Sixty-two people declared candidacies for federal or state offices in the past week, the same number declared last week. All of these candidates declared before their state’s official filing deadline.
Thirty-six of the 63 candidates are Democrats, while 20 are Republicans. Four candidates are running as Libertarians, and two are running without a party affiliation.
Fifty candidates are running for Congress, ten for state legislatures, and two filed for governorships.
Since the beginning of this year, Ballotpedia has identified 1,118 declared candidates for federal and statewide offices. At this time in 2021, Ballotpedia had identified 1, 372 declared candidates for 2022, 2023, and 2024 races.
An official candidate is someone who registers with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline or appears on candidate lists released by government election agencies. A declared candidate is someone who has not completed the steps to become an official candidate but who might have done one or more of the following:
Appeared in candidate forums or debates
Published a campaign website
Published campaign social media pages
Advertised online, on television, or through print
Issued press releases
Interviewed with media publications
For more on Ballotpedia’s definition of candidacy, click here.
All three candidates running in the August 8, 2023, Republican primary election for Mississippi House of Representatives District 3—Jonathan Dantzler (R), Jim Estrada (R), and Dennis Nowell (R)—completed Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection survey. These survey responses allow voters to hear directly from candidates about what motivates them to run for office.
Eight of the country’s 99 state legislative chambers will hold regularly scheduled elections in 2023. Republicans control both chambers of the Mississippi state legislature. Mississippi is one of 22 states with a Republican trifecta.
Here are excerpts from candidates’ responses to the question: What is the first bill you would introduce if elected?
Dantzler:
“Protecting State Employees under our Medical Marijuana Program
Furthering the Protection of the 2nd Amendment
Restore the Ballot Initiative Process”
Estrada:
“I would like for it to be a bill that would help to foster economic development. Creating an environment for higher paying job opportunities is critical to our area specifically and to our great state in general..”
Nowell:
“Task force to investigate other states and cities that are attracting large corporations to their communities. We have to learn how to compete so we quit losing our young talent and families.”
Click on the candidates’ profile pages below to read their full responses to this and other questions.
We ask all federal, state, and local candidates with profiles on Ballotpedia to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. Ask the candidates in your area to fill out the survey.
One-third of the incumbents in Virginia’s House of Delegates are not running for re-election in 2023, the most in the chamber in more than a decade.
Virginia’s statewide primaries are on June 20, including for all 100 districts in the House.
Further, just six incumbents in the 100-member House face primary challengers compared to 11 in the 40-member Senate.
Based on media coverage and other competitiveness metrics, Ballotpedia identified six battleground primaries in the House: four between Democrats and two between Republicans. Two of these primaries feature incumbents, and four are in open districts.
Virginia House District 21 is one such Republican primary.Josh Quill (R) and John Stirrup (R) are running for this open district. Quill is a specialist master with Deloitte and a Marine Corps veteran who later worked for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Stirrup was a member of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors from 2003 to 2011, representing the Gainesville district.
Elections Daily’s Joe Szymanski wrote, “Fundraising numbers for these two candidates have been even,” and “Both candidates are running on similar issues: crime, education, and the economy.”
CNalysis rates this district as one of its four general election Toss-Ups. While President Joe Biden (D) won the district by a margin of 26.6 percentage points in 2020, Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) won it by a margin of 3.4 percentage points in 2021.
Virginia House District 55 is a battleground Democratic primary.Amy Laufer (D) and Kellen Squire (D) are running for this open district.
Laufer, a former teacher, served on the Charlottesville City School Board from 2011 to 2019 and is a former Chair of the Albemarle County Democrats. Squire is an emergency room nurse and C.E.O. of a nature advocacy organization.
Szymanski described this race as “a primary that could end up being the closest of them all,” and said, “Squire has taken the more progressive wing here- hyping his large base of small donors, one of the largest in Virginia.”
Szymanski added that “Laufer is still progressive, albeit slightly less so than Squire, and has key institutional support,” pointing to endorsements from state Sens. Scott Surovell (D) and Louise Lucas (D).
While primaries are first on the calendar, control of the chamber will likely come down to just a handful of races in November.
CNalysis rates each election based on the likelihood of a Democratic or Republican victory. Currently, the outlet rates 46 elections as Solid Democratic and 43 as Solid or Very Likely Republican. This leaves 11 elections that either lean towards one party or the other or are categorized as Toss-Ups.
Learn more about the Virginia House elections and the battleground elections Ballotpedia identified using the link below.
Democrats currently hold a 22-18 majority in the Virginia State Senate, which holds elections every four years rather than every two.
The chamber is already poised to welcome at least 11 new members next year: ten incumbents are retiring, and two incumbents are running in the same district, leaving 11 districts open, over one-fourth of the chamber.
Before control of the chamber can be decided, candidates must proceed through primaries on June 20 or, in some cases, other nominating contests like conventions.
This is the largest number of open districts in the Senate in more than a decade.
But the primaries on June 20 could further change who does—and does—not return to the Senate next year.
Of the 29 incumbents running for re-election, 11 are running in contested primaries. Similar to open seats, this is the largest number of incumbents in contested primaries, a figure that has steadily increased over the past decade.
Based on media coverage and other competitiveness metrics, Ballotpedia identified eight battleground primariesin the Senate: six between Democrats and two between Republicans. Six of these battlegrounds feature incumbents, and two are in open districts.
One such primary is for Virginia Senate District 12, where incumbent Amanda Chase, Tina Ramirez, and Glen Sturtevant are running in the Republican primary.
Chase assumed office in 2016 and placed third in the Republican gubernatorial convention in 2021. The chamber censured Chase in 2021 following comments she made supporting events at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Ramirez is a nonprofit founder who placed third in the 7th Congressional District’s Republican convention in 2020. Sturtevant is a former state Senator who held office from 2016 to 2020.
The Washington Post’s Laura Vozzella wrote, “Chase’s challengers … are trying to convince voters in a newly drawn suburban district south of Richmond that they’d cut the same staunchly conservative figure in the Capitol as the incumbent — without the drama.”
Elections Daily’s Joe Szymanski said the presence of two challengers, rather than one, could affect the primary’s outcome, saying, “[I]t’s nowhere near a certainty that [Chase] loses and with multiple opponents, it only increases the chances she survives.”
CNalysis rates the district as Solid Republican and the Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP) rates it as Leans Republican.
Virginia Senate District 17:
Emily Brewer and Hermie Sadler are running in the Republican primary for Virginia Senate District 17.
Brewer is currently a member of the state House, where she assumed office in 2018. Sadler is a sports announcer and former NASCAR driver.
The nomination method in this district was subject to a lawsuit. Dawn Jones, chairman of the district’s Republican Legislative Committee, initially certified the contest as a primary, with polling places open on June 20.
State election officials later changed the method to a convention, which often takes place at a single location, not necessarily on the same date as the primary.
Jones sued, alleging the State Board of Elections lacked the authority to make that change. On March 29, Richmond Circuit Court Judge Claire Cardwell ordered the board to place Brewer and Sadler’s names on a primary ballot.
CNalysis and VPAP rate the district as Tilt and Leans Republican, respectively. While Youngkin won the district by a margin of 5.2 percentage points in 2021, President Joe Biden (D) won it by a margin of 7.0 percentage points in 2020.
Incumbent George Barker and Stella Pekarsky are running in the Democratic primary in Virginia Senate District 36.
Barker assumed office in 2008, which was also the last time he ran in a contested Democratic primary. Pekarsky is a member of the Fairfax County School Board representing Sully District, a post she assumed in 2020.
Szymanski wrote that, due to redistricting, the new Senate District 36 covers only 7% of Barker’s old constituency, meaning 93% of voters in the district have never seen his name on the ballot.
Vozzella and Teo Armus wrote that Barker “is less widely known in the new territory” and that “Pekarsky has been running to his left and casting herself as part of a new generation of Democrats.”
CNalysis rates the district as Solid Democratic and the Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP) rates it as Strong Democratic.
As of May 30, 2023, 24 statewide measures have been certified for the ballot in eight states for elections in 2023. That’s nine more measures than the average number (15) certified at this point in other odd-numbered years from 2011 to 2021.
For 2024, 38 statewide measures have been certified in 20 states. That’s six more measures than the average number certified at this point from 2010 to 2022.
Here’s an update on the latest ballot measure activity.
Five new measures were certified for the 2023 ballot last week:
In Ohio, one initiative to legalize marijuana was certified to the Legislature, which had four months to act on the proposal; as the Legislature took no action, a second 90-day signature-gathering period commenced on May 3.
All three candidates running in the June 20, 2023, Democratic primary for Virginia House of Delegates District 54 — Bellamy Brown, Katrina Callsen, and David Norris — completed Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection survey. These survey responses allow voters to hear directly from candidates about what motivates them to run for office.
Here are the candidates’ responses to the question: Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?
Brown:
“I have a track record of service, governing, and leading in ways that have brought positive value to the 54th District.
I am the only Charlottesville native; and with that, bring an understanding of where our district has come from and where we should be headed in the future.
I have the ability to work across the aisle and get work done on behalf of our district whether in the majority or minority.”
Callsen:
“Codify and protect access to abortion and reproductive healthcare. …
Pass gun safety laws and make sure domestic violence and child safety are a part of the conversation (mandatory gun storage laws, stronger gun protection and enforcement in protective orders, higher fidelity of enforcement with red flag laws).
Strengthen and support access to high quality, inclusive public education. I would love to see a focus on teacher retention, increased pay, and recruitment to include deliberate work to recruit teachers from diverse backgrounds.”
Norris:
“I believe that the people of Charlottesville/Albemarle deserve a representative who has been in the trenches fighting for them — for you! — on the most important issues of our time.
Affordable housing, living wage jobs, racial justice, reproductive freedom, LGBTQ+ rights, quality schools, entrepreneurship, environmental sustainability, clean energy, fiscal responsibility – these issues are at the core of who I am and what I’ve done as a public and community servant for the past three decades, both as Charlottesville Mayor & City Councilor and as a longtime non-profit leader.
Looking for a proven leader with a bold vision for positive, progressive change? Vote for Dave.”
Click on the candidates’ profile pages below to read their full responses to this and other questions.
We ask all federal, state, and local candidates with profiles on Ballotpedia to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. Ask the candidates in your area to fill out the survey.
40 people declared candidacies for federal or statewide offices in the past week, two fewer than last week. All of these candidates declared before their state’s official filing deadline.
Twenty-two of those candidates were Democratic, while 18 were Republican.
Twenty-eight candidates are running for Congress, four for governorship, and eight for a lower state executive office.
Since the beginning of the year, Ballotpedia has identified 912 declared candidates for federal and statewide offices. At this time in 2021, Ballotpedia had identified 1,794 declared candidates for 2022, 2023, and 2024 races.
An official candidate is someone who registers with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline or appears on candidate lists released by government election agencies. A declared candidate is someone who has not completed the steps to become an official candidate but who might have done one or more of the following:
Appeared in candidate forums or debates
Published a campaign website
Published campaign social media pages
Advertised online, on television, or through print
Issued press releases
Interviewed with media publications
For more on Ballotpedia’s definition of candidacy, click here.
The Texas Legislature voted to send a constitutional amendment to prohibit any future legislation from enacting a wealth or net worth tax.
This amendment was introduced as House Joint Resolution 132 on March 13, 2023. On May 2, the state House passed HJR 132 by a vote of 101-45 with four not voting. All Republicans in the state House and 16 Democrats voted in favor of the amendment. On May, 19, the state Senate passed HJR 132 by a vote of 22-9. Three Democrats joined the Republican Senate majority.
State Rep. Cole Hefner (R-5) authored the proposal. In the statement of purpose for the amendment, Rep. Hefner said, “[The amendment] would allow the people of Texas to decide whether or not they want a direct say in the possibility of a net worth tax being imposed by the legislature.”
Every Texan and the Texas American Federation of Teachers registered in opposition to the amendment. No organizations registered in support of the amendment.
According to Business Insider, eight states— California, Connecticut, Illinois, Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, and Washington—had introduced some form of wealth tax legislation during their respective 2023 legislative sessions.
In 2019, Texans approved Proposition 4, which added a provision to the state constitution prohibiting the state from levying a personal income tax. It was approved with 74.4% of the vote. Texans had also previously prohibited the state from levying a personal income tax without voter approval with the passage of a constitutional amendment in 1993.
During the Texas 2023 legislative session, 297 constitutional amendments were filed. As of May 21, eight amendments were certified to appear on statewide ballots in November. Including the eight certified measures, 47 amendments received a vote by at least one chamber. Between 1985 and 2021, an average of 14 measures appeared on statewide ballots in odd-numbered years. The state legislature is set to adjourn on May 29.
The Texas Legislature voted to send a constitutional amendment to the Nov. 2023 ballot that would allow counties or municipalities to authorize an exemption from property taxes on all or part of the appraised value of real property used to operate childcare facilities. A partial property tax exemption would need to equal at least 50% of the appraised value.
This amendment was introduced as Senate Joint Resolution 64 on March 9, 2023. On May 3, 2023, the state Senate passed SJR 64 by a vote of 25-6. On May 19, the state House passed SJR 64 by a vote of 114-31 with four not voting. Democratic Rep. Terry Canales joined 36 Republican legislators in voting against the amendment.
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission reported that Texas had lost nearly a quarter of its child-care providers between March 2020 and September 2021.
State Sen. Royce West (D-23) authored the amendment. The Texas Restaurant Association and Methodist Healthcare Ministries registered in support of the amendment during legislative hearings. No organizations registered in opposition to the measure.
The Missouri Legislature also voted to send a similar amendment to voters there, allowing childcare establishments to be exempt from property taxes. Missouri voters will decide on that amendment in Nov. 2024.
Taxes are the most common topic of constitutional amendments in Texas. Between 1995 and 2022, voters decided on 41 tax-related measures out of 179 proposed.
Democrats maintained a majority in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives following two special elections in House Districts 108 and 163 on May 16, 2023.
Heather Boyd (D) defeated Katie Ford (R) and Alfe Goodwin (L) 59.9% to 38.8% and 1.3%, respectively, in District 163. She succeeds Michael Zabel (D), who resigned on March 16.
Michael Stender (R) defeated Trevor Finn (D) and Elijah Scretching (L) 70.7% to 25.7% and 3.7%, respectively, in District 108. He succeeds Lynda Schlegel Culver (R), who resigned on Feb. 28 after she won a special election in the Pennsylvania State Senate.
Finn was elected to the Montour County commission in 2004. He said his campaign platforms were “economic development, [advancing] the cause of all citizens, and protecting our small town heritage.” Stender was elected as an at-large member of the Shikellamy School Board in 2021. Stender’s campaign website said, “he supports American energy independence, backs our workers and small businesses and works to bring fiscal responsibility to state government.”
Boyd worked as the district director for U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D) and said she was running “to make sure that every person and family in our district gets the resources and representation they deserve. … [I] will fight for laws and budgets that serve the district.” Ford was a special needs instructor and said one of her priorities “will be to fight for the increased funding needed to properly educate our children, including those with special needs. … Public safety, adequate funding, and training for law enforcement will also be a top priority.”
Pennsylvania House Democrats won 102 districts to Republicans’ 101 as a result of the 2022 elections. Three Democratic representatives left office after those elections, giving Republicans a functional 101-99 seat majority to start the 2023 legislative session. Democratic candidates then won special elections in all three vacant districts on Feb. 7, 2023, giving the party a majority. Zabel’s resignation reduced the majority by one. Click here to view a chart listing the key events affecting the partisan control of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives since October 2022.
As of these elections, Pennsylvania was one of 11 states with a divided government. Democrats were in the majority in the state House, and Gov. Josh Shapiro was a Democrat. Republicans controlled the state Senate.
