Category: State

Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) appointed Meredith Blaise Switzer as the District 4, Position 2, judge on the Arkansas Court of Appeals. Switzer succeeds Judge David “Mac” Glover, who died on March 23, 2019. Switzer will serve until December 31, 2020.   A new judge will be elected to the position in 2020. Under Arkansas law,…

Ninety-four state legislative seats have changed partisan control, or flipped, in special elections since 2010. Democrats have won 51 of these special elections, Republicans have won 37, and independent and third-party candidates have won six.   So far, six partisan flips have occurred in 2019—four Republican wins, one Democratic win, and one independent win.  …

The Colorado Secretary of State approved a recall petition for circulation against state Rep. Rochelle Galindo (D) on April 4. Recall supporters have until June 3, 2019, to collect 5,696 signatures to force a recall election.   According to the recall supporters, Galindo is being targeted for recall because of her support for an oil…

Both Florida and Georgia have state legislative special primaries on the ballot on April 9.   In Georgia, Chris Erwin and Dan Gasaway are running in a Republican primary for the state House’s District 28 seat. The special election will be the third contest between Gasaway and Erwin. The regularly scheduled primary on May 22,…

Governor Kristi Noem (R) appointed Patricia DeVaney to the South Dakota Supreme Court on April 4, 2019. Noem selected DeVaney to succeed Justice Steven Zinter, who died on October 30, 2018. DeVaney was Noem’s first appointment to the five-member court.   Under South Dakota law, state supreme court justices are appointed by the governor from…

The Yavapai County Board of Supervisors chose former Arizona Sen. Steve Pierce (R) on April 3 to replace Rep. David Stringer (R) in the Arizona House of Representatives. Stringer resigned on March 27 amid an ethics investigation.   Prior to being chosen for Stringer’s seat, Pierce served in the Arizona State Senate from 2009 to…

Voters in New Mexico haven’t decided a citizen-initiated ballot measure since 1964, and voters haven’t repealed a law at the ballot since 1930. Some House Republicans, including Minority Leader James Townsend and Minority Whip Rod Montoya, are seeking to place a veto referendum before New Mexicans in 2020.   The veto referendum targets the repeal…

On April 3, Bev Clarno (R) took the official oath of office to become Oregon’s secretary of state. Gov. Kate Brown (D) appointed Clarno as the secretary of state on March 29, 2019. Clarno was appointed to replace Dennis Richardson (R), who died while in office on February 26, 2019.   In a statement on…

The major-party filing deadline passed on April 1 to run for seats in the New Jersey General Assembly. The filing deadline for independent candidates is on June 4. All 80 seats in the state Assembly are up for election this year; the primary is scheduled for June 4, and the general election is on November…

Gov. Kay Ivey (R) has called a special election to fill the vacant District 74 seat in the Alabama House of Representatives. The special election is set for November 12. The seat became vacant when Dimitri Polizos (R) died of a heart attack on March 27, 2019. He had held the seat since 2013 and…