Category: Uncategorized

In 2019, Ballotpedia is covering elections for 36 state executive offices in Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Each state has its governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and secretary of state offices on the ballot, along with a number of down-ballot seats (24 across the three states). In total, 139 candidates filed to run for these 36…

In 1985, by a margin of 282 votes (0.1%), South Dakota voters approved a citizen initiative—Initiative 2—requiring public schools to start the school year after Labor Day.   In 1993, the state legislature altered Initiative 2 and repealed the requirement that the school year start no earlier than the first Tuesday after the first Monday…

The Federal Register is a daily journal of federal government activity that includes presidential documents, proposed and final rules, and public notices. It is a common measure of an administration’s regulatory activity.   During the week of August 26 to August 30, the number of pages in the Federal Register increased by 1,336 pages, bringing…

September is the start of meteorological autumn and, in California, the most active period for ballot initiative filings. Based on Ballotpedia’s analysis of the last three election cycles, you’ll get your first look at initiatives likely to be on California’s 2020 ballot over the next four months.   As of August 29, 27 citizen-initiated measures…

In this month’s federal vacancy count, Ballotpedia tracked nominations, confirmations, and vacancies from August 1 to August 28, 2019. Ballotpedia publishes the federal vacancy count on the last Wednesday of each month.   HIGHLIGHTS Vacancies: There has been one new judicial vacancy since the July 2019 report. There are 103 vacancies out of 870 active…

In 2018, 88 regular state legislative races were decided by margins under 0.5%, including 16 races decided by 10 or fewer votes and two which were decided by a single vote. Eighteen of these races took place in New Hampshire, three times as many as in any other state.   Regular state legislative elections for…

Since the United States Constitution’s ratification in 1789, the country has grown from 864,746 square miles to 3,531,905 through territorial acquisitions.   According to the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs, the United States has employed three methods of territorial acquisition: Cession refers to a transfer of land that is formally agreed upon…

The Republican National Committee (RNC) outraised its Democratic counterpart by more than two-to-one for the fourth consecutive month in July. At the same time, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) outraised its Republican counterpart for the first time this year, according to campaign finance reports filed with the FEC.   The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee…

A new state legislative special election has been added to our list. The special election is for the District 148 seat in the Texas House of Representatives on November 5, 2019. There is no primary, and the filing deadline is on September 4.

A state government triplex occurs when a state’s governor, attorney general, and secretary of state are all members of the same political party. In states where these officers are not all from the same party, differing political views can bring them into direct conflict with one another.      Three states—Kentucky, Louisiana, and Mississippi—are holding elections in…