Category: State

On March 19, 2019, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) vetoed Senate Bill 1156, which would have prohibited sanctuary cities.   The term sanctuary jurisdiction refers to a city, county, or state that has enacted policies that limit local officials’ involvement in the enforcement of federal immigration law. The official bill summary described SB 1156 as…

On March 21, the Nevada State Senate gave final approval to a measure to remove the constitutional status of the Board of Regents, which governs Nevada’s state universities. The amendment—Assembly Joint Resolution 5 (AJR 5)— was previously approved in both chambers during the 2017 legislative session and by the state Assembly on March 11, 2019.…

State legislative offices are up for regular election in seven chambers across four states this year. General elections in Mississippi, New Jersey, and Virginia are scheduled for November 5, while general elections in Louisiana are set for November 16.   The chambers with the closest margins of partisan control are in Virginia, where Republicans hold…

On March 26, 2019, special primary elections will be held for California State Senate Districts 1 and 33. If no candidate wins a majority of the vote in the primary, a general election will take place on June 4. Candidates wishing to run in these elections were required to file by January 31.   The…

A special election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 11B was held on March 19, 2019, to replace former incumbent Jason Rarick (R) after he was elected to the Minnesota State Senate in February 2019. Prior to joining the state Senate, Rarick served in the state House from 2015 to 2019. He first won the…

Marcia Washington (D) was sworn into the Nevada State Senate District 4 seat on March 18 to replace former Majority Leader Kelvin Atkinson (D). Atkinson resigned his seat on March 5 after pleading guilty to using $250,000 in campaign funds for personal purposes.   Washington previously served on the Nevada State Board of Education and…

Cedar Falls School Board member Eric Giddens (D) defeated former state Rep. Walt Rogers (R) in a special election for the District 30 seat in the Iowa State Senate. Giddens won with 57 percent of the vote to Rogers’ 42 percent.   The appearance of current and potential 2020 Democratic presidential candidates in the district…

On March 18, 2019, Rep. Brian Ellis (R) resigned his seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives amid allegations of sexual misconduct. Ellis, who represented Pennsylvania’s 11th state House district, said the following in his resignation letter: “It is with immense gratitude to the sacrifices made by my family, the support of my constituents, and…

The governorship is the only top-level elected executive office to exist in all 50 states. However, the powers and responsibilities of the office vary from state to state.   Here are five things you may not know about the office of governor:   1. Republicans have held a majority of the nation’s gubernatorial offices since…

The special election for District 11B of the Minnesota House of Representatives is on March 19. Hinckley City Councilman Tim Burkhardt (D) and Clover Township Board Supervisor Nathan Nelson (R) are facing off in the general election. The seat became vacant after Jason Rarick (R) won a special election for District 11 of the Minnesota…