Daily Brew: June 24, 2021
June 24, 2021
Welcome to the Thursday, June 24, Brew. Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- New York voters to decide five constitutional amendments this year
- India Walton defeats four-term incumbent Byron Brown in Democratic mayoral primary in Buffalo, New York
- Register for our June 28 "You Ask, Ballotpedia Answers" webinar
New York voters to decide five constitutional amendments this year
It’s been a busy month for election news in the Empire State. New York voters decided partisan primaries for local offices on Tuesday—June 22—including in New York City, which held races for mayor, comptroller, public advocate, and all 51 city council districts.
New York City’s primary featured the first use of ranked-choice voting for a mayoral race in the city's history. Election officials released preliminary results of voters’ first-choice ballots late on Tuesday, with Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams leading 12 other Democrats with 32% support in the first round of voting. Former mayoral counsel Maya Wiley and former city sanitation commissioner Kathryn Garcia followed with 22% and 20%, respectively.
In other Empire state news, later this year, New Yorkers will decide five constitutional amendments related to voting, redistricting, and the environment on Nov 2. The five measures would:
- Require a simple majority vote for the legislature to adopt redistricting plans regardless of party control, cap the number of state senators at 63, and make other changes to the redistricting process
- Add language to the state constitution’s Bill of Rights that says that “Each person shall have a right to clean air and water, and a healthful environment.”
- Authorize the state legislature to pass a statute permitting no-excuse absentee voting.
- Authorize the legislature to pass laws allowing for same-day voter registration
- Increase the New York City Civil Court's jurisdiction over lawsuits involving claims from $25,000 to $50,000.
Constitutional amendments in New York require a simple majority vote in each legislative chamber in two successive sessions with an election for state legislators in between. All of the constitutional amendments approved in 2021 were previously approved in 2019.
Since 1985, New York voters decided 50 statewide measures, approving 74% of them. During this period, the most measures on the ballot in any one year was six in 2013.
India Walton defeats four-term incumbent Byron Brown in Democratic mayoral primary in Buffalo, New York
India Walton, a nurse and community activist, defeated four-term incumbent Byron Brown (D) and Le'Candice Durham in the Democratic primary for mayor of Buffalo, New York, on Tuesday. According to unofficial results, Walton received 52% of the vote to Brown’s 45%. Brown was first elected Buffalo’s mayor in 2005 and won re-election three times. He had won his four previous Democratic primaries by an average of 26.5 percentage points.
The New York Times' Luis Ferré-Sadurní described the race as an upset, saying the outcome "could upend the political landscape in New York's second-biggest city and signal the strength of the party's left wing."
Walton received endorsements from progressive organizations, including Our Revolution and the local and national branches of the Democratic Socialists of America. She also received an endorsement from the Working Families Party of New York, which, until 2021, had endorsed Brown in all of his previous runs for mayor. Brown was supported by the Erie County Democratic Committee and multiple local labor unions, including the Buffalo Central Labor Council.
Since no Republicans filed to run, Walton will advance to the general election without major-party opposition. If elected, Walton would become Buffalo's first female mayor. She would also become the first socialist mayor of a large American city since 1960.
Ballotpedia is covering mayoral elections this year in 31 of the 100 largest U.S. cities and 12 state capitals that are not among the top 100 cities. The next mayoral elections we're following are in Lansing, Michigan, Detroit, and Seattle on Aug. 3.
Register for our June 28 "You Ask, Ballotpedia Answers" webinar
Do you want to learn more about the administrative state? Join us on Monday—June 28—at 5 pm Eastern Time for our very first ‘You Ask, Ballotpedia Answers’ webinar on nondelegation. Nondelegation is one of the key pillars of the administrative state, and it's the principle that holds that legislative bodies cannot delegate their legislative powers to executive agencies or private entities. In other words, lawmakers cannot allow others to make laws.
What is considered a delegation of power? Why is delegation considered by some to be forbidden but encouraged by others? Ballotpedia’s administrative state team is here to answer these and any other questions you might have about nondelegation, its future, and why it matters.
This live question and answer session with Ballotpedia's administrative state team gives you a chance to ask your questions to our experts. Whether you're bursting with questions or you'd just like to listen, everybody is welcome!
Click here or the link below to register for this live webinar—we'll see you Monday!
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