Category: State

  • Three state legislators switch parties in December

    Posted on

    Ballotpedia has identified three state legislators who switched their party affiliation in December. One switched from Democrat to independent, one from Republican to Libertarian, and one from Democrat to Republican.  • On Dec. 7, Georgia Rep. Valencia Stovall announced that she was leaving the Democratic Party to join the Independent party. In a Facebook post,…

  • The Runoff Report: Nearly 76,000 new voters have registered in Georgia since Nov. 3

    Posted on

    Republicans have secured 50 seats in the next U.S. Senate compared to Democrats’ 48 (including two independents who caucus with them). Control of the next Senate comes down to Georgia’s runoff elections. In The Runoff Report, we provide the latest on each race and the fight for Senate control. Regular election updates David Perdue will…

  • Maine State Senate District 14 special election set for Mar 9, 2021

    Posted on

    Election officials have scheduled a special election for the District 14 seat in the Maine State Senate on March 9, 2021. The seat became vacant on December 2 after the state legislature elected Shenna Bellows (D) secretary of state. There is no primary, and the filing deadline is on January 8.

  • Melissa Standridge sworn in as Kansas Supreme Court justice

    Posted on

    Melissa Standridge was sworn in on Dec. 14 as a justice on the Kansas Supreme Court. Gov. Laura Kelly (D) appointed Standridge on Nov. 30 to succeed Justice Carol Beier, who retired on Sept. 18. Standridge was Gov. Kelly’s third nominee to the seven-member supreme court. Under Kansas law, the governor selects a supreme court…

  • The Runoff Report: Where the GA runoff candidates are campaigning most

    Posted on

    Republicans have secured 50 seats in the next U.S. Senate compared to Democrats’ 48 (including two independents who caucus with them). Control of the next Senate comes down to Georgia’s runoff elections. In The Runoff Report, we provide the latest on each race and the fight for Senate control. Regular election updates David Perdue made…

  • Incumbent governors had a 100% re-election rate in 2020

    Posted on

    Eleven states held elections for governor this year, including nine where the incumbent ran for re-election. All nine governors up for re-election won another term this year. Republicans had greater partisan risk in 2020; the eleven states electing a governor included seven with Republican governors and four with Democratic governors. Republicans won eight of those…

  • Kansas governor announces appointment of new lieutenant governor after current LG becomes treasurer

    Posted on

    Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) announced on Dec. 14 that she would appoint David Toland to the position of lieutenant governor to fill the vacancy created by her appointment of Lt. Gov. Lynn Rogers (D) as state treasurer. Toland will take office after Rogers is sworn in as treasurer on Jan. 2, 2021. Toland is…

  • Summary of Nov. 3 state appeals court elections — Democrats win seats in Texas, Republicans gain in North Carolina

    Posted on

    Democrats won eight of the 24 seats up this year in Texas’ intermediate appellate courts, all of which were held by Republican judges heading into the election. Republicans made gains in North Carolina, winning all five intermediate appellate court seats up this year, four of which were held by Democratic or Democratic-aligned justices. The Republican…

  • Voters approved 62 constitutional amendments in 29 states in 2020

    Posted on

    Every state but Delaware requires voters to ratify proposed changes to a state’s constitution. There are four ways that proposed constitutional amendments can be proposed and put on the ballot: Through legislatively referred constitutional amendments. Through citizen-initiated constitutional amendments put on the ballot through signature petition drives. Eighteen states allow this method of amendment. Through…

  • Todd Eddins joins Hawaii Supreme Court 

    Posted on

    Image of the Hawaii Supreme Court building in Honolulu.

    Todd Eddins was sworn in to the Hawaii Supreme Court as an associate justice on Dec. 11. Founded in 1959, the Hawaii Supreme Court is the state’s court of last resort and has five judgeships. Of the five current justices, Democratic governors appointed four, and a Republican governor—Linda Lingle—appointed one.  Gov. David Ige (D) appointed…