42 people declared candidacies for federal or statewide offices in the past week, five more than last week. All of these candidates declared before their state’s official filing deadline.
Twenty-four of those candidates were Democratic, while 18 were Republican.
Thirty candidates are running for Congress, four for governorship, and eight for a lower state executive office.
Since the beginning of the year, Ballotpedia has identified 654 declared candidates for federal and statewide offices.
An official candidate is someone who registers with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline or appears on candidate lists released by government election agencies. A declared candidate is someone who has not completed the steps to become an official candidate but who might have done one or more of the following:
Appeared in candidate forums or debates
Published a campaign website
Published campaign social media pages
Advertised online, on television, or through print
Issued press releases
Interviewed with media publications
For more on Ballotpedia’s definition of candidacy, click here.
The statewide primary election for Kentucky is on May 16, 2023. The filing deadline to run passed on Jan. 6. Candidates are running in elections for the following offices:
Governor and lieutenant governor, secretary of state, treasurer, auditor of public accounts, and commissioner of agriculture
Kentucky State Senate District 28 (special)
The Democratic and Republican primaries for attorney general were canceled after only one candidate filed for each election, respectively.
Candidates are competing to advance to the general election scheduled for Nov. 7, 2023. Kentucky’s primary is the 5th statewide primary to take place in the 2023 election cycle. The next primary is also on May 16 in Pennsylvania.
Nine candidates are running in the Democratic primary for mayor of Philadelphia on May 16, 2023. The winner will face David Oh—the only candidate who ran for the Republican nomination—in the general election on Nov. 7. Incumbent Jim Kenney (D), who was first elected mayor in 2015 and re-elected in 2019, is term-limited.
Asha Prihar, Jordan Levy, Meir Rinde, and Clifton Jackson wrote at BillyPenn.com, “The race to succeed term-limited Jim Kenney and become Philly’s 100th mayor is crowded. The field is full of candidates with solid experience, varied backgrounds, and a diverse array of ideas for the city’s future. With Philly’s 7-to-1 voter registration imbalance between the two major parties, the winner of the May Democratic primary is highly likely to win in the general election this fall. Given past turnout numbers for an odd-year primary, a lead of 10,000 to 15,000 votes could boost someone to a de facto overall victory.”
Jeff Brown, Allan Domb, Helen Gym, Cherelle Parker, and Rebecca Rhynhart lead in fundraising and media mentions.
Philadelphia has had a resign-to-run rule in its city charter since 1951. According to Henry Savage of The Philadelphia Inquirer, “If you work for the City of Philadelphia or hold an elected position in city government, you have to quit your job first in order to run for another public office. The only exception is if you are an elected official running for re-election.”
Brown owns 12 grocery stores in the city and has never run for elected office. In Jan. 2023, he was endorsed by the city’s largest labor union, District Council 33 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents 9,500 workers. He told Axios he was running for mayor because “Philadelphia is an amazing city with great potential, but we have been failed by bad leadership. I want to be mayor to serve the people of our city, address structural poverty and make this the city we all deserve.”
Domb was elected as an at-large member of the Philadelphia City Council in 2015 and served on the council until 2022, when he resigned to run for mayor. He is a realtor and founded a real estate agency. Domb said he was “running for mayor because Philadelphia is in crisis and needs a leader who has the experience and vision needed to take on our biggest challenges.”
Gym was elected as an at-large member of the Philadelphia City Council in 2015 and served until 2022, when she resigned to run for mayor. She is the former executive director of Asian Americans United and the co-founder of Parents United for Public Education, which described itself on its website as “a parent-led citywide organization focused on providing an independent voice for parents fighting for public education.” Gym told Axios she was running for mayor “to finish a job I started 30 years ago, when I was a teacher and a tough Philly mom who refused to accept broken systems, took on tough challenges and organized alongside communities for change.”
Parker was elected to the city council in 2016 and served until 2022, when she resigned to run for mayor. She began her political career as a city council staff member and served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 2005 to 2016. Parker was elected the council’s majority leader in 2020. Her website says, “It was in this role where she focused on public safety, stabilizing “middle neighborhoods,” economic opportunity – especially for small businesses, and working to get city government to function like it should.”
Rhynhart was elected Philadelphia City Controller in 2018 and resigned in 2022 to run for mayor. She is a former director at Fitch Ratings and managing director at Bear Stearns. Rhynhart was appointed Philadelphia City Treasurer in 2008 by former Mayor Michael Nutter, and also served as the city’s Budget Director and Chief Administrative Officer under Mayor Jim Kenney. Rhynhart’s website says that her time spent in the city’s various financial roles was important: “She used her financial expertise to expose wasteful spending and make government work more effectively with an emphasis on equity, fairness and social justice. She has shown courage in refusing to back down from tough fights in order to serve Philadelphia.”
The city’s last 10 mayors were all elected as Democrats, and the last Republican to serve as mayor was Bernard Samuel, whose term ended in 1952.
The filing deadline for the primary was March 8, and the filing deadline for the general election for independent candidates is Aug. 1.
Nationally, governors issued 14 executive orders from April 3-9. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) led the field with three each, followed by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) with two. Governors in 41 states issued the fewest orders with zero.
Governors use executive orders to manage executive branch operations. Last week’s executive orders account for 3% of the year-to-date total of 425. Governor Kemp leads with 123 orders issued since Jan. 1, followed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) with 64 and New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) with 39.
Georgia and Florida lead in the number of executive orders issued for two reasons: unlike most states, in Georgia, the governor uses executive orders to appoint and reappoint members of state boards and judges. In Florida, also unlike most states, the governor uses executive orders for state attorney executive assignments.
Governors in 19 states have issued fewer than five orders since the start of the year, and those in 13 states have yet to issue any orders so far. In states with a Republican trifecta, governors issued 266 orders, while governors in states with a Democratic trifecta issued 113. A trifecta is when one political party holds the governorship and majorities in both chambers of the state legislature. In states where neither party holds trifecta control, governors issued 46 orders.
27 candidates filed for federal and statewide offices last week
Ballotpedia identified 27 declared candidates for federal and statewide offices over the previous week. All of these candidates declared prior to their state’s official filing deadline. That number is eight more than the number of candidates processed the previous week (19). Twelve of those candidates were Democratic, while 13 were Republican. Two were third-party candidates.
Of those candidates, 10 filed for Congress, 15 filed for state legislatures, one filed for governorship, and one filed for a lower state executive office.
Each week, Ballotpedia processes declared candidacy for all elected federal and state offices. We process both official and declared candidates.
An official candidate is someone who registers with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline or appears on candidate lists released by government election agencies. A declared candidate is someone who has not completed the steps to become an official candidate but who might have done one or more of the following:
Appeared in candidate forums or debates
Published a campaign website
Published campaign social media pages
Advertised online, on television, or through print
Issued press releases
Interviewed with media publications
For more on Ballotpedia’s definition of candidacy, click here.
Twenty-five states announced on January 26 that they had filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration alleging that, in their view, the Department of Labor’s new rule allowing for the consideration of ESG factors in Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)-governed retirement investments increased portfolio risk and violated the law:
“A group of 25 states on Thursday filed a federal lawsuit against the Biden administration, arguing a recent rule allowing retirement plan managers to factor environmental and social issues into investment decisions violated the law.
“The lawsuit — led by Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes and joined by 24 other states including Louisiana, Texas and Virginia — challenges a Department of Labor (DOL) rule unveiled in November and which is set to go into effect on Jan. 30. The rule would open the door for fiduciaries to factor so-called environment, social and governance (ESG) considerations into Americans’ retirement accounts, an action the states argued could significantly harm the financial interests of customers.
“‘The Biden administration is promoting its climate change agenda by putting everyday people’s retirement money at risk,’ Reyes told FOX Business in a statement. ‘Americans are already suffering from the current economic downturn.’
“‘Permitting asset managers to direct hard-working Americans’ money to ESG investments puts trillions of dollars of retirement savings at risk in exchange for someone else’s political agenda,” he continued. ‘We are acting with urgency on this case because this illegal rule is set to take effect next week. It must be stopped.’
“The two dozen states filed the challenge in a federal district court in Texas and asked the court for a preliminary injunction to prevent the DOL from implementing the rule until a ruling had been issued in the case.
“In the lawsuit, the states allege that the DOL violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1974. The law safeguards the retirement income of 152 million U.S. workers, equivalent to more than two-thirds of the nation’s adult population, and covers roughly $12 trillion in assets.”
In its coverage of the story, which focused specifically on Wyoming’s participation in the lawsuit, The Center Square quoted market analyst and ESG opponent Stephen Soukup, who suggested that the lawsuit could test the Biden administration’s approach to climate change and noted that a group represented by former Labor Department official Jonathan Berry had joined the plaintiff states:
“According to Stephen Soukup, who’s head of the investment consulting group The Political Forum, not only will the lawsuit test the nation’s tolerance for non-pecuniary ESG investing, but it will also ‘test the legitimacy of the Biden administration’s ‘whole of government’ approach to climate change and the power of administrative agencies to rewrite the plain meaning of long-standing statutes.’
“‘It is worth noting that, in addition to half the states filing suit, Liberty Energy has joined the plaintiffs as well,’ Soukup said. ‘Liberty is represented in this case by Jonathan Berry of Boyden Gray & Associates and Berry is, himself, a former Labor Department official, who worked specifically on preserving the clear meaning of ERISA and preventing ESG advocates from playing politics with Americans’ retirement accounts.’
“Starting Monday, retirement plan managers will be able to factor in a company’s environmental, social, and governing (ESG) positions when making investment decisions, as a Biden administration rule goes into effect – despite the objection of 25 Republican-led states.
“The lawsuit was filed Thursday in federal court in Texas. The court has yet to issue a ruling on the request for an injunction. If granted, the rule would be blocked for the duration of the case, depending on any subsequent appeal.”
Thirty-three U.S. states and territories report the party affiliations of registered voters as indicated on their voter registration forms. In states with closed primaries, affiliation with a political party can be a condition of participation in that party’s primaries. The remaining states either do not request partisan affiliations on their registration forms or they do not report the totals publicly.
The map below shows the 33 states and territories that display voter registration figures publicly. Note that the U.S. Virgin Islands does not appear on this map.
In 23 of the 33 included states and territories, no single partisan affiliation included the majority of registered voters. Democrats were the majority of registered voters in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands and were the largest plurality of registered voters in nine other states. Republicans were a majority of registered voters in Idaho, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming and were the largest plurality of registered voters in eight other states.
The majority of registered voters were independents or unaffiliated with any political party in Alaska, Arkansas, and Massachusetts. Independents were the largest plurality in six other states. Members of other political partieswere neither a majority nor the largest plurality in any of the states or territories covered.
The table below provides a detailed breakdown of the partisan affiliations of registered voters in the states and territories that publicly report these figures.
In the 2020 presidential election, Joe Biden (D) received a combined 53.5% of the vote to Donald Trump’s (R) 44.7% across the 33 included states and territories. Nearly 124 million registered voters reside in these areas. According to Ballotpedia’s analysis, 48 million registered voters in these areas identified themselves as Democrats. At 38.78%, Democrats represented the single largest share of registered voters in the included states and territories. A total of 36.4 million registered voters identified themselves as Republicans, representing 29.42% of registered voters in the included areas. Approximately 4 million registered voters identified themselves as members of other political parties. This amounted to 3.25% of registered voters in these areas.
A total of 35.3 million registered voters identified themselves as independents or unaffiliated with any political party. This amounted to 28.55% of registered voters in the included areas. Independent and third-party voters were 31.80% of all registered voters in these areas. For context, independent and third-party presidential candidates received about 1.9% of the vote nationwide.
New applications for U.S. unemployment insurance benefits rose 4,000 for the week ending July 2 to a seasonally adjusted 235,000. The four-week moving average as of July 2 rose to 232,500 from 231,750 as of the week ending June 25.
The number of continuing unemployment insurance claims, which refers to the number of unemployed workers who filed for benefits at least two weeks ago and are actively receiving unemployment benefits, rose 51,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1.375 million for the week ending June 25. Reporting for continuing claims lags one week.
Unemployment insurance is a joint federal and state program that provides temporary monetary benefits to eligible laid-off workers who are actively seeking new employment. Qualifying individuals receive unemployment compensation as a percentage of their lost wages in the form of weekly cash benefits while they search for new employment.
The federal government oversees the general administration of state unemployment insurance programs. The states control the specific features of their unemployment insurance programs, such as eligibility requirements and length of benefits.
Ballotpedia is tracking 20 citizen-initiated measures in nine states related to marijuana that could appear before voters in 2022. As of 2022, recreational marijuana is legal in 18 states and Washington, D.C., and medical marijuana is legal in 36 states and D.C.
In Ohio, sponsors of an initiative to legalize recreational marijuana submitted an additional 29,918 signatures on January 13, after the secretary of state verified their initial petition contained 119,825 valid signatures–13,062 less than the number required. If enough of the additional signatures are found to be valid, the initiative will go before the state legislature. If the state legislature does not enact it outright, sponsors will have to collect a second round of 132,887 signatures to place it on the 2022 ballot. In 2015, Ohio voters defeated Issue 3 with a margin of 63.65% to 36.35%.
In Arkansas, voters could decide on two marijuana initiatives. One initiative would decriminalize marijuana, give limited immunity to cannabis businesses, and create regulations on the cannabis industry. The other would legalize marijuana use for individuals 21 years of age and older regardless of residency. Both campaigns have until July 8, 2022, to collect 89,151 valid signatures.
Florida voters could decide changes to the state’s medical marijuana amendment approved by voters in 2016 with two separate initiatives. Initiative #18-02 would add nine mental health disorders to the list of qualifying conditions to purchase and use medical marijuana. Initiative #18-05 would redefine medical use under the measure to include growing up to nine marijuana plants.
Nebraska has four initiatives cleared for circulation related to marijuana. Three of the initiatives would establish a state medical marijuana program and are sponsored by State Senators Anna Wishart (D) and Adam Morfeld (D). One initiative is a constitutional amendment, and the other two are state statutes. The Nebraska Hemp Company filed a constitutional amendment to legalize recreational marijuana. The Nebraska signature deadline is July 7, 2022.
In North Dakota, an initiative was cleared for signature gathering that would legalize marijuana use for residents 21 years of age and older and allow a person to possess, grow, process, or transport up to 12 cannabis plants for personal use. In 2018, North Dakota voters defeated Measure 3, an initiative that would have legalized marijuana, in a vote of 59.45% to 40.55%.
Kind Idaho filed an initiative to establish a state medical marijuana program. Sponsors attempted to qualify an identical initiative for the 2020 Idaho ballot but suspended their signature-gathering campaign in April 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Voters could also decide on an initiative to legalize recreational marijuana. The initiative is sponsored by The Idaho Way. The campaigns need to submit 64,945 valid signatures by May 1, 2022.
In Missouri, there are three initiatives cleared for circulation that would legalize and regulate recreational marijuana. The initiatives were filed by three different sponsors. A constitutional amendment to change the state’s medical marijuana program approved by voters in 2018 was also cleared for circulation. It would allow medical marijuana patients to grow marijuana for personal use, decrease the cost of a patient identification card from $100 to $25, and allow up to three primary caregivers for a medical marijuana patient. The signature requirement for constitutional amendments is 160,199 signatures by May 8, 2022.
Oklahomans for Responsible Cannabis Action filed three initiatives. Two initiatives would (1) amend the state constitution to legalize marijuana for persons 21 years old and older and (2) impose a 15% excise tax on marijuana sales for purchases by an individual without a medical marijuana license. The third initiative would make changes to the state’s medical marijuana program to create the State Cannabis Commission to replace the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority.
In South Dakota, an initiative to legalize marijuana was cleared for signature gathering. In 2020, 54.18% of voters approved Amendment A, which would have legalized marijuana, but it was later overturned by a supreme court ruling that found the initiative violated the state’s single-subject rule and constituted a revision of the constitution rather than an amendment. The 2022 initiative was filed by New Approach South Dakota, which also sponsored the 2020 amendment.
This edition of the State Ballot Measure Monthly report covers certifications and a selection of notable ballot measure news from May 17 through June 17.
Here are the highlights:
• 10 statewide measures were certified for the 2021 ballot in Louisiana, Maine, New York, and Texas.
• One measure was removed from the 2021 ballot in Colorado.
• 12 statewide measures were certified for the 2022 ballot in six states.
• Texas’ 2021 constitutional amendments are finalized. Voters will decide eight measures, including two measures proposed in response to COVID-19 and related regulations.
• One amendment in Texas would prohibit the state or any political subdivision from limiting religious services or organizations. Another would provide residents of nursing facilities, assisted living facilities, or state-supported living centers with the right to designate an essential caregiver who may not be prohibited from visiting the resident.
• An initiative was certified for the 2022 ballot in California that would legalize sports betting at American Indian gaming casinos and licensed racetracks.
• Oregon voters will decide a measure in 2022 to make affordable healthcare a constitutional right.
• Connecticut voters will decide in 2022 on a constitutional amendment to allow early voting.
• The Massachusetts Legislature referred a measure to enact an additional tax on income above $1 million to fund education and transportation. The amendment is identical to a 2018 citizen initiative that initially qualified for the ballot but was later removed by the Massachusetts Supreme Court.
• A federal court judge blocked the enforcement of paid circulator registration requirements that the South Dakota Legislature passed in 2020.
