, would have required the Legislature to reduce the state individual income tax based on revenue growth until the tax was eliminated, among other tax changes.
Kansas voters rejected an amendment that would have abolished the existing state Supreme Court nominating commission and made it one of 22 states to elect state Supreme Court Justices. As a result, Kansas remains one of 21 states that use assisted appointment — when the governor selects justices from a list provided by a nominating commission. Kansas is the only state in the country where the state bar association appoints the majority of nominating commission members.
Maricopa County Superior Court judges rule two education-related ballot measures unconstitutional in Arizona
In the past few weeks, two separate Maricopa County Superior Court judges ruled that two education-related ballot measures in Arizona — Proposition 143 and Proposition 145 — are unconstitutional for violating the state's separate amendment rule, which requires that voters decide unrelated constitutional changes separately. The judges instructed the Arizona Secretary of State not to put the measures on the Nov. 3 ballot.
Arizona voters approved the state's separate amendment rule, or what is often called a separate-vote requirement in other states, by approving Proposition 129 in 2022. In the 33 states that have this requirement, voters must decide each proposed constitutional amendment as a separate ballot question.
The Arizona Education Association brought both lawsuits against the two measures. Supporters of Proposition 143 are not appealing the ruling on that measure. However, supporters of Proposition 145 are appealing the ruling on that measure.
Democratic National Committee announces proposed early states for 2028 Democratic presidential calendar
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced on July 24 that its Rules and Bylaws Committee (RBC) had voted to select the first six states for the 2028 Democratic presidential nominating calendar. Those states and their proposed primary dates are as follows:
- South Carolina: Jan. 22, 2028
- Nevada: Feb. 1, 2028
- New Hampshire: Feb. 8, 2028
- New Mexico: Feb. 15, 2028
- Michigan: Feb. 22, 2028
- Virginia: Feb. 29, 2028
Six states applied for early positions but were not selected: Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Tennessee, and North Carolina.
The full DNC will vote on the proposed 2028 calendar at its summer meeting in mid-August.
Prediction markets approach $200 million in wagered contracts on midterm elections
An NBC News analysis found that in this election cycle, approximately $200 million has been wagered in prediction markets, where users have bet on election outcomes across the country.
According to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), a prediction market is a platform where users buy and sell contracts tied to the outcome of future events. The price of a contract reflects the market-implied probability of an outcome.
Polymarket data on 504 congressional and gubernatorial general elections as of July 27 shows that Democrats are favored in 266 races and Republicans in 236. There are no odds available for this year's general elections in California's 40th Congressional District and Maine's 2nd Congressional District.
In most of these general elections, one party is viewed as having an 81% or higher chance of winning. Seventy races are viewed as more competitive, with one party having a 51% to 80% chance of winning.