Daily Brew: April 9, 2026
Welcome to the Thursday, April 6, Brew.
By: Briana Ryan
Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- The 100 largest U.S. cities — more Democratic mayors than any year since 2016
- Liberals expanded their majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and Republicans retained a U.S. House district on April 7
- Maine Supreme Court says bill expanding ranked-choice voting is unconstitutional
The 100 largest U.S. cities — more Democratic mayors than any year since 2016
Ahead of this year's mayoral elections, we found that more Democrats than Republicans are mayors of the 100 most populous U.S. cities.
At the start of this year, 67 of the 100 most populous cities had a Democratic mayor. Eleven of those cities are holding mayoral elections this year. Twenty-two of the 100 most populous cities had a Republican mayor. Seven of those cities are holding mayoral elections this year.
The following chart shows the partisan affiliations of all mayors among the top 100 most populous cities.
Based on 2020 population estimates, 81% of people who live in the top 100 cities have a Democratic mayor. Fourteen percent live in cities with Republican mayors. The chart below shows the partisan breakdown of the top 100 cities from largest to smallest.
Since 2016, the number of Democratic-led top-100 cities has ranged from 61 to 67, and the number of Republican-led cities has ranged from 22 to 30. Currently, there are the most Democratic mayors and the fewest Republican mayors in the top-100 cities since 2016.
Ten state capitals are holding mayoral elections this year, including eight capitals that fall outside of the top 100 cities.
At the start of this year, 33 state capitals had a Democratic mayor. Six of those are holding mayoral elections this year. Seven state capitals had Republican mayors. Two of them are holding mayoral elections this year.
Click here to see our analysis of partisanship in this year's municipal elections.
Liberals expanded their majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and Republicans retained a U.S. House district on April 7
On April 7, voters in Wisconsin and parts of five states headed to the polls. Here's a look at three elections we were watching closely: the general election for Wisconsin Supreme Court, the special runoff election for Georgia's 14th Congressional District, and the local ballot measure regarding data centers in Port Washington, Wisconsin.
Let's start with the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Chris Taylor defeated Maria S. Lazar in the nonpartisan general election for a 10-year term on the Court 60.5% to 39.5%. Incumbent Rebecca Bradley, who is part of the Court's conservative bloc, did not run for re-election.
As a result of Taylor's win, the Court's liberal majority expanded from 4-3 to 5-2. According to The Washington Post'sPatrick Marley, this election "positions liberals to keep their majority until at least 2030. Liberals could gain an additional seat next year in a race to succeed a retiring conservative justice."
Wisconsin is one of 32 states holding state supreme court elections this year.
Also in Wisconsin, Port Washington voters approved a measure regarding data center development 66% to 34%. The measure required voter approval before the city could create or approve a Tax Incremental District (TID) with either a projected base property value of $10 million or more or projected project costs of $10 million or more.
Port Washington is one of at least five jurisdictions that will decide measures related to data center development this year.
In the special runoff election for Georgia's 14th Congressional District, Clayton Fuller (R) defeated Shawn Harris (D) 57.2% to 42.8%. The district's previous representative — Marjorie Taylor Greene (R) — resigned on Jan. 5. In the 2024 general election, Greene defeated Harris 64.4% to 35.6%.
In the March 10 special general election, 17 candidates appeared on the same ballot regardless of party. Since no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, the top two vote-getters advanced to the special runoff election. Harris and Fuller received 37.3% and 34.9% of the vote, respectively.
Seven special elections have happened so far in the 119th Congress for the U.S. House of Representatives. None of those special elections resulted in a change in partisan control.
The chart below includes the six special elections that have already taken place between members of opposing parties. In the two Democratic-held districts, Democratic candidates had larger margins of victory (MOVs) than Kamala Harris (D) had in those districts in the 2024 presidential election. In the four Republican-held districts, Republicans had smaller margins of victory than President Donald Trump (R) had in the 2024 presidential election.
Once Fuller is sworn into office, Republicans' majority in the U.S. House will be 218 to 214 with one independent who caucuses with Republicans. Two other districts — New Jersey's 11th Congressional District and California's 1st Congressional District — are currently vacant.
Click here for more information about the April 7 election results.
Maine Supreme Court says bill expanding ranked-choice voting is unconstitutional
On April 6, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled that a bill expanding the use of ranked-choice voting (RCV) to general elections for governor and the Maine Legislature would violate the state’s constitution.
Maine currently uses RCV in elections for Congress and the presidency, as well as in presidential primaries and primaries for governor and the Legislature.
In 2016, voters approved the Maine Ranked Choice Voting Initiative, 52.1% to 47.9%, which authorized the use of RCV for all congressional, legislative, and gubernatorial elections.
A year later, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court issued an advisory opinion that said using RCV in gubernatorial and legislative general elections violated the Maine Constitution. The Court found that RCV conflicts with a constitutional requirement that the candidate who receives a plurality of the votes be declared the winner.
Earlier this year, lawmakers in both the Maine House of Representatives and the Maine Senate approved LD 1666, which would require the use of RCV for general and special elections for governor and the Legislature. Legislators sent a similar bill to Gov. Janet Mills’ (D) desk in 2025 but recalled it for further consideration in 2026.
Legislators opted to wait for an advisory opinion from the Maine Supreme Judicial Court before sending the bill to Mills this year. The Maine Constitution requires the Court to issue an advisory opinion if the governor or either chamber of the Legislature requests it. The Court held oral arguments on April 1.
Proponents of the bill said that the Court should consider a similar case in Alaska. In 2022, the Alaska Supreme Court held that RCV was compatible with the state constitution because a candidate wins a plurality of the votes after the final round of RCV tabulation.
Opponents of the bill said that, because the definitions in the state constitution have not changed since the 2017 ruling, the expansion of RCV was still unconstitutional.
In a unanimous advisory opinion, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled that “there are strong and convincing reasons that L.D. 1666 is unconstitutional” if it were to be enacted. It also held that the Alaska case was not relevant because Maine’s constitution uses different language.
Currently, Democratic governors have appointed all members to the Court.
“Unlike the Alaska Constitution, which delegates broad authority to Alaska’s Legislature to oversee elections and does not specify the way in which votes are cast, sorted, counted, and declared … the Maine Constitution provides significant detail about what it means to cast a vote that we simply cannot ignore,” the justices wrote.
LD 1666 is one of three bills that have advanced this session that would require or allow RCV in state or local elections.
In Virginia, legislation allowing the use of RCV in elections for any local governing body is currently on Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s (D) desk.
The Colorado House of Representatives passed a bill that requires counties with a population of 70,000 or more to have five county commissioners and authorizes the use of RCV for those elections.
Indiana and Ohio passed legislation banning RCV, while Michigan advanced a bill prohibiting RCV in 2025.
Click here for more information on RCV in the United States.
