Category: State
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With Mississippi’s new law, more states have banned ranked-choice voting in 2024 than any other year
On May 13, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves (R) signed SB 2144 into law, banning ranked-choice voting (RCV). With the new law, more states have now banned RCV in 2024 than in any other year. Mississippi joined Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Alabama, who all adopted legislation banning RCV this year, and became the ninth state overall to prohibit the electoral system. SB 2144 bans RCV “in…
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Eight candidates are running in the Republican primary for Missouri Secretary of State on August 6, 2024
Eight candidates are running in the Republican primary for Missouri Secretary of State on August 6, 2024. Four lead in media attention and fundraising: Valentina Gomez (R), Denny Hoskins (R), Dean Plocher (R), and Shane Schoeller (R). Republican incumbent Jay Ashcroft is running for Governor of Missouri. Each candidate has said that trust in elections…
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Three Republican controlled legislatures ban ranked-choice voting in one month
Three states—Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Alabama—banned ranked-choice voting (RCV) in less than a month. All three have Republican-controlled legislatures, and Alabama and Oklahoma have Republican trifectas. RCV was not in use in any of the states at the time. The three new bans bring the total number of states banning RCV to eight. All eight had a Republican-controlled…
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Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R) signs legislation making significant changes to state election laws
States have adopted 50 new election laws since the beginning of May. Nearly half of these bills come from Georgia, where Gov. Brian Kemp (R) has signed 24 election-related bills, including several that have garnered national attention for how they change the state’s voting laws. One of these bills was SB 189, an omnibus election bill that changed several areas of…
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Changes to Idaho unemployment insurance work search requirements take effect in July (2024)
The Idaho Department of Labor issued a press release on May 15 instructing Idaho unemployment insurance claimants to complete and report five work search-related activities per week starting July 7 to receive benefits. Current law requires claimants to report two work search activities per week. The work search activity changes will comply with requirements outlined…
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Oklahoma judge pauses enforcement of anti-ESG law, state officials and groups respond
An Oklahoma judge on May 7 paused enforcement of a 2022 state law prohibiting the state from contracting with businesses the treasurer identifies as boycotting oil and gas companies. Following the enforcement pause, Attorney General Gentner Drummond (R) fired the legal team responsible for defending the law and blamed the team’s ineffectiveness on Treasurer Todd…
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2.7% of state legislative incumbents who filed for re-election have lost in primaries
Thirty state legislative incumbents—seven Democrats and 23 Republicans—have lost to primary challengers so far this year. Across the 10 states that have held primaries, 2.7% of incumbents running for re-election have lost, a decline from the 2022 election cycle that aligns more closely with 2020. These totals include data from the Nebraska State Senate and both legislative chambers…
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Mississippi bill to expand Medicaid with work requirements dies in negotiations (2024)
A Medicaid expansion bill in Mississippi died in negotiations between the Mississippi House and Senate, primarily over the inclusion of work requirements in the final version, resulting in its failure to pass before the session deadline on May 2, 2024. The Mississippi House of Representatives passed House Bill 1725 on February 28, 2024, with a…
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Dave Boliek (R) defeated Jack Clark (R) in the Republican primary runoff for North Carolina State Auditor
Dave Boliek (R) won the Republican primary runoff for North Carolina State Auditor on May 14, 2024. Boliek defeated Jack Clark (R) 53.1% to 46.9%. Clark and Boliek were the top two finishers in the March 5 Republican primary with 23.2% and 22.1% of the vote, respectively. State law permitted Boliek to request a runoff…
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John B. McCuskey (R) defeated Mike Stuart (R) in the Republican primary for Attorney General of West Virginia
John B. McCuskey (R) won the Republican primary for West Virginia Attorney General on May 14, 2024. McCuskey defeated Mike Stuart (R) 60.2% to 39.8%. Incumbent Patrick Morrisey (R) ran for governor, leaving the office open. Both McCuskey and Stuart ran on their record in elected office. Both candidates said they would prioritize suing the…