Sixty-two people declared candidacies for federal or state offices in the past week, the same number declared last week. All of these candidates declared before their state’s official filing deadline.
Thirty-six of the 63 candidates are Democrats, while 20 are Republicans. Four candidates are running as Libertarians, and two are running without a party affiliation.
Fifty candidates are running for Congress, ten for state legislatures, and two filed for governorships.
Since the beginning of this year, Ballotpedia has identified 1,118 declared candidates for federal and statewide offices. At this time in 2021, Ballotpedia had identified 1, 372 declared candidates for 2022, 2023, and 2024 races.
An official candidate is someone who registers with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline or appears on candidate lists released by government election agencies. A declared candidate is someone who has not completed the steps to become an official candidate but who might have done one or more of the following:
Appeared in candidate forums or debates
Published a campaign website
Published campaign social media pages
Advertised online, on television, or through print
Issued press releases
Interviewed with media publications
For more on Ballotpedia’s definition of candidacy, click here.
The Federal Register is a daily journal of federal government activity that includes presidential documents, proposed and final rules, and public notices. It is a common measure of an administration’s regulatory activity, accounting for both regulatory and deregulatory actions.
From May 29, 2023, through June 2, 2023, the Federal Register grew by 2,026 pages for a year-to-date total of 36,436 pages.
The Federal Register hit an all-time high of 95,894 pages in 2016.
This week’s Federal Register featured the following 443 documents:
355 notices
Four presidential documents
31 proposed rules
53 final rules
Six proposed rules, including proposed regulations for the certification of dispatchers and signal employees from the Federal Railroad Administration, and five final rules, including the adoption of amended energy conservation standards for consumer pool heaters from the Energy Department were deemed significant under E.O. 12866—defined by the potential to have large impacts on the economy, environment, public health, or state or local governments. Significant actions may also conflict with presidential priorities or other agency rules. The Biden administration in 2023 has issued 164 significant proposed rules, 104 significant final rules, and five significant notices as of June 2.
Ballotpedia maintains page counts and other information about the Federal Register as part of its Administrative State Project. The project is a neutral, nonpartisan encyclopedic resource that defines and analyzes the administrative state, including its philosophical origins, legal and judicial precedents, and scholarly examinations of its consequences. The project also monitors and reports on measures of federal government activity.
Biden issued 25 executive orders in January 2021, more than any other month of his presidency. He did not issue any executive orders in November 2022 and January 2023.
Biden is averaging 48 executive orders per year, tied with Ronald Reagan (R) for the second-most among presidents since 1981. Donald Trump (R) averaged 55 executive orders per year, the most in that time. Barack Obama (D) averaged 35 per year, the fewest in that time.
Franklin D. Roosevelt (D) issued 307 executive orders per year on average, the most of all U.S. presidents. William Henry Harrison (Whig) averaged the fewest, issuing none during his one month in office. Three presidents issued only one executive order each: James Madison (Democratic-Republican), James Monroe (Democratic-Republican), and John Adams (Federalist).
U.S. Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I., 1st) resigned from Congress on June 1 to become president of the Rhode Island Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Providence. A special election to replace him is scheduled for Nov. 7, 2023.
The special election to replace Cicilline is one of three scheduled so far during the 118th Congress. The other two are a special election for a U.S. Senate seat in Nebraska, scheduled for Nov. 5, 2024, and a special election for Virginia’s 4th Congressional District, which took place on Feb. 21.
A fourth special election will be called to complete the term of Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah, 2nd) once he leaves Congress. On May 31, Stewart announced he would resign from the House due to his wife’s health, but did not give a date for his resignation. According to state law, once the vacancy occurs, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) will have seven days to call a special election.
The special election in Nebraska is to fill the last two years of the six-year term that former Sen. Ben Sasse (R) was elected to in 2020. Sasse resigned on Jan. 8, 2023, after being appointed president of the University of Florida. On Jan. 12, 2023, Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen (R) appointed his predecessor, former Gov. Pete Ricketts (R), to fill the vacancy. Rickets is running in the November special election.
The special election for Virginia’s 4th Congressional District was held to complete the term of Rep. Donald McEachin (D), who died in November. Jennifer McClellan (D) defeated Leon Benjamin (R) 72.2% to 27.8% in that election, and she was sworn in on March 7.
The 4th District election is, so far, the only special election to occur during the 118th Congress.
By this point in time during the 117th Congress (2021-2022), two special elections had occurred. One special election was held at this point in time during the 116th Congress (2019-2020), and two were held at this point during the 115th (2017-2018), 114th (2015-2016), and 113th (2013-2014) Congresses.
We can expect the number of special elections called during the current Congress to increase in the following months.Sixty-seven special elections were called during the 113th through 117th Congresses, for an average of 13 special elections per Congress.
The 117th and the 115th Congresses had the most special elections in that time, with 17 special elections each, while the 114th had the fewest, with seven. Democrats vacated 23 of the seats up for special elections during that time, while Republicans vacated 44.
The 67 special elections resulted in nine districts switching party control. Seven districts went from Republican control to Democratic control, while two went from Democratic control to Republican control, for a net gain of five members for the Democratic Party.
Special elections occur when a lawmaker resigns, dies, or is removed from office. State laws vary, but special elections can be held either within the same calendar year or wait until the next regularly scheduled election.
In May 2023, the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) reviewed 35 significant regulatory actions issued by federal agencies. OIRA approved one rule with no changes and approved the intent of 30 rules while recommending changes to their content. Two rules were withdrawn from the review process by the issuing agency. Two rules were subject to a statutory or judicial deadline.
OIRA reviewed 45 significant regulatory actions in May 2022, 35 significant regulatory actions in May 2021, 56 significant regulatory actions in May 2020, 36 significant regulatory actions in May 2019, 22 significant regulatory actions in May 2018, and four significant regulatory actions in May 2017.
OIRA has reviewed a total of 220 significant rules in 2023. The agency reviewed a total of 485 significant rules in 2022, 502 significant rules in 2021, 676 significant rules in 2020, 475 significant rules in 2019, 355 significant rules in 2018, and 237 significant rules in 2017.
As of June 1, 2023, OIRA’s website listed 128 regulatory actions under review.
OIRA is responsible for reviewing and coordinating what it deems to be all significant regulatory actions made by federal agencies, with the exception of independent federal agencies. Significant regulatory actions include agency rules that have had or may have a large impact on the economy, environment, public health, or state and local governments and communities. These regulatory actions may also conflict with other regulations or with the priorities of the president.
New applications for U.S. unemployment insurance benefits rose 4,000 for the week ending May 20 to a seasonally adjusted 229,000. The previous week’s figure was revised down by 17,000 to 225,000. The four-week moving average as of May 20 was unchanged from the previous week’s unrevised number at 231,750.
The number of continuing unemployment insurance claims, which refers to the number of unemployed workers who filed for benefits at least two weeks ago and are actively receiving unemployment benefits, fell 5,000 from the previous week’s unrevised number to a seasonally adjusted 1.794 million for the week ending May 13. Reporting for continuing claims lags one week.
Unemployment insurance is a joint federal and state program that provides temporary monetary benefits to eligible laid-off workers who are actively seeking new employment. Qualifying individuals receive unemployment compensation as a percentage of their lost wages in the form of weekly cash benefits while they search for new employment.
The federal government oversees the general administration of state unemployment insurance programs. The states control the specific features of their unemployment insurance programs, such as eligibility requirements and length of benefits.
For information about unemployment insurance programs across the country, click here.
H.J.Res.42 was a joint resolution of disapproval under the terms of the District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act, also known as the Home Rule Act, which allows Congress to nullify D.C. laws within a certain review period. The D.C. law this resolution sought to nullify was the Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022, which “[set] forth a variety of measures that focus on policing in the District, including measures prohibiting the use of certain neck restraints by law enforcement officers, requiring additional procedures related to body-worn cameras, and expanding access to police disciplinary records.”
In his veto message, Biden said, “While I do not support every provision of the Comprehensive Policing and Justice Reform Amendment Act of 2022, this resolution from congressional Republicans would overturn commonsense police reforms such as: banning chokeholds; setting important restrictions on use of force and deadly force; improving access to body-worn camera recordings; and requiring officer training on de-escalation and use of force. The Congress should respect the District of Columbia’s right to pass measures that improve public safety and public trust.”
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), who discharged the resolution on the Senate floor, argued in favor of passing the resolution, saying, “Congress must exert our constitutional authority to keep our nation’s capital safe. It’s a disgrace that the capital of the most powerful nation on earth has become so dangerous, but this sad reality is exactly what we should expect when far-left activists are calling the shots.” After Biden vetoed the resolution, Vance said, “With today’s veto, President Biden rejected a bipartisan and commonsense effort to make our nation’s capital safer.”
Overriding a presidential veto requires a two-thirds majority vote in both chambers of Congress. The House of Representatives and Senate both passed the resolution by a simple majority.
The House of Representatives voted 229-189 to approve the resolution on April 19, 2023, with 14 Democrats and 215 Republicans voting in favor. The Senate voted 56-43 to approve the resolution on May 16, with six Democrats, one Independent who caucuses with Democrats, Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), and 48 Republicans voting in favor. Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) introduced the resolution on March 9.
This was the second Home Rule Act resolution related to D.C. criminal law to make it to Biden’s desk during the 118th Congress. The first was H.J.Res.26, which sought to nullify a D.C. law that would make “a variety of changes to DC criminal laws, including by providing statutory definitions for various elements of criminal offenses, modifying sentencing guidelines and penalties, and expanding the right to a jury trial for certain misdemeanor crimes.” Biden signed the resolution into law on March 20, 2023, marking the fourth time the federal government had nullified a D.C. law under the terms of the Home Rule Act since its passage in 1973.
President Ronald Reagan (R) issued the most vetoes (87) of all presidents since 1981. Biden, with four vetoes, has issued the fewest. President Donald Trump (R) issued the second-fewest vetoes (10) within this timeframe.
Presidents have issued 2,586 vetoes in American history. Congress has overridden 112. President Franklin D. Roosevelt vetoed 635 bills, the most of any president. Presidents John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Q. Adams, William H. Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, and James A. Garfield did not issue any vetoes.
The U.S. Supreme Court on May 25, 2023, unanimously held in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that the EPA’s regulatory jurisdiction over the nation’s wetlands is limited. The decision echoes the court’s 2022 ruling in West Virginia v EPA, in which the justices limited the scope of the agency’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.
The decision brings to a close a 14-year legal battle between the Sacketts and the EPA, in which the EPA claimed that the Sackett’s residential lot in Idaho contained wetlands subject to its jurisdiction pursuant to the Clean Water Act (CWA). The Sacketts disagreed and the dispute worked its way through the federal courts in the years following the initial lawsuit.
Justice Samuel Alito delivered the opinion of the unanimous court, arguing that the EPA’s regulatory authority over wetlands only extends to those with “a continuous surface connection to bodies that are ‘waters of the United States.’”
In an opinion concurring in the judgment, Justice Elena Kagan agreed that the EPA’s authority does not extend to the Sackett’s property but expressed concern that the court’s reasoning “substitutes its own ideas about policymaking for Congress’s.”
The Federal Register is a daily journal of federal government activity that includes presidential documents, proposed and final rules, and public notices. It is a common measure of an administration’s regulatory activity, accounting for both regulatory and deregulatory actions.
From May 22, 2023, through May 26, 2023, the Federal Register grew by 1,790 pages for a year-to-date total of 34,410 pages.
The Federal Register hit an all-time high of 95,894 pages in 2016.
This week’s Federal Register featured the following 575 documents:
465 notices
Six presidential documents
42 proposed rules
62 final rules
Six proposed rules, including proposed amendments to the Veterans Readiness and Employment and Education regulations to implement provisions of the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Improvements Act of 2010 from the Veterans Affairs Department, and six final rules, including the adoption of amended energy conservation standards for room air conditioners from the Energy Department were deemed significant under E.O. 12866—defined by the potential to have large impacts on the economy, environment, public health, or state or local governments. Significant actions may also conflict with presidential priorities or other agency rules. The Biden administration in 2023 has issued 158 significant proposed rules, 99 significant final rules, and five significant notices as of May 26.
Ballotpedia maintains page counts and other information about the Federal Register as part of its Administrative State Project. The project is a neutral, nonpartisan encyclopedic resource that defines and analyzes the administrative state, including its philosophical origins, legal and judicial precedents, and scholarly examinations of its consequences. The project also monitors and reports on measures of federal government activity.
Click here to find more information about weekly additions to the Federal Register in 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, and 2017: Changes to the Federal Register
As of May 23, 2023, former President Donald Trump (R) leads in both RealClearPolitics’ (RCP) Republican presidential primary polling average and PredictIt’s Republican presidential primary market.
Trump’s polling average currently stands at 56%, followed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) at 19%. No other candidate has more than a 10% polling average. In PredictIt’s Republican primary market, Trump’s share price is $0.57, and DeSantis’ share price is $0.34. No other candidate has a share price at or above $0.10.
A candidate’s polling average reflects an estimate of the vote share a candidate would receive if the election took place today. In contrast, a PredictIt share price roughly corresponds to the market’s estimate of the probability of a candidate winning the election.
President Joe Biden (D) leads both RCP’s Democratic primary polling average and PredictIt’s Democratic primary market. Biden has a 35% polling average, with no other candidates polling at or above 10%, and a $0.73 PredictIt share price. One other candidate, California Governor Gavin Newsom (D), has a share price at or above $0.10. Newsom stands at $0.12.
Trump and Biden are the only candidates of this group to have officially announced their presidential campaigns.
