Category: State
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Utah referendum effort to repeal tax bill qualifies for the ballot; Utah Legislature votes to repeal it themselves
On January 28, 2020, a veto referendum targeting Utah Senate Bill 2001 qualified for the ballot. A veto referendum is a type of citizen-initiated ballot measure that asks voters whether to uphold or repeal a law passed by the state legislature. There are 23 states that have a process for veto referendums at the statewide…
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Republican wins runoff for Texas House District 28
Gary Gates (R) defeated Elizabeth Markowitz (D) 58-42 in the runoff election for the District 28 seat in the Texas House of Representatives. Before the runoff, The Hayride, a conservative political commentary site, described the race as “a test case to see if [Republicans] can hold turf in the ‘urban suburbs’ of Houston.” ABC 13…
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Governor Newsom appoints Jackson to California Court of Appeal
On January 21, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom’s (D) appointee to the California First District Court of Appeal—Justice Terri L. Jackson—was unanimously confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments. Justice Jackson is now the first female, African-American justice to sit on the California First District Court of Appeal. Before her appointment, Jackson served as a judge…
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Matthews appointed to fill late Representative’s New Mexico House seat
Bernalillo County commissioners appointed Marian Matthews (D) to the New Mexico House of Representatives on January 7, 2020. She was sworn in that same day to represent District 27, which was represented by the late Rep. William Pratt (D) until he passed away on December 25, 2019. Pratt first assumed office in January 2019 following…
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Johnson appointed to state House seat in Washington
On January 13, 2020, Jesse Johnson (D) was appointed to fill the District 30-Position 2 seat in the Washington House of Representatives. The seat had been vacant since former Rep. Kristine Reeves (D) resigned in December 2019 to run for U.S. Congress. Johnson represents District 30 along with Position 1 Rep. Mike Pellicciotti. Both of…
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Filing deadline passes for Maine House special election
On January 23, the filing deadline passed to run in the Maine House of Representatives District 128 special election. Political parties in Maine had until that date to submit candidate nominations to the secretary of state. Two candidates, Kevin O’Connell (D) and Garrel Craig (R), are competing in the general election on March 3, 2020.…
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Utah legislature to repeal tax bill after signatures filed for veto referendum
Supporters of a veto referendum petition effort targeting the repeal of Utah Senate Bill 2001 reported submitting 152,000 signatures on January 21 to put the bill on the November ballot. SB 2001, titled Tax Restructuring Revisions, was designed to make changes to the state tax code including decreasing the individual and corporate income tax rates…
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Republicans keep Connecticut House seat in special election
A special general election was held on January 21, 2020, to fill the Connecticut House’s District 151 seat left vacant by the resignation of Rep. Fred Camillo (R). Republican Harry Arora won the special election with 2,345 votes versus the 1,965 votes for Democrat Cheryl Trepp Moss. The special election was called after Camillo resigned…
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Over $6.29 million raised for California Proposition 13 (March 2020), a $15 billion education facilities bond measure
Committees surrounding California Proposition 13, a $15-billion education facilities bond measure that is on the ballot for March 3, 2020, filed their first periodic campaign finance reports on January 23, 2020. Of the $15 billion in bonds that Proposition 13 would authorize, $9 billion would be for preschool and K-12 schools, $4 billion would be…
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Record-long gubernatorial winning streaks are ongoing in 18 states
More than one-third of states are in the midst of a record-long gubernatorial winning streak (when multiple consecutive gubernatorial elections in a state are won by candidates from the same party). The longest-running winning streaks—for Oregon Democrats and Utah Republicans—each go back 10 elections. There are 12 record-long Republican winning streaks and six record-long Democratic…