Author: Samuel Wonacott

  • Hall Pass: Your Ticket to Understanding School Board Politics, Edition #51

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    Welcome to Hall Pass, a newsletter written to keep you plugged into the conversations driving school board politics and governance. In today’s edition, you’ll find: On the issues: The debate over education savings accounts (ESAs)  Share candidate endorsements with us!  School board filing deadlines, election results, and recall certifications Where the Chicago mayoral runoff candidates…

  • Day 3 of our Top 15 stories to watch in 2023 – SCOTUS

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    Welcome to the Wednesday, March 8, Brew.  All week, we will be celebrating Ballotpedia’s 15th Anniversary by bringing you the top 15 political stories to keep an eye on this year. Today, we tackle some of the most interesting U.S. Supreme Court cases in 2023. Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your…

  • Governor Ron DeSantis releases list of 14 target school boards in 2024

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    On Feb. 21, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) released a list of school board incumbents he hopes to see defeated in the 2024 elections. DeSantis made the announcement following a meeting with state House of Representatives Speaker Paul Renner (R), Moms for Liberty co-founders Tina Descovich and Tiffany Justice, and Florida Republican Party Chair Christian…

  • Our top 15 stories of 2023 for BP’s 15th anniversary

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    Welcome to the Monday, March 6, Brew.  Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day: Introducing our top 15 most interesting and consequential political stories of 2023 Introducing our top 15 most interesting and consequential political stories of 2023 In the context of politics, odd-numbered years—like 2023—are sometimes called off-cycle election years.…

  • Hall Pass: Your Ticket to Understanding School Board Politics, Edition #50

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    Welcome to Hall Pass, a newsletter written to keep you plugged into the conversations driving school board politics and governance. In today’s edition, you’ll find: On the issues: The debate over homework Share candidate endorsements with us!   School board filing deadlines, election results, and recall certifications DeSantis releases list of 14 school board seats to…

  • Five states have active COVID-19 emergency orders

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    Welcome to the Wednesday, March 1, Brew.  Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day: California ends COVID-19 emergency, leaving five states with active orders Governors issued 14 executive orders from Feb. 13-19  Intern with us! California ends COVID-19 emergency, leaving five states with active orders Happy March!  On Feb. 28, California…

  • The last state enacts new state legislative boundaries

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    Welcome to the Monday, February 27, Brew.  By: Samuel Wonacott Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day: Montana becomes last state to enact state legislative boundaries after the 2020 census Twenty-one candidates running in Denver’s first open mayoral race since 2011  294 election-related bills introduced in state legislatures  Montana becomes last…

  • Hall Pass: Your Ticket to Understanding School Board Politics, Edition #49

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    Welcome to Hall Pass, a newsletter written to keep you plugged into the conversations driving school board politics and governance. In today’s edition, you’ll find: On the issues: The debate over the whole language and phonics-based approaches to reading instruction School board filing deadlines, election results, and recall certifications In 10 states, bills creating or…

  • Indiana House education committee approves bill giving districts the option of holding partisan school board elections

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    On Feb. 8, the Indiana House Committee on Education voted 6-4 to approve House Bill 1428, which would allow school districts to conduct partisan elections. The bill now goes to the full House.  In Indiana and 41 other states, state law requires that school board candidates run in nonpartisan elections. Even so, these elections over…

  • Wisconsin’s Supreme Court primary is today

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    Welcome to the Tuesday, February 21, Brew.  By: Samuel Wonacott Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day: Here’s what to know about the Feb. 21 Wisconsin Supreme Court primary The final state legislative election of 2022  289 election-related bills introduced in state legislatures  Here’s what to know about today’s Wisconsin Supreme…