Author: Joel Williams
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2020 Democratic candidates campaign in Iowa State Senate district ahead of special election
On March 19, 2019, Cedar Falls School Board member Eric Giddens (D) and former state Rep. Walt Rogers (R) are running in a special election for the District 30 seat in the Iowa State Senate. The previous officeholder, Jeff Danielson (D), resigned on February 14, 2019. The two candidates were chosen by party conventions rather…
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Kentucky governor receives shortlist for supreme court nomination
On March 13, 2019, the Kentucky Judicial Nominating Commission sent three names to Gov. Matt Bevin (R) as possible choices to fill a vacancy on the Kentucky Supreme Court. The justice Bevin selects will be his first appointment to the seven-member court. The three possible nominees are: David Buckingham: Judge on the Kentucky Court of…
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Buckhorn makes an endorsement in Tampa mayoral runoff
On Wednesday, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn (D) endorsed former police chief Jane Castor over philanthropist David Straz in the city's April 23 mayoral runoff election. The two candidates advanced from a field of seven on March 5, with Castor leading Straz 48-15. Buckhorn is term-limited and unable to run for re-election. Both Castor and…
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Castor and Straz advance to April runoff for Tampa mayor
Former police chief Jane Castor and philanthropist David Straz advanced from a field of seven candidates to an April 23 runoff election for Tampa mayor. Castor's 48 percent put her two percentage points shy of the threshold required to win outright. Straz took second place with 15 percent of the vote and Councilman Harry Cohen…
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Nominating commission submits shortlist for Arizona Supreme Court vacancy
On March 1, the same day Justice John Pelander retired, the Arizona Commission on Appellate Court Appointments submitted a shortlist of five potential Arizona Supreme Court replacements to Gov. Doug Ducey (R). The commission narrowed the list to five after interviewing 11 candidates over the last month. The five potential replacements include three sitting…
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Republicans select nominee for PA-12 special election
On March 2, Republicans from counties represented by Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District selected state Rep. Fred Keller as their nominee for a special election taking place on May 21. Keller was selected from a field of 14 candidates after four rounds of voting at the party's convention. He will face college professor Marc Friedenberg,…
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The Kentucky Supreme Court has one vacancy. How will it be filled?
Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Bill Cunningham left office on January 31, 2019. Governor Matt Bevin will now have the opportunity to make his first appointment to the court once he is given a list of three names by the Kentucky Judicial Nominating Commission. The newly-appointed justice will serve until a special election in…
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Do you know how many trifecta changes have occurred since 2010?
A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governorship, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. If one party does not control all three offices, they are considered under divided government. Since November 2010, there have been 62 trifecta changes across the country. Republicans gaining…
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Upcoming Republican nominating convention in PA-12 special election
Republican Party leaders and representatives from the 15 counties that make up Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District will meet on March 2 to choose their party's nominee for a special election on May 21. Six candidates have declared their candidacy on the Republican side. Democrats already nominated Marc Friedenberg on February 12—he was the only Democratic…
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Obama-Obama-Trump pivot counties in 2018 state legislative elections
There are 206 pivot counties in the country-those that voted for Barack Obama (D) in both 2008 and 2012 and Donald Trump (R) in 2016. On November 6, 2018, 87 of the nation's 99 state legislative chambers held regularly-scheduled elections for 6,073 seats. Of those, 453 state house districts and 138 state senate districts intersected with pivot counties. These 591 state legislative districts accounted for approximately 10…