Welcome to the Friday, May 10, Brew.
By: Mercedes Yanora
Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- Colorado becomes third state to vote on removing same-sex marriage ban from state constitution in November
- 2.5% of state legislative incumbents who ran for re-election have lost in primaries
- #FridayTrivia: Ballotpedia covered 11,945 elections between January and April. What percentage were uncontested?
Colorado becomes third state to vote on removing same-sex marriage ban from state constitution in November
Colorado voters will decide in November whether to remove a state constitutional provision that says “only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state.” Voters added the language to the constitution when they approved Colorado Amendment 43 on Nov. 7, 2006, by a vote of 55.02% to 44.98%. Colorado had a divided government at the time.
California and Hawaii are holding votes in November to remove similar constitutional bans.
The amendment was introduced as Senate Concurrent Resolution 24-003. The Colorado Senate approved the bill 29-5 on April 29. All 23 Senate Democrats voted in favor of the bill, while Senate Republicans were split, with six voting in favor and five voting against. The Colorado House approved the amendment on May 4. Of the 46 House Democrats, 44 voted in favor, one voted against, and one was absent. Of 19 Republican representatives, two voted in favor, 13 voted against, and four were absent.
State Sen. Joann Ginal (D-14) said, “As representatives of the people of Colorado, it is our shared responsibility to uphold the principles of equality and justice for all citizens, regardless of political affiliations. While we’re protected today, our state constitution still reflects outdated language and values.”
State Rep. Scott Bottoms (R-15) said, “The Democrats want to remove the idea of marriage being between a man and a woman. You will have an opportunity to vote against this initiative in November. I took some time to explain how God sees marriage and the fact that we have to stand before God for our decisions.”
Colorado Public Radio’s Paolo Zialcita wrote, “The U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage across the United States nine years ago. But with the court’s relatively recent decision to strike down its longstanding abortion protections, some advocates worry that precedent too could be reconsidered.” Zialcita quoted One Colorado executive director Nadine Bridges as saying: “More than one Justice has said that same-sex marriage should be revisited. If the Obergefell decision is overturned, same-sex couples cannot be married in the future here in Colorado if this amendment remains in our state constitution. That’s why we’re giving you all the chance to fix this wrong.”
California voters will decide on an amendment to repeal constitutional language that defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman. The amendment would also establish a state constitutional right to marriage. Voters had added the language to the constitution when they approved California Proposition 8 on Nov. 4, 2008, by a vote of 52.24% to 47.76%. California had a divided government at the time.
Hawaii will also decide on an amendment to remove a provision of the constitution that says “the legislature shall have the power to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples.” Voters had added the language to the constitution when they approved Hawaii Question 2 on Nov. 3, 1998, by a vote of 70.78% to 29.22%. Hawaii had a Democratic trifecta at the time.
Between 1998 and 2012, 30 states adopted ballot measures defining marriage as between one male and one female. On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Obergefell v. Hodges that same-sex marriage is protected under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. The court’s ruling overturned the state measures.
In 2020, Nevada became the first state to repeal the same-sex marriage ban in its constitution. Along with repealing the 2002 amendment outlawing same-sex marriage, the approved amendment recognized marriage as between couples regardless of gender and stated that religious organizations and clergy can refuse to perform a marriage. The state legislature referred the measure to the November 2020 ballot, where voters approved it 62.43% to 37.57%.
2.5% of state legislative incumbents who ran for re-election have lost in primaries
In the eight states that have held primaries so far this year, 25 state legislative incumbents — 2.5% of all incumbents seeking re-election — have lost. Click here to read our previous report.
At this point in 2022, 43, or 4.1%, of incumbents had lost in primaries.
Republican incumbents have lost at a higher rate than Democrats. Of the 563 Republican incumbents who ran for re-election, 17 (3.0%) have lost to primary challengers. For Democrats, eight of the 447 who ran for re-election (1.8%) have lost.
Indiana held the most recent state legislative primary elections on May 7.
Of note, this was the first time in a decade that a Democratic incumbent lost in a primary.
Twenty-two House incumbents — 19 Republicans and three Democrats — faced primary challengers. Two incumbents lost their primaries: Ragen Hatcher (D-3) and Sharon Negele (R-13).
Seven Senate incumbents — five Republicans and two Democrats — faced primary challengers. One incumbent lost their primary: David Vinzant (D-3).
Compared to the other eight states that have held legislative primaries this year, Indiana has the fourth largest number of defeated incumbents. Texas has the most with nine, while in Arkansas and California, no incumbents lost.
The state with the most defeats, Texas, and one of the states with the least defeats, California, had the highest rates of incumbents in contested primaries. In California, 46% of incumbents faced primary challengers. In Texas, 40% faced challengers. For Indiana, a quarter of incumbents faced primary challengers, while 10% did in Arkansas.
In addition to the three incumbents defeated in primary elections, nine incumbents — one Democrat and eight Republicans — did not seek re-election, meaning at least 8% of the Indiana legislature will be represented by newcomers next year.
Heading into Indiana’s primary, Republicans had a 70-30 majority in the House and a 40-10 majority in the Senate. Thirty-four Democratic incumbents and 79 Republican incumbents are slated to appear on general election ballots in November.
Of the eight states that have held primaries so far, two have Democratic trifectas, four have Republican trifectas, and two have a divided government.
#FridayTrivia: Ballotpedia covered 11,945 elections between January and April. What percentage were uncontested?
This week’s episode of On the Ballot, our weekly podcast, delves into the lack of competition in local elections, especially in rural areas, where many races go uncontested. The episode also looks at what state and local organizations are doing to promote voter and candidate participation.
We previewed the episode, a conversation between Local Elections Project Manager Doug Kronaizl and The Appleton Post-Crescent’s Sophia Voight, in the Thursday Brew. Click here to watch the episode on YouTube. You can subscribe to receive our forthcoming episodes on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Each month, Ballotpedia releases an analysis of the results, trends, and emerging issues we discover as we expand our local election coverage. We recently released our April edition. In it, we analyze the 11,945 elections we covered in 40 states since January, including the rate of uncontested elections.
What percentage of the 11,945 elections were uncontested?