Category: State
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November 2020 breakdown of state legislative party membership—52.4% Republicans, 46.6% Democrats
According to Ballotpedia’s November partisan count of the 7,383 state legislators across the United States, 46.58% of all state legislators are Democrats and 52.39% are Republicans. 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. Prior…
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Nevada voters reject ballot measure that would have increased legislative control over state board of regents
On November 3, Nevada voters chose not to adopt Nevada Question 1, a ballot measure that would have given the state legislature more control over the Nevada State Board of Regents. The Board of Regents is an elected executive agency that manages Nevada’s higher education system. According to the 2017 legislation that introduced the ballot…
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Virginia House of Delegates District 90 special election scheduled for Jan. 5, 2021
A new state legislative special election has been added to our list. The special election is for the District 90 seat in the Virginia House of Delegates on January 5, 2021. There is no primary, and the filing deadline is on December 7.
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Ballotpedia publishes special study on state supreme court partisanship
Ballotpedia recently published a study on state supreme courts entitled “Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship”. Among the findings, the study showed that there has been an increase in partisanship on the state courts over the past ten years and that there is a correlation between the partisanship of justices selected for state supreme courts and the…
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Chief justice confirmed to Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
On November 18, 2020, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Justice Kimberly Budd was confirmed as the chief justice of the court. Budd was nominated to the position by Gov. Charlie Baker (R) on October 28, 2020. She succeeded former Chief Justice Ralph D. Gants, who passed away on September 14, 2020. Budd may serve as the…
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Democrats gain veto-proof majority in New York State Senate
Democrats gained a veto-proof majority in the New York State Senate after enough remaining races were called over the weekend to bring them to a two-thirds majority in the chamber. Democrats already held a veto-proof majority in the state Assembly. In New York, two-thirds of members in both chambers must vote to override a veto,…
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Special primary runoff election to be held in Georgia State Senate district
The District 39 seat in the Georgia State Senate is up for election in a special Democratic primary runoff on December 1. The primary election took place on November 3, and the top two vote recipients—Sonya Halpern and Linda Pritchett—advanced to the runoff. The special election became necessary after incumbent Nikema Williams (D) withdrew from…
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Hawaii senate confirms Eddins to state supreme court
On November 19, 2020, the Hawaii State Senate confirmed Todd Eddins to succeed Justice Richard W. Pollack on the Hawaii Supreme Court. Gov. David Ige (D) appointed Eddins to the court on October 23, 2020. Eddins is Ige’s first nominee to the five-member supreme court. The seat became vacant when Pollack retired on June 30,…
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Colorado governor appoints Maria Berkenkotter to state supreme court
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) appointed Maria Berkenkotter to the Colorado Supreme Court on November 20, 2020. Berkenkotter will succeed Chief Justice Nathan Coats, who is retiring in January 2021 when he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 72. Berkenkotter is Polis’s first nominee to the seven-member supreme court. Under Colorado law, state supreme court…
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Ballotpedia study: population distribution mirrors state supreme court partisanship
Ballotpedia recently published a new study on state supreme courts entitled “Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship”. Among the findings, the study revealed trends in the distribution of the population across the country that closely tracked with the breakdown of partisan control over state supreme courts. The correlation between population distribution and court partisanship was closest among…