Author: Ellen Morrissey
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New Jersey Supreme Court Chief Justice selects Philip Carchman as Legislative Reapportionment Commission tiebreaker
On Oct. 7, New Jersey Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner named Philip Carchman as the tiebreaker member of the Legislative Reapportionment Commission. Carchman is a former state appellate court judge of the New Jersey Superior Court. In July, Rabner requested tiebreaker proposals from the Democratic and Republican members of the commission, saying: “If there…
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Wisconsin General Assembly passes resolution to preserve core of existing districts in redistricting process
On Sept. 28, the Wisconsin General Assembly voted to approve a resolution that called for keeping “as much as possible the core of existing districts, thus maintaining 11 existing communities of interest, and promoting the equal opportunity to vote by minimizing disenfranchisement.” The Senate approved the resolution in a 19-12 vote along party lines, and…
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Nebraska enacts congressional and state legislative district maps
On Sept. 30, the Nebraska State Legislature approved new congressional and state legislative district maps. Shortly after the legislature’s approval, Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) signed the maps into law. The congressional map was approved by a 35-11 vote, with all dissenting votes coming from Democratic members of the legislature. All Republicans in attendance voted in…
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Oregon is first state to enact congressional maps after 2020 census
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) signed new congressional and state legislative maps into law on Sept. 27, making Oregon the first state to enact congressional maps in the current redistricting cycle. If the maps are not changed by the Oregon Supreme Court as a result of possible legal challenges, this would become the third time…
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Major party committees have raised $531 million in 2021
Six party committees have raised a combined $531 million over the first eight months of the 2022 election cycle. In August, the committees raised $58 million, according to recent filings with the Federal Election Commission. The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) raised $8.0 million and spent $6.9 million in August, while the Democratic Senatorial Campaign…
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Redistricting proposals rejected in Nebraska; legal challenges expected to enacted maps in Ohio
Here’s a summary of the week’s noteworthy redistricting news out of Nebraska, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin: Nebraska: On Sept. 17, the Nebraska legislature rejected Sen. Lou Ann Linehan’s (R) proposed congressional redistricting map (LB1). The legislature voted 29-17 in support of advancing the map, which was four votes short of the 33 needed to…
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Ohio Redistricting Commission approves new state legislative maps along party lines
The Ohio Redistricting Commission approved new state legislative district maps by a 5-2 vote early in the morning on Sept. 16. The two Democratic members of the commission, state Rep. Emilia Sykes (D) and state Sen. Vernon Sykes (D), were the two dissenting votes. Since the map was approved along partisan lines, it will only…
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Recent state court actions suspend state-level universal school mask requirement bans in Florida and Tennessee, uphold a ban in South Carolina
As schools have begun reopening for the 2021-2022 academic year, several states have enacted policies on mask requirements in schools. As of Sept. 9, four states banned school mask requirements, seventeen states required masks in schools, and twenty-nine states left school mask decisions up to local authorities. Recent legal actions have affected these policies in…
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Since Aug. 10, four states have implemented universal indoor mask requirements
Between Aug. 10 and Sept. 2, Illinois, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington announced new indoor mask requirements for both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals. In Illinois, an indoor mask requirement for vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals went into effect on Aug. 30. Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) announced the policy on Aug. 26. Illinois had previously lifted its…
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Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee outraises National Republican Congressional Committee for the first time since April
Six major political party committees have raised a combined $478 million over the first seven months of the 2022 election cycle. In July, the committees raised $83 million, according to recent filings with the Federal Election Commission. The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) raised $7.0 million and spent $5.2 million in July, while the Democratic…