Category: State

Louis Pate (R), who served as an elected official in North Carolina for more than 20 years, resigned from office last week for health reasons. Pate won re-election in November 2018 to state Senate District 7, defeating David Brantley (D) 54-45 percent in the general election.   North Carolina is one of 10 states where…

On January 24, state attorney general Tim Fox (R) announced he was running for governor of Montana in 2020. Fox was first elected attorney general in 2012 and re-elected in 2016. He is the second Republican to declare his candidacy after Montana Secretary of State Corey Stapleton (R) announced that he was running for governor…

On January 29, Kentucky’s filing deadline will pass to run for one of the following seven offices: governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, agriculture commissioner, auditor, and treasurer. The primary is scheduled for May 21, and the general election is on November 5.   The governor and lieutenant governor will be elected on…

Republican leader David Talerico’s bid to become Alaska House speaker failed Tuesday in a 20-20 vote. Talerico needed 21 votes to become the House’s permanent presiding officer and organize the House under a Republican majority.   Republicans, who won 23 seats in the 2018 elections, split 20-3 on the Talerico vote, with Reps. Gary Knopp,…

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) appointed Carlos G. Muñiz to the Florida Supreme Court on January 22, effective immediately. Muñiz is DeSantis’ third appointment to the court. DeSantis previously appointed Florida Third District Court of Appeal Judges Barbara Lagoa and Robert Luck. The seats were vacant following the retirement of Justices Fred Lewis, Barbara Pariente, and…

Stu Lourey won the Democratic primary for Minnesota’s Senate District 11 special election Tuesday. He received 53 percent of the vote to Michelle Lee’s 47 percent with all precincts reporting. Lourey faces Jason Rarick (R) and John Birrenbach (Legal Marijuana Now Party) in the general election on February 5. Rarick and Birrenbach were unopposed in…

In 2018, four winning gubernatorial candidates—two Democrats and two Republicans—received a record-high share of the vote for a gubernatorial candidate of their party in state history. Another three gubernatorial winners—all Republicans—came within five percentage points of breaking such a record.   The candidate who surpassed his party’s state record by the greatest margin was Gov.…

The Virginia State Senate and the Virginia House of Delegates are holding elections on November 5, 2019. If Democrats gain two seats in each chamber, Virginia will become a Democratic trifecta. Republicans control the Senate 21-19 and the House 51-48 (one seat previously held by a Democrat is vacant). The term of Virginia’s governor, Ralph…

The candidate filing deadline for the special election in District 31 of the Kentucky State Senate passed on January 15. Darrell Pugh (D) and Phillip Wheeler (R) are competing in the general election on March 5.   The District 31 seat became vacant after Ray Jones (D) was elected to serve as judge executive in…

State Rep. Jeff Bridges (D) was selected by a vacancy committee to represent Senate District 26 following Sen. Daniel Kagan’s (D) resignation on January 11, 2019. Kagan had previously served in the state House of Representatives, representing District 3 from 2009 to 2016. He did not seek re-election in 2016 because of term limits, and…