Author: Sara Reynolds

  • U.S. Senate confirms six nominees to U.S. District Court seats

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    The U.S. Senate confirmed six nominees to U.S. District Court judgeships. The Senate has confirmed 152 of President Trump’s Article III judicial nominees—two Supreme Court justices, 43 appellate court judges, 105 district court judges, and two U.S. Court of International Trade judges—since January 2017. At the end of the 115th Congress in January 2019, the…

  • Orlando filing deadline passes for mayor and 3 city council seats

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    The filing deadline to run for mayor and three of seven city council seats in Orlando, Florida, was on September 13. The city of Orlando is holding general elections for mayor and city council Districts 2, 4, and 6 on November 5, 2019. If needed, a runoff election is scheduled for December 3, 2019.  …

  • Bold Justice: Trump appointed second-most federal judges through Sept. 1 of a president’s third year

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    We #SCOTUS, so you don’t have to The Supreme Court is currently in recess. The 2019-2020 term begins Oct. 7. Click here to read more about SCOTUS’ upcoming term. The Federal Vacancy Count The Federal Vacancy Count tracks vacancies, nominations, and confirmations to all United States Article III federal courts over a one-month period. This…

  • Teresa Chafin joins the Virginia Supreme Court

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    Teresa Chafin joined the Virginia Supreme Court this week to fill the vacancy created by Justice Elizabeth McClanahan’s retirement on September 1. In February 2019, the Virginia General Assembly unanimously approved Chafin to succeed McClanahan.   Chafin received her J.D. from the University of Richmond School of Law in 1987. Her previous judgeships included serving…

  • Ballotpedia releases federal vacancy count for August

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    In this month’s federal vacancy count, Ballotpedia tracked nominations, confirmations, and vacancies from August 1 to August 28, 2019. Ballotpedia publishes the federal vacancy count on the last Wednesday of each month.   HIGHLIGHTS Vacancies: There has been one new judicial vacancy since the July 2019 report. There are 103 vacancies out of 870 active…

  • St. Petersburg City Council primary scheduled for August 27

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    The city of St. Petersburg, Florida, is holding nonpartisan primaries on August 27 for Districts 3, 5, and 7 on the city council. The general election is scheduled for November 5, 2019. The candidate filing deadline passed on June 21, 2019.   District 3 incumbent Ed Montanari faces challenges from Orlando A. Acosta and Zachary…

  • Bold Justice: 21 federal judicial nominees confirmed in July

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    Welcome to the August 5 edition of Bold Justice, Ballotpedia’s newsletter about the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) and other judicial happenings around the U.S. Starting with this issue, I’m handing the reins to Sara Reynolds, our top SCOTUS expert on staff. You’ll be in good hands with her knowledge and insight of…

  • Ballotpedia releases federal vacancy count for July

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    In this month’s federal vacancy count, Ballotpedia tracked nominations, confirmations, and vacancies from June 27 to July 31, 2019. Ballotpedia publishes the federal vacancy count on the last Wednesday of each month.   HIGHLIGHTS Vacancies: There have been seven new judicial vacancies since the June 2019 report. There are 114 vacancies out of 870 active…

  • July 2019 breakdown of state legislative party membership: 52.2% Republicans, 47.0% Democrats

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    July’s partisan count of the 7,383 state legislators across the United States shows 52.2% of all state legislators are Republicans and 47.0% are Democrats, which is consistent with previous months.   Ballotpedia also completes a count of the partisan balance of state legislatures at the end of every month. The partisan composition of state legislatures…

  • Kansas governor to appoint two state supreme court justices

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    Governor Laura Kelly (D) of Kansas will be able to appoint two justices to the seven-member Kansas Supreme Court due to two justices retiring in 2019. Justice Lee Johnson will retire on September 8, and Chief Justice Lawton Nuss will retire on December 17.   Under Kansas law, in the event of a state supreme…