Daily Brew: April 1, 2026

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Ballotpedia's Daily Brew


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Wake up and learn



Welcome to the Wednesday, April 1, Brew.

By: Briana Ryan

Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

  1. Utah redistricting initiative to repeal Proposition 4 will not be on the ballot after voters withdraw their signatures
  2. A look at the six endorsers in Texas' March 3 primaries
  3. Democrats have gained 12 state legislative seats in special elections since January 2025

Utah redistricting initiative to repeal Proposition 4 will not be on the ballot after voters withdraw their signatures

A Utah initiative to repeal Proposition 4, which created the state's Independent Redistricting Commission, will not be on the ballot this year. While supporters originally submitted more than 200,000 signatures, and the lieutenant governor verified more than 160,000 of them, enough voters requested that their signatures be removed from the petition to ultimately disqualify the initiative.

The initiative's sponsors needed to submit a number of signatures meeting two criteria to put it on the ballot:

  • A total number equal to 8% of the state's active voters, or 140,748. 
  • 8% of active voters in each of 26 of Utah's 29 Senate districts

The number of verified signatures still meets the required threshold. But while supporters originally met the 8% requirement in 26 Senate districts, voters in Senate District 15 have removed enough signatures to drop below the district requirement.

Effort to withdraw signatures 

Beginning in February, Better Boundaries, the group that sponsored Proposition 4 in 2018, led an effort to encourage voters who had signed the petition to remove their signature. The effort included sending letters to voters and providing them with a postage-paid, pre-filled form to send to their county clerk to remove their name from the petition.

On March 6, the Utah Legislature approved HB 242. Gov. Spencer Cox (R) signed HB 242 the next day. Among its provisions, the bill invalidated any signature-removal statements postmarked after that date and submitted with prepaid postage. Legislative Republicans, except one in the Senate, voted for HB 242, while legislative Democrats, except one in the House, voted against the bill.

On March 26, the Salt Lake Tribune reported that approximately 9,000 voters had removed their signatures from the petition. About 1,000 were in Senate District 15. 

The deadline for signing the initiative petition was Feb. 15. The deadline for removing a signature from the petition is a rolling deadline. Voters can remove their signature from the petition for 45 days after their signature is published on the state's website. 

2021 changes to petition signature law

In March 2021, the Legislature passed HB 136. Among its provisions, the bill required initiative sponsors to email signers with instructions on how to remove their signatures from the petition. Sixty-three of 72 legislative Republicans voted for the bill. Legislative Democrats, except one in the House, voted against the bill.

Other states that allow the removal of signatures from petitions

Six of the 26 states that have a statewide initiative and referendum process — California, Idaho, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, and Washington — allow individuals who have signed a ballot initiative petition to withdraw their signatures. However, Utah is the only state where a person can remove their signature after petitions have been submitted and signature verification has begun. 

Redistricting in Utah since Proposition 4

In 2018, voters approved Proposition 4 50.3% to 49.7%. It created the state's Independent Redistricting Commission to draft and recommend congressional and state legislative district maps to the state legislature for approval.

In 2020, the Legislature altered the law with SB 200. Proposition 4 originally granted the commission sole authority to draft congressional and state legislative district maps and to recommend them to the Legislature for approval. SB 200 created a legislative committee that also had the power to draft and recommend district maps. 

On Aug. 25, 2025, Judge Dianna Gibson of the Utah Third Judicial District Court ruled that SB 200 was unconstitutional. Gibson wrote, "that the Legislature unconstitutionally repealed Proposition 4, and enacted SB 200, in violation of the people's fundamental right to reform redistricting in Utah and to prohibit partisan gerrymandering." Gibson's ruling also meant that the congressional districts created in 2021 were also unconstitutional. 

On Nov. 10, 2025, the court adopted a new district map that "better satisfies the redistricting standards and requirements contained in Proposition 4." That map is the one in place as of March 2026. However, the Legislature moved the filing deadline for congressional candidates from January to March 2026 to allow time for an appeal in the case.

Click here to read more about the Eliminate the Independent Redistricting Commission Initiative.

A look at six Recognized Endorsement Contributors in Texas' March 3 primaries

Endorsements are one of the ways voters learn who candidates are and what they stand for — especially in down-ballot races where little other information is available. Ballotpedia tracks endorsements from organizations we call Recognized Endorsement Contributors (RECs): groups ranging from labor unions and advocacy organizations to newspaper editorial boards that publicly support candidates and communicate those choices to voters. In Texas' March 3 primaries, we tracked 716 total endorsements, including 416 from six groups.

Here's a look at the six endorsers, including labor groups, advocacy organizations, and newspaper editorial boards, and the types of races they focused on.

Texas AFL-CIO was the only issue-based endorser to back candidates from both major parties — backing 102 Democrats and 3 Republicans. The Texas Progressive Caucus endorsed only Democratic candidates, while Texas Right to Life and Young Conservatives of Texas endorsed only Republican candidates, mostly in partisan primaries. The two newspaper editorial boards also backed candidates from both major parties.

These groups issued the most endorsements (66.6%) in state-level elections, followed by federal (19.5%) and then local (13.9%).

  • Texas AFL-CIO: 23.8% federal, 76.2% state, 0% local
  • Texas Progressive Caucus: 0% federal, 71.4% state, 28.6% local
  • Texas Right to Life: 19.5% federal, 67.8% state, 12.6% local
  • Young Conservatives of Texas: 14.3% federal, 82.5% state, 3.2% local
  • The Austin American-Statesman editorial board: 40.6% federal, 53.1% state, 6.3% local
  • The Houston Chronicle editorial board: 21.3% federal, 42.5% state, 36.3% local

These groups made the most endorsements (73.1%) in legislative elections, followed by executive (15.4%) and then judicial (11.5%). 

  • Texas AFL-CIO: 6.7% executive, 3.8% judicial, 89.5% legislative
  • Texas Progressive Caucus: 26.5% executive, 20.4% judicial, 53.1% legislative
  • Texas Right to Life: 12.6% executive, 6.9% judicial, 80.5% legislative
  • Young Conservatives of Texas: 6.3% executive, 3.2% judicial, 90.5% legislative
  • The Austin American-Statesman editorial board: 34.4% executive, 0% judicial, 65.6% legislative
  • The Houston Chronicle editorial board: 22.5% executive, 32.5% judicial, 45.0% legislative

Click here to learn more about Recognized Endorsement Contributors.

Democrats have gained 12 state legislative seats in special elections since January 2025

Democrats' state legislative special election gains since January 2025 increased to 12 after the party gained control of two seats in Florida on March 24. Republicans have gained no seats from special legislative elections since January 2025. 

Emily Gregory (D) won a March 24 special election for Florida House District 87, winning the race by 2.4 percentage points in a district Republicans won by 19 percentage points in 2024. Brian Nathan (D) won a March 24 special election for Florida Senate District 14 by 0.6 percentage points. Republicans won the 2024 election for the seat by 9.2 percentage points.

In the House District 87 election, the Democratic vote total was 44% of the party's vote total in the district's 2024 regular election. For Republicans, that number was 28%. In Senate District 14, the Democratic vote total was 46% of the party's vote total in the district's 2022 regular election, and Republicans' was 38%.

Vote total retention

In special elections since January 2025, Democratic candidates have received an average of nine percentage points more of their party's vote total from the previous election than Republicans.

There were 83 districts where a Democrat was on both the special election and the previous general election ballots. On average in those districts, Democratic vote totals in the special elections were 39% of the party's vote totals in the previous regular general elections. 

There were 78 districts where a Republican was on both the special election and the previous general election ballots. On average, Republican vote totals in the special elections were 30% of the party's vote totals in the previous regular general elections.

Margin of victory shifts

In 57 districts, both the special election and the most recent general election had candidates from both major parties. Democrats won 42 of those special elections, and Republicans won 15. Democrats won 33 of the previous general elections in those districts, and Republicans won 24.

Forty-five of those districts shifted toward Democrats in the special election compared to the previous election, and 12 shifted toward Republicans. Overall, the average shift across all 57 districts was 5.3 percentage points toward Democrats.

Click here to read more about this year's state legislative special elections.

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