Author: Joel Williams

  • Johnson and Vallas advance to mayoral runoff in Chicago

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    Brandon Johnson and Paul Vallas advanced from a nine candidate field in the Feb. 28, 2023, general election for mayor of Chicago, Illinois, to an April 24 runoff. Vallas received 33.7% of the vote in the general election. He was the 2014 Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor. He worked as chief administrative officer at Chicago…

  • Chicago mayoral election takes place next week

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    Nine candidates are running for mayor of Chicago, Illinois on Feb. 28. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, a runoff election will take place on April 4. Mayor Lori Lightfoot, first elected in 2019, is running for re-election. The candidates to perform best in polling and receive the most endorsements are…

  • How state Senates determine term lengths after redistricting

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    Most of the time, redistricting changes where a district is. But it can also change when incumbents must stand for re-election. This is most commonly the case in state senates, where senators often serve varying term lengths or staggered terms, meaning only a certain number of districts are up for election each cycle. Senators in…

  • Average margin of victory in state legislative races was 27.7 percentage points in 2022

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    On November 8, 2022, 88 of the nation’s 99 state legislative chambers held regularly-scheduled elections for 6,278 seats. Across those races, the average margin of victory was 27.7 percentage points. This was the highest even-year average margin of victory of the last three even-year elections. The average state legislative margin of victory in 2020 was…

  • One hundred and three state legislative races decided by fewer than 100 votes in 2022, triple the figure from 2020

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    One hundred and three (1.64%) of the 6,278 state legislative races that took place in 2022 were decided by fewer than 100 votes. Ninety-eight of the races were in state house chambers, and five were in a state senate chamber. Of the 88 state legislative chambers that held elections in 2022, 31 (35.2%) had at…

  • Willie Wilson leads Chicago mayoral candidates in fundraising through 2022; Mayor Lori Lightfoot leads in spending

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    Willie Wilson has reported the most fundraising of all nine candidates running for mayor of Chicago, Illinois, on Feb. 28. Wilson reported raising $6.1 million. WTTW reported that $5 million was self-funded. Mayor Lori Lightfoot spent the most at $4.3 million. These figures include all reports filed through Dec. 31, 2022. Four other candidates reported…

  • Results of state executive endorsements in 2022 school board elections

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    Ballotpedia tracked 106 endorsements of school board candidates by state executive officials and candidates in 2022. Endorsements included official statements, appearances at campaign rallies, and direct participation in campaign ads and materials. The state executives and candidates to make endorsements were: Arizona: Gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake (R) and Superintendent of Public Instruction candidate Shiry Sapir…

  • Following the 2022 elections, more Americans now live in a Democratic trifecta than a Republican trifecta

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    As a result of the 2022 elections, a greater percentage of Americans now live in a Democratic state government trifecta than in a Republican trifecta. Once all newly elected officials take office, 41.7% of Americans will live in a state with a Democratic trifecta, 39.6% in a state with a Republican trifecta, and 18.8% in…

  • Republicans increase control over state legislative districts overlapping with Pivot Counties and Reverse-Pivot Counties

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    After the 2022 elections, Republicans hold 540 (65.9%) state legislative seats overlapping a Pivot County, up from 507 (63.6%) after the 2020 elections. Democrats hold 280 state legislative seats (34.1%) overlapping a Pivot County, down from 290 (36.4%) after the 2020 elections. Pivot Counties are the 206 counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in…

  • Eleven candidates running for mayor of Chicago in 2023

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    Eleven candidates are running for mayor of Chicago, Illinois, in the February 28, 2023, general election. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, a runoff election will take place on April 4, 2023. The filing deadline for this election was November 28, 2022. Incumbent Lori Lightfoot, Jesus Garcia, and Brandon Johnson have…