As of January 13, 2020, 2,271 major party candidates have filed to run for the Senate and House of Representatives in 2020. So far, 329 candidates are filed with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) to run for U.S. Senate. Of those, 281—148 Democrats and 133 Republicans—are from one of the two major political parties. In…
Six Democratic candidates will participate in the seventh presidential primary debate on Tuesday: former Vice President Joe Biden, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Sen. Bernie Sanders, businessman Tom Steyer, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Each candidate had to receive 5% support or more in at least four national or early state polls…
Each week, we report the number of pageviews received by 2020 presidential campaigns on Ballotpedia. These numbers reflect the time investments of our community of thousands of readers who visit a Ballotpedia because they think the candidate is worth knowing more about, whether they believe the candidate has a strong chance of winning or is…
Eileen Filler-Corn (D) will serve as the first female and first Jewish speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates. The House of Delegates and Virginia State Senate comprise the Virginia General Assembly—the oldest legislative body in America—having been established in 1619. The speaker of the House is a partisan leadership position in the House of…
On January 10, 2020, the Democratic Legislative Committee of Illinois’ 21st Legislative District appointed Edgar Gonzalez Jr. (D) to the state House of Representatives. Gonzalez succeeds former state Rep. Celina Villanueva (D), who was appointed to the Illinois State Senate on January 7. At 23 years old, Gonzalez is among the youngest legislators to ever…
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) appointed Dr. Tommie Stewart to represent District 5 of the Alabama State Board of Education on January 7, 2020. Stewart’s appointment was effective immediately and filled the vacancy left by former Board member Ella Bell, who died in November 2019. Stewart previously served as the dean of Alabama State University’s…
On January 13, 2020, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) resigned from the U.S. House. In December 2019, Hunter pleaded guilty to misuse of campaign funds and announced that he would resign after the holidays. In August 2018, Hunter and his wife and former campaign manager, Margaret, were indicted on federal charges of wire fraud, falsifying records,…
A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on January 10 unanimously ruled that a district court must reconsider a lawsuit arguing that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The American Anti-Vivisection Society and the Avian Welfare Coalition sued the USDA…
On January 7, 2020, Illinois State Representative Celina Villanueva (D) was appointed by the Cook County Democratic Committee to fill the vacant District 11 state Senate seat. Villanueva assumed office on January 7, 2020, and her current term will end on November 3, 2020. Villanueva’s appointment came after former state Senator Martin Sandoval (D) resigned…
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan (R) appointed U.S. Marine Corps veteran and businessman Mike Griffith (R) to fill the vacant District 35B state House seat on December 30, 2019. Griffith assumed office on January 6, 2020, and his term will end on January 10, 2023. Griffith’s appointment came after former state Delegate Andrew Cassilly (R) resigned…