Category: State

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) appointed Carlos G. Muñiz to the Florida Supreme Court on January 22, effective immediately. Muñiz is DeSantis’ third appointment to the court. DeSantis previously appointed Florida Third District Court of Appeal Judges Barbara Lagoa and Robert Luck. The seats were vacant following the retirement of Justices Fred Lewis, Barbara Pariente, and…

Stu Lourey won the Democratic primary for Minnesota’s Senate District 11 special election Tuesday. He received 53 percent of the vote to Michelle Lee’s 47 percent with all precincts reporting. Lourey faces Jason Rarick (R) and John Birrenbach (Legal Marijuana Now Party) in the general election on February 5. Rarick and Birrenbach were unopposed in…

In 2018, four winning gubernatorial candidates—two Democrats and two Republicans—received a record-high share of the vote for a gubernatorial candidate of their party in state history. Another three gubernatorial winners—all Republicans—came within five percentage points of breaking such a record.   The candidate who surpassed his party’s state record by the greatest margin was Gov.…

The Virginia State Senate and the Virginia House of Delegates are holding elections on November 5, 2019. If Democrats gain two seats in each chamber, Virginia will become a Democratic trifecta. Republicans control the Senate 21-19 and the House 51-48 (one seat previously held by a Democrat is vacant). The term of Virginia’s governor, Ralph…

The candidate filing deadline for the special election in District 31 of the Kentucky State Senate passed on January 15. Darrell Pugh (D) and Phillip Wheeler (R) are competing in the general election on March 5.   The District 31 seat became vacant after Ray Jones (D) was elected to serve as judge executive in…

State Rep. Jeff Bridges (D) was selected by a vacancy committee to represent Senate District 26 following Sen. Daniel Kagan’s (D) resignation on January 11, 2019. Kagan had previously served in the state House of Representatives, representing District 3 from 2009 to 2016. He did not seek re-election in 2016 because of term limits, and…

On Tuesday, Michelle Lee and Stu Lourey are competing in the Democratic primary for a special election to the Minnesota State Senate. Jason Rarick is running unopposed in the Republican primary. The general election is on February 5.   The District 11 seat became vacant following Tony Lourey’s (D) resignation to join Gov. Tim Walz’s…

Each decade, the federal government conducts a census to update its population counts. Changes in population counts then require state governments to redraw their legislative jurisdiction boundaries. The average state senate district had a population of 156,339 following the 2010 census. That was an increase of 13,532 from the 2000 figure of 142,807. The average…

Three states will hold elections for governor in 2019: Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi.   Republican Matt Bevin is the current Governor of Kentucky. He was elected to that office on November 3, 2015, defeating then-state attorney general Jack Conway (D). Bevin succeeded Gov. Steve Beshear (D), who served two terms from 2007 to 2015.   The…

Minnesota, South Carolina, and Tennessee are all holding special primaries for state senate seats in the coming week. Minnesota and South Carolina are holding their primaries on January 22, and Tennessee is holding its primary on January 24.   The South Carolina State Senate District 6 seat was previously held by William Timmons (R). Timmons…