Category: State

Political parties in Maine have until April 18, 2019, to submit candidate nominations to the secretary of state for the special election in District 45 of the state House of Representatives. The special election will be held on June 11.   The special election became necessary after Dale Denno (D) resigned his seat on March…

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) will have the chance to appoint two new justices to the nine-member state supreme court. Justice Patrick Wyrick vacated his seat on April 10, 2019, when he was nominated to serve on the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. Justice John Reif announced in March that…

A special election for the District 19 seat of the Connecticut House of Representatives is being held April 16. Candidates running for special elections in Connecticut are nominated through party conventions. The March 8 Republican nominating convention chose Robert Margolis as the party’s candidate, and the March 9 Democratic nominating convention chose Tammy Exum.  …

In Georgia and Florida, state legislative special elections were held on Tuesday.   A special election was held for District 28 in the Georgia House of Representatives. This was the third election for the seat in the past year. The regularly scheduled primary on May 22, 2018, and a new primary on December 4, 2018,…

Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) appointed Meredith Blaise Switzer as the District 4, Position 2, judge on the Arkansas Court of Appeals. Switzer succeeds Judge David "Mac" Glover, who died on March 23, 2019. Switzer will serve until December 31, 2020.   A new judge will be elected to the position in 2020. Under Arkansas law,…

Ninety-four state legislative seats have changed partisan control, or flipped, in special elections since 2010. Democrats have won 51 of these special elections, Republicans have won 37, and independent and third-party candidates have won six.   So far, six partisan flips have occurred in 2019—four Republican wins, one Democratic win, and one independent win.  …

The Colorado Secretary of State approved a recall petition for circulation against state Rep. Rochelle Galindo (D) on April 4. Recall supporters have until June 3, 2019, to collect 5,696 signatures to force a recall election.   According to the recall supporters, Galindo is being targeted for recall because of her support for an oil…

Both Florida and Georgia have state legislative special primaries on the ballot on April 9.   In Georgia, Chris Erwin and Dan Gasaway are running in a Republican primary for the state House's District 28 seat. The special election will be the third contest between Gasaway and Erwin. The regularly scheduled primary on May 22,…

Governor Kristi Noem (R) appointed Patricia DeVaney to the South Dakota Supreme Court on April 4, 2019. Noem selected DeVaney to succeed Justice Steven Zinter, who died on October 30, 2018. DeVaney was Noem's first appointment to the five-member court.   Under South Dakota law, state supreme court justices are appointed by the governor from…

The Yavapai County Board of Supervisors chose former Arizona Sen. Steve Pierce (R) on April 3 to replace Rep. David Stringer (R) in the Arizona House of Representatives. Stringer resigned on March 27 amid an ethics investigation.   Prior to being chosen for Stringer's seat, Pierce served in the Arizona State Senate from 2009 to…