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Daily Brew: January 23, 2026

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Ballotpedia's Daily Brew


January 26 →

Wake up and learn



Welcome to the Friday, Jan. 23, Brew.

By: Briana Ryan

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

  1. These 2026 state elections will shape K-12 education policy
  2. State legislative elections to watch in 2026, by Leslie Graves, Ballotpedia Founder and CEO
  3. Four new ballot measures have been certified for statewide ballots this year

These 2026 state elections will shape K-12 education policy

Governors, state legislators, and both appointed and elected state education officials are the key drivers of state education policies. 

This year, voters in most states will decide elections for many of those positions. Even when candidates in midterm elections are not running primarily on education issues, the decisions voters make in the voting booth this year will nevertheless shape education policy for the foreseeable future — or at least until the next round of elections. 

Let’s take a look at the state elections that will influence K-12 education policy this year. 

Gubernatorial elections

Voters in 36 states will elect a governor this year. As the chief executive of each state, governors implement state laws and manage the executive branch of the government. They also propose the state budget and use — or threaten to use — their veto power to influence appropriations. In the first half of each year, governors lay out their policy priorities in annual reports to lawmakers, most commonly referred to as state of the state addresses. Education issues almost always figure prominently in the speeches. 

In addition to influencing the budgetary process and implementing laws, most governors play a role in appointing the state officials who oversee K-12 public education. In 18 states, the governor appoints the chief state school officer. In 14 of the 36 states holding gubernatorial elections, the governor appoints the chief state school officer. In 35 states, the governor appoints some or all members of the state board of education, typically with their respective state Senate’s approval. Thirty-one of the 36 states holding gubernatorial elections fall into this category. 

Democrats and Republicans each hold 18 of the gubernatorial offices up for election this year. Fifteen incumbent governors — six Democrats and nine Republicans — are term-limited.

State legislative elections

K-12 education spending represents one of the largest line items in most state budgets, and the country’s 7,386 state lawmakers control the purse strings. Additionally, lawmakers write the laws that shape and define the education system. When legislative sessions begin each year, K-12 education is always a hot topic, and you can expect the education-related standing committees to start considering, debating, and advancing education bills. 

Voters in 46 states will decide elections for thousands of lawmakers across 88 state legislative chambers. Across all 99 chambers, Republicans hold 55.1% of seats, while Democrats hold 43.8%. 

State boards of education elections

According to the National Association of State Boards of Education, state boards across the country share the following responsibilities: “(1) authority for adopting and revising policies that promote educational excellence and equity, (2) convening experts and stakeholders to serve as a bridge between policymakers and citizens, and (3) the power to raise questions as the citizens’ voice in education.” Specific duties and powers, however, vary by state. 

Voters in eight states and Washington, D.C., will elect new members of their state boards of education. 

  • Alabama: Voters will elect four of the nine members. Currently, Republicans hold seven seats, and Democrats hold two. 
  • Colorado: Voters will elect three of the nine members. Democrats hold five seats, and Republicans hold four. 
  • Kansas: Voters will elect five of the 10 members. Republicans hold seven seats, and Democrats hold three. 
  • Michigan: Voters will elect two of the eight members. Democrats hold six seats, and Republicans hold two (both up for election this year). 
  • Nebraska: Voters will elect four of the eight members. The Nebraska State Board of Education is officially nonpartisan. 
  • Ohio: Voters will elect five of the 11 members. The Ohio State Board of Education is officially nonpartisan. 
  • Texas: Voters will elect eight of the 15 members. Republicans hold 10 seats, and Democrats hold five. 
  • Utah: Voters will elect eight of the 15 members. Republicans hold 13 seats, and Democrats hold two. 

Chief state school officer elections

The chief state school officer is known as the superintendent of public instruction or the superintendent of education (or schools), depending on the state. But in each case, the chief state school officer generally oversees the public school system and directs the state department of education. 

This year, voters in eight states will decide elections for chief state school officer. Republicans hold the office in Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Oklahoma, and South Carolina. In California, North Dakota, and Wyoming, the offices are officially nonpartisan. 

The chief state school officer is an elected office in 12 states. In most states, the state board of education or the governor appoints the chief state school officer. 

A version of this story appeared in the Jan. 21 Hall Pass, our weekly newsletter on school board politics and education policy. You can subscribe here.

State legislative elections to watch in 2026

While the majority of national media coverage will focus on congressional races, Ballotpedia is working to help our readers understand the ninety-six percent of races that occur at the state and local levels. This week, we’ll focus on state legislative chambers, 86 of which are up for electionthis year. Republicans control 51 of them, Democrats control 34, and three are tied or organized under a power-sharing agreement.

Early in the election life cycle, our editorial team identifies specific races and state legislative chambers that will receive what we call marquee coverage. This coverage includes an in-depth analysis of battleground races in state legislatures, in addition to our standard election coverage. 

I asked Joel Williams, one of our managing editors, how we select state legislative elections that receive marquee coverage. He said it comes down to three factors: campaign committee investing, narrative factors, and chambers that could change partisan control. 

Joel said, “First, we look at where the party campaign committees are investing and what races they are targeting. Both Democrats and Republicans have campaign committees specific to state legislatures, and they release lists of their targets both to gain and retain majorities.”

Our editorial team also looks for interesting storylines. Joel said, “We may add a legislature to our list of marquee coverage because the chamber has changed hands every cycle, or there’s currently a multi-party coalition, or maybe the state has significantly changed partisan lean in statewide elections since the last time the chamber held elections.”

Joel added that sometimes a legislature gets marquee coverage because of simple math — situations where flipping just a few seats could shift partisan control of the chamber. He said, “We will sometimes highlight chambers where the math makes it possible that a chamber could change partisan control.”

When I asked Joel which of our marquee races he will be watching in 2026, he highlighted Arizona, Alaska, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. 

  • In Arizona, both chambers have narrow Republican majorities. Republicans are looking to maintain control, while Democrats are looking to win control after not having it for a very long time. They have not held the Senate since 1992 or the House since 1964. Joel said that it's the only state on the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee's target list where Democrats have not held a legislative majority this century. But he added that the state has trended Democratic in recent elections for statewide office. It’s also on the Republican State Leadership Committee's target list.
  • In Alaska, a bipartisan coalition holds the majority in both chambers, and the outcomes of the elections could affect the coalition's makeup or determine whether one forms. The majority over the last several election cycles has been decided not on election night, but when members convene the session and choose a majority leader.
  • In Minnesota, Democrats won a narrow majority in both chambers in 2022, and Republicans brought the House back to a tie in 2024. This, combined with the gubernatorial election, could lead to any of our different trifecta statuses.
  • In North Carolina, Republicans are looking to defend a supermajority in the Senate and retake a supermajority in the House, while Democrats are looking to deny the supermajority to make Gov. Josh Stein’s (D) vetoes harder to override.
  • In the Pennsylvania House, Democrats won a one-seat majority in 2022 and held it in 2024. Republicans hold a five-seat majority in the Senate, so reclaiming the House would give them unified legislative control.

We’re able to do much of this election forecasting because of our historical election data. We have information about state legislative races going back to 2000, and we published our first large-scale competitiveness report in 2010. These reports allow us to monitor trends and changes in state legislatures over time. 

Stay updated on every battleground race with our comprehensive state legislative elections coverage here. 

Four new ballot measures have been certified for statewide ballots this year

As of Jan. 21, the 62 measures certified for statewide ballots in 2026 are above the historical average for this point in the cycle across even-numbered years from 2014 through 2024.

By this time during even-numbered years from 2014 through 2024, an average of 54 statewide measures had been certified for the ballot. From 2014 to 2024, an average of 153 statewide measures were certified in even-numbered years.

Over the past two weeks, four new measures — all in Virginia — were certified for the ballot:

Signatures have been submitted and are pending verification for five initiatives:

Enough signatures were verified for 11 initiatives — all in Massachusetts — to send them to the General Court. In Massachusetts, the initiative process is indirect, meaning that the General Court can pass the measure if enough signatures are valid. If the General Court does not pass it, proponents must collect an additional 12,429 valid signatures. Here are the 11 initiatives:

The next signature deadlines for ballot initiatives are Feb. 1 in Florida and Feb. 2 in Maine.

Click here for more information about the ballot measures that could be on the ballot this year.

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