Category: Local
-
One of six Wisconsin school districts covered by Ballotpedia to hold primary
The Madison Metropolitan School District is holding a primary for Seat 6 on the school board on February 18, 2020. Three candidates filed to run for the open seat, and the two who receive the most votes will move on to the April 7 general election. That ballot will also include races for Seat 2…
-
Colorado recall election moves forward
In Colorado, the Idaho Springs City Council has voted to schedule the recall election against Mayor Mike Hillman on April 7. The deadline for candidates to file to run against Hillman is February 3. The recall effort, organized by residents Amanda Kowalewski, Janet Diederichs, and Candace Voisard, was initiated in November 2019. Recall petitions included…
-
Evans resigns from Washington D.C., city council
Washington D.C., City Council Member Jack Evans (D) resigned on January 17, 2020, after serving on the council for 30 years. Evans’ resignation came after the council spent a year investigating Evans and reprimanding him for possible ethical violations stemming from his work as an attorney. On December 10, 2019, the city council approved a…
-
27% drop in recall efforts in 2019
This year, fewer state and local recall efforts were started or reached the ballot compared to 2018. Ballotpedia covered 151 recall efforts against 230 officials in 2019. In comparison, 206 recall efforts targeted 299 officials in 2018. Since Ballotpedia released its first annual recall report in 2012, a minimum of 151 efforts (2019) and a…
-
Second recount for $569 million Midland Independent School District bond happening this week
On November 5, 2019, Midland Independent School District voters in Midland County, Texas, voted on a $569 million bond to build new facilities and improve existing schools. According to the first count of votes, the measure had failed by 25 votes, triggering a manual recount of paper ballots, which flipped the results to show the…
-
Four Oregon public school employees sue union over resignation restrictions
On Dec. 5, four Oregon public school employees filed suit in U.S. District Court alleging that their union has unconstitutionally denied their resignation requests, continuing to collect dues against their wishes. Who are the parties to the suit? Plaintiffs Dori Yates, Claudia Strickland, Tonya Sevilla, and Linda Newton work for Hillsboro United School District. They…
-
Four partisan changes in 31 big-city mayoral elections in 2019
Thirty-one mayoral elections in the 100 largest cities were held in 2019. Four partisan changes took place. Democrats gained three mayorships, two from Republicans and one from an independent. Republicans won one seat held by an unaffiliated mayor. In 20 of the 31 cities, the incumbent was Democratic at the start of 2019. Six incumbents were…
-
Incumbent Sylvester Turner defeats Tony Buzbee in Houston mayoral election
Incumbent Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner won re-election Saturday. He received 56% of the vote to former Texas A&M Board of Regents member Tony Buzbee’s 44% with 100% of precincts reporting. Turner was first elected in 2015. In 2019, he campaigned on what he said were the accomplishments of his first term, including balancing the city’s…
-
Blueford-Daniels and Allen win HISD runoff elections
Runoff elections for the District II and District IV open seats on the Houston Independent School District (HISD) school board were held Saturday, December 14, since no candidate in those districts received more than 50% of the vote during the November 5 general election. Katherine Blueford-Daniels defeated John Gibbs Sr. in District II, and Patricia…
-
Oklahoma City voters approve sales tax measure Tuesday
Oklahoma City voters approved a 1% sales tax measure by 71.7% to 28.3 percent in a special election Tuesday. The tax revenue was earmarked to fund the city’s Metropolitan Area Projects (MAPS) 4 program of proposed city infrastructure and facility projects. The MAPS 4 tax will expire in eight years and is expected to raise…