Category: State

The partisan control of two seats in the California State Senate did not change following special elections on June 4.   District 1 and District 33 were on the ballot for a special general election.   Brian Dahle (R) defeated Kevin Kiley (R) for the District 1 seat in a race where no Democratic candidates…

Special elections for two California State Senate seats are on the June 4 ballot: In District 1, Republicans Brian Dahle and Kevin Kiley are facing off in the general election. Dahle and Kiley earned 29.4% and 28.4% of the vote, respectively, in the March 26 primary ahead of four other candidates. The seat became vacant…

On May 20, 2019, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) introduced a bill which would increase the minimum age to purchase or use tobacco from 18 to 21 at the federal level. Less than four years have passed since Hawaii Gov. David Ige (D) signed a similar law in Hawaii, making it the first state in the…

May’s partisan count of the 7,383 state legislators across the United States shows 52.3% of all state legislators are Republicans and 46.9% are Democrats.   Ballotpedia completes a count of the partisan balance of state legislatures at the end of every month. The partisan composition of state legislatures refers to which political party holds the…

A special primary for the District 1 seat of the New Jersey State Senate is scheduled for June 4. The filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was April 1, and the general election is on November 5, 2019.   The seat became vacant after Jeff Van Drew (D) won election to…

Acting Texas Secretary of State David Whitley (R) resigned May 27 just before the end of the Texas legislative session. Whitley was appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott (R) on December 17, 2018, but needed to receive confirmation from two-thirds of the state Senate—21 out of 31 senators—to continue serving in a permanent capacity through 2021.…

On Tuesday, three state legislative special elections were held in Pennsylvania. The seats for Senate District 33, Senate District 41, and House District 11 were on the ballot. Candidates running for special elections in Pennsylvania are selected directly by political parties, rather than through a primary election process.   Doug Mastriano (R) defeated Sarah Hammond…

Alaska state Rep. Gary Knopp (R) has been targeted for recall due to his role in forming a majority coalition with Democrats, which recall supporters argue led to delays and disruptions to the 2019 legislative session. Prior to the session beginning, Knopp announced that he was leaving the Republican caucus in order to form a…

On Wednesday, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (D) released an opinion stating that a distribution requirement and some other provisions restricting the state’s initiative process passed in 2018 were unconstitutional.   Nessel’s opinion is binding for state officials unless a court ruling overturns it. The opinion was requested by Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson…

State Attorney General Andy Beshear (D) defeated state House Minority Leader Rocky Adkins (D), former state Auditor Adam Edelen (D), and retired engineer Geoff Young (D) in Kentucky’s Democratic gubernatorial primary. As of 9:00 p.m. ET, Beshear had received 37.9% of the vote to Adkins’ 32.4% with 95% of precincts reporting.     Beshear, the…