70% of last May’s elections were uncontested

By

Briana Ryan

Welcome to the Monday, June 10, Brew. 

By: Briana Ryan

Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

  1. 70% of last May’s elections were uncontested
  2. North Dakota voters to decide congressional age limit ballot measure on June 11
  3. Twenty-two candidates are running for Nevada’s four U.S. House districts—the fewest number of candidates since 2014

70% of last May’s elections were uncontested

As part of Ballotpedia’s growing coverage of the nation’s local elections (with a goal of covering all of them), we will be issuing monthly reports on the results, trends, and emerging issues we discover. Here’s a link to our April report.

Today, we’re looking at the elections we covered in May. Of the 5,793 elections we covered in 23 states, 70% were uncontested. That’s down slightly from April when 71% of the 4,607 covered were uncontested.

We define an uncontested election as one where the number of candidates running is less than or equal to the number of seats up for election. This analysis includes primary and general elections and does not account for write-in candidates.

The largest number of elections we covered in May occurred in Georgia, where 74% of the 2,923 elections were uncontested. Indiana had the second-most number of uncontested elections, with the rate mirroring the national average of 70%.

In six of the seven states in which we covered more than 200 elections, the percentage of uncontested elections ranged from 70% to 76%. The outlier was Texas, where 36% of the 222 elections we covered were uncontested.

May’s uncontested election rate was greater than the 58% average rate we identified between 2018 and 2023.

It also brings the year-to-date uncontested election rate to 72%. Since 2018, each year has had more uncontested elections than contested ones. One exception was in 2021 when 49.6% of elections were uncontested.

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North Dakota voters to decide congressional age limit ballot measure on June 11

North Dakota voters will head to the polls on June 11 to decide on a proposed constitutional amendment sponsored by Retire Congress North Dakota that would establish an age limit for congressional members. This is the only ballot measure being decided on June 11.

The proposed amendment is the first of its kind in the country. It would prohibit a person from being elected or appointed to the U.S. Senate or U.S. House of Representatives if the person reaches the age of 81 by Dec. 31 of the year before their term ends. The initiative includes a provision that if a court decision prevents the enforcement of the age limit, any candidate who would otherwise be disqualified due to the age restriction would not be allowed to appear on the ballot for nomination or election to the House or Senate. However, if a court decision mandates that such a candidate must be included on the ballot, the initiative requires that a note be added next to the candidate’s name indicating the age the person would be at the end of their term. Specifically, the notice would read, “Candidate would be [age] years old by end of term.”

The measure would also require the Attorney General to “zealously defend” all portions of the measure in state and federal courts. The state has estimated that defending the measure in court could cost $1 million. 

State Sen. Janne Myrdal (R-19) said, “I think I see clear intent, whether it’s through media and their own spokesman, that the intent here is litigation, and they’re using the initiated measure process to push that litigation.”

Jared Hendrix, the sponsor of the initiative and chair of Retire Congress North Dakota, also led the campaign that sponsored a term limits initiative, Measure 1, in 2022. Voters approved Measure 1, which 

limited the governor to two terms and state legislators to eight years in the state House and eight years in the state Senate. Before Measure 1, the governor and lawmakers each served four-year terms with no limit on the number of terms that may be served. According to campaign finance reports covering through May 9, Retire Congress North Dakota had received $54,422 in contributions from U.S. Term Limits. Of that amount, $20,000 was cash contributions.

Hendrix said, “Serving in Congress has become a lifelong occupation for many members. Sadly, Congress has gone from the world’s greatest deliberative body to one of the nation’s best assisted living facilities.”

University of North Dakota Political Science Professor Mark Jendrysik said the initiative could serve as a test case to determine whether the U.S. Supreme Court would allow individual states to set congressional age limits.

In 1995, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in U.S. Term Limits Inc. v. Thornton that states cannot impose qualifications for prospective members of Congress stricter than those specified in the United States Constitution. Mitchell Hamline School of Law Associate Professor Jason Marisam said the initiative appears unconstitutional under the 1995 Supreme Court ruling.

North Dakota has one representative in the House—Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R)—who is 47 years old. North Dakota’s Senators—Kevin Cramer (R) and John Hoeven (R)—are 63 and 67 years old, respectively.

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Twenty-two candidates are running for Nevada’s four U.S. House districts—the fewest number of candidates since 2014

Continuing our coverage of June 11 primaries, let’s dive into elections in Nevada. The state is holding primaries for congressional, state executive, state legislative, and municipal offices. 

Why it matters at the national level

In the U.S. Senate, Democrats currently have a majority. There are 47 Democrats, 49 Republicans, and four independents, though two independents caucus with the Democratic Party. Two other independents, Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) and Joe Manchin (W.Va.), count towards the Democratic majority for committee purposes. Thirty-four of 100 seats are up for election, including one special election. Of the seats up for election in 2024, Democrats hold 19, Republicans hold 11, and independents hold four.

In the U.S. House, Republicans currently have a 217-213 majority with four vacancies. Nevada’s House delegation includes three Democrats and one Republican. Two of Nevada’s House districts are general election battlegrounds: the 1st Congressional District and the 3rd Congressional District.

Primary elections

U.S. Senate

Three candidates—including incumbent Sen. Jacky Rosen (D)—are running in the Democratic primary. Rosen won re-election with 50.4% of the vote in 2018. Meanwhile, 12 candidates are running in the Republican primary. Two Republican candidates—Sam Brown (R) and Jim Marchant (R)—lead in media attention and polling.

U.S. House

Twenty-two candidates, including five Democrats and 17 Republicans, are running for Nevada’s four U.S. House districts. That’s the fewest number of candidates running for the U.S. House in Nevada since 2014, when 19 candidates ran. Here are some other highlights from this year’s filings:

  • No districts are open this year. The last time a district was open was in 2018, when two districts were open.
  • Nine candidates—two Democrats and seven Republicans—are running for the 3rd Congressional District, the most candidates running in a district this year.
  • Six primaries—two Democratic and four Republican—are contested this year, tying with 2014 for the fewest contested primaries in the last 10 years.
  • Three incumbents—two Democrats and one Republican—are facing primary challengers this year.
  • The 2nd Congressional District is guaranteed to Republicans because no Democrats are running. Republicans are running in every district, meaning none are guaranteed to Democrats.

Nevada Legislature

All 42 seats in the state Assembly and 10 of the 21 seats in the state Senate are up for election this year. Nevada is one of 10 states with a divided government. Republicans control the governorship. Democrats currently have a 26-14 majority with two vacancies in the Assembly and a 13-7 majority with one vacancy in the Senate.

  • Twelve incumbents—nine Democrats and three Republicans—are not running for re-election. An average of 15.9 lawmakers have retired in each election year since 2010.
  • Thirty-three primaries—16 Democratic and 17 Republican—are contested this year. An average of 37.7 primaries were contested from 2010-2022.
  • Eight out of the 37 incumbents running are in contested primaries. An average of 10.3 incumbents were in contested primaries since 2010.

State Executive

  • Three seats on the Nevada State Board of Regents, which manages the state’s higher education system, are up for election. The primary for District 12 was canceled, and both candidates advanced to the general election.
  • Two seats on the Nevada State Board of Education, responsible for managing the state’s public K-12 education, are also up for election. District 1 and District 4 primaries were canceled, and the candidates running in each district advanced to the general election.

Municipal primaries

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