Author: Joel Williams
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New York City legislation allowing certain noncitizens to vote becomes law
On Jan. 9, 2022, New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) allowed Int. 1867-2020 to become law without his signature. Int. 1867-2020 will allow lawful permanent residents and other noncitizens authorized to work in the United States to vote in municipal elections conducted on or after Jan. 9, 2023. According to Politico, this will allow…
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Average margin of victory in state legislative general elections in 2021 was 23.6 percent
Three of the nation’s 99 state legislative chambers held regularly-scheduled elections for 220 seats on Nov. 2, 2021. In races where more than one candidate ran in the election, the average margin of victory was 23.6%. The margin of victory is the difference between the share of votes cast for the winning candidate and the…
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36.5 percent of Americans live in a Democratic trifecta, 41.8 percent live in a Republican trifecta
At the start of 2022, 36.5 percent (120 million) of Americans lived in a state with a Democratic trifecta, while 41.8 percent (137 million) lived in a state with a Republican trifecta. The other 71 million Americans lived in a state with a divided government. A state government trifecta is a term to describe single-party…
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Supreme Court issued rulings in two Texas abortion cases
On December 10, 2021, the Supreme Court of the United States issued rulings in a pair of cases related to Texas’ S.B. 8. S.B. 8 restricted abortion procedures after six weeks of pregnancy and authorized private civil right of action related to violations of the law. One case, United States v. Texas, questioned whether the federal…
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Democrats raised 78 percent more than Republicans in seven flipped Virginia House seats
Elections for all 100 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates took place on November 2, 2021. Democrats lost their majority in the chamber. Republicans regained their majority, winning 52 seats to Democrats’ 48 seats. Seven seats changed party hands as a result of the elections this year. In those seats, Democrats raised $12.3 million…
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Democrats outraise Republicans by 125% in Virginia state legislative races
New campaign finance filings for Virginia state legislative races showed that Democrats led Republicans in fundraising through the election cycle. Between January 1, 2020, and November 25, 2021, Democratic candidates outraised Republican candidates by 125 percent. Heading into the general elections, 103 Democratic candidates raised $56.39 million compared to $25.11 million raised by 103 Republicans.…
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Six of 11 wave elections in the U.S. House took place during a president’s first midterm election
The term wave election is frequently used to describe an election cycle in which one party makes significant electoral gains. With the 2022 Congressional elections approaching, the question of what qualifies as a wave election is once again gaining significance. In a 2018 study, we examined the results of the 50 election cycles that occurred…
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Sixteen seats changed party control and 14 incumbents lost in state legislative general elections
Three of the country’s 99 state legislative chambers held regularly-scheduled elections on Nov. 2: the New Jersey State Senate, New Jersey General Assembly, and Virginia House of Delegates. Elections in these three chambers represented 220 of the country’s 7,383 state legislative seats (2.9%). Final results were recently certified in both states, though recounts recently began…
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Three of the five Virginia House races with the most fundraising resulted in partisan control changes
Elections for all 100 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates took place on November 2, 2021. Democrats lost their majority in the chamber. Republicans regained their majority, winning 52 seats to Democrats’ 48 seats. Three of the seats that changed party hands were among the five districts with the most fundraising in the 2021…
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Virginia to become the third state with a split legislature following 2021 general elections
As a result of the 2021 elections, Republicans gained a 52-48 majority in the Virginia House of Delegates. Democrats hold a 21-19 majority in the Virginia State Senate. When the new legislature takes office in January, Virginia will join Alaska and Minnesota as the only states where control of two legislative chambers is split between…