Category: Federal
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U.S. Supreme Court begins 2020 term on October 5
The U.S. Supreme Court begins its 2020–2021 term on Monday, October 5, after being in recess since July. The court announced it would hear oral arguments via teleconference and would provide live audio of the arguments for its October sitting following the same format that was used during its May sitting in the 2019-2020 term.…
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Federal Register weekly update: 2020 page total tops 60,000 pages
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. From September 21 to September 25, the Federal Register grew by 1,510 pages for a year-to-date total of 60,682 pages. Over the same period in 2019 and…
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Ballotpedia to cover general elections in all five permanently-inhabited U.S. Territories
In 2020, Ballotpedia is covering the general elections in all five permanently-inhabited U.S. territories: American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. The general election in each territory is scheduled for November 3, 2020. Candidates are running in elections for the following federal and territory-level offices: • American Samoa:…
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Percent of U.S. House races contested by both major parties reaches a century high
More than 95% of elections for U.S. House (415 of 435) in 2020 are contested by candidates from both the Democratic and Republican parties, according to Ballotpedia’s Annual Congressional Competitiveness Report. This is an increase over the four preceding election cycles and the highest percentage of contested races for U.S. House since at least 1920.…
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Franklin, Hall advance to runoff in Georgia’s 5th Congressional District special election
Robert Franklin (D) and Kwanza Hall (D) will advance to a December 1, 2020 runoff in Georgia’s 5th Congressional District special election. As of 9:25 p.m. EST, The New York Times called the race with 70% precincts reporting. Franklin had received 27.1% of the vote and Hall had received 32.4%. Mable Thomas (D) received 19.7%…
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Presidents lose an average of 81 same-party members of the U.S. House during their first term
On average, presidents from Lyndon Johnson (D) through Donald Trump (R) took office with 241 members of the same political party serving in the U.S. House. An average of 81 same-party members did not run for re-election at the time of the next presidential election, creating an average U.S. House member attrition rate of 33.4…
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When do election winners take office?
With the 2020 election cycle coming to a close, voters may be wondering how quickly those they elected will take office. At the federal level, members of Congress will be sworn in on January 3, 2021, and the president will be sworn in on January 20, 2021. Wondering about state-level offices? Check out Ballotpedia’s page,…
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Georgia U.S. Senate candidate Jon Ossoff completes Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connections survey
Jon Ossoff, the Democratic nominee in the regularly-scheduled U.S. Senate election in Georgia, recently completed Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connections survey. Ossoff faces incumbent David Perdue (R) and Shane Hazel (L) in the general election for U.S. Senate. Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey so voters can discover what motivates them…
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Special election called in Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District after candidate’s death
The general election for Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District has been postponed after the death of Legal Marijuana Now Party candidate Adam Weeks. A special election for the seat is scheduled for February 9, 2021. According to Minnesota law, if a major party candidate dies within 79 days of the general election, a special election must…