Category: State
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Washington initiative signature deadline passes with no campaigns submitting signatures
The signature submission deadline for Initiatives to the People (ITP)—which is the name of direct ballot initiatives in Washington—passed on July 2, 2021. No campaigns submitted signatures. To qualify for the ballot, proponents would have needed to submit 324,516 valid signatures. A total of 136 ITPs were filed by five sponsors. The filed initiatives concerned…
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Alaska Supreme Court Justice Joel Bolger retires
Alaska Supreme Court Justice Joel Bolger retired on June 30. Former Gov. Sean Parnell (R) appointed Bolger to the state supreme court in 2013, and voters retained him in 2016 with 57% of the vote. When he retired, Bolger was the court’s chief justice, a position he had held since 2018. Bolger is the only…
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June 2021 breakdown of state legislative party membership: 54.33% Republicans, 44.87% Democrats
According to Ballotpedia’s June partisan count of the 7,383 state legislators across the United States, 54.33% of all state legislators are Republicans, and 44.87% are Democrats. Ballotpedia tallies the partisan balance of state legislatures at the end of every month. This refers to which political party holds the majority of seats in each chamber. Republicans…
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Two New Hampshire House of Representatives special elections set for Oct. 26
Elections officials have scheduled the special elections for the Cheshire 9 and Hillsborough 7 seats in the New Hampshire House of Representatives for Oct. 26. The seats became vacant after Douglas Ley (D) died on June 10 and David Danielson (R) died on May 22. The primaries are on Sept. 7, and the filing deadlines…
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Louisiana Rep. Malinda White leaves Democratic Party
Louisiana state Rep. Malinda White switched from the Democratic Party to no party on July 1. According to the Advocate, White said, “this decision came after many years of consideration for the people I represent. It was not a snap decision but one I have struggled with for a while.” White was first elected to…
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Connecticut State Senate District 36 special election set for Aug. 17
Election officials have scheduled a special election for the District 36 seat in the Connecticut State Senate for Aug. 17, 2021. The seat became vacant after Alex Kasser (D) resigned on June 22. There is no primary, and candidates will be nominated directly by political parties.
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Special elections to be held on July 13 in two Alabama state legislative districts
Special elections are scheduled for July 13 for District 14 of the Alabama State Senate and District 73 of the Alabama House of Representatives. The winners of the special elections will serve until Nov. 7, 2022. In Senate District 14, Virginia Applebaum (D) and April Weaver (R) are running in the special election. The seat…
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Maine legislature sends right-to-food constitutional amendment to 2021 ballot
Maine voters will decide a constitutional amendment to create a state right to growing, raising, harvesting, and producing food, as well as saving and exchanging seeds, at the election on November 2, 2021. People would have this right as long as an individual does not commit trespassing; theft; poaching; or abuses to private land, public…
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Do you have an election coming up? Check out our election calendar!
Check out Ballotpedia’s election calendar to see the dates of every election we’ll cover in the next month. If you want to run for office, Ballotpedia also has a calendar with every 2021 filing deadline for election we cover. Interested in only statewide or local election dates in 2021? We have calendars for that, too!…
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New Maryland superintendent of schools took office on July 1
Mohammed Choudhury took office as the new Maryland superintendent of schools on July 1. He replaces Karen Salmon, who stepped down at the end of her term on June 30. The state board of education appointed Choudhury to a four-year term on May 29. “When we set out on our search for Maryland’s next superintendent,…