Author: Sarah Doyel
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New York Assemblymember Gantt dies
New York State Assemblymember David Gantt (D) died on July 1 after serving in the legislature for close to thirty years. Gantt was first elected to represent District 133 in the New York State Assembly in 1983. He was elected to represent District 137 in 2013 and held that office until his death. Vacancies in…
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June 2020 breakdown of state legislative party membership: 52.1% Republicans, 46.8% Democrats
Ballotpedia’s most recent monthly analysis of the partisan composition of state legislatures found that 52.1% of state legislators are Republicans and 46.8% are Democrats. That represents a decrease of one percentage point for the Republican Party from the month of May. The numbers for the Democratic Party stayed consistent from last month. Every month, Ballotpedia…
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Four state legislators resign at the end of June
Four state legislators in three states stepped down from their positions on June 30, bringing the number of state legislative vacancies that have occurred this year to 75. The former legislators had a cumulative total of more than sixty years of legislative experience among them. Gary Jackson (R) had served in the Mississippi State Senate…
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Indianapolis city-county councilmember Johnson appointed to Indiana House of Representatives
Marion County Democratic committee members appointed Blake Johnson (D) to represent District 100 in the state House of Representatives on Saturday, June 27. Johnson replaces former Representative Dan Forestal (D), who resigned on June 15 following the second of two arrests he experienced in 2019 and 2020. Johnson served as a city-county councillor in Indianapolis…
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Flanagan resigns from New York Senate, Republicans select new Minority Leader
John J. Flanagan (R) resigned from the New York State Senate on June 28, ending more than 20 years of service in the New York state legislature. Flanagan represented District 9 in New York’s General Assembly beginning in 1987 and won election to the state Senate in 2002. Flanagan had already announced that he would…
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Hawaii state Senator Harimoto dies
Hawaii state Senator Breene Harimoto (D) died on June 18. He had represented District 16 in the Hawaii State Senate since 2014 and previously served on the Honolulu City Council from 2012 to 2014. Governor David Ige (D) has sixty days to appoint a replacement to represent Harimoto’s district in the chamber. Harimoto’s death creates…
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Crabtree replaces Youngberg in the South Dakota
Gov. Kristi Noem (R) appointed Casey Crabtree (R) to the South Dakota State Senate on June 19, one day after Jordan Youngberg (R) resigned to take a full-time position with the South Dakota State Treasurer’s office. Crabtree’s appointment to represent District 8 was effective immediately. Crabtree will serve the remainder of Youngberg’s unexpired term, which…
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Milwaukee County Executive Crowley resigns from Wisconsin State Assembly
State Rep. David Crowley (D) resigned from the Wisconsin legislature on June 18. Crowley won the nonpartisan election for Milwaukee County Executive April 7 and was sworn into that office on May 4. He succeeded former county executive Chris Abele, who announced in 2019 that he would not run for re-election in 2020. Under Wisconsin…
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Wisconsin Rep. Taylor appointed to succeed Karofsky on Dane County Circuit Court
Gov. Tony Evers (D) appointed Wisconsin State Assemblymember Chris Taylor (D) to the Dane County Circuit Court on June 11, replacing Jill Karofsky, who was elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court on April 7. Taylor said she plans to continue to serve in the state legislature until just before her swearing-in on the court August…
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Pennsylvania House Speaker Turzai Resigns
Pennsylvania House Speaker Mike Turzai (R) resigned from the legislature on June 15 to take a job in the private sector. He was first elected as a state Representative in 2001 and had announced in January that he would not run for election in 2020. Turzai had served as Speaker of the House since January…