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Daily Brew: March 22, 2021
March 22, 2021
 Welcome to the Monday, March 22, Brew.Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
COVID-19 policy changes - one year ago this weekOne year ago tomorrow—March 23—Oregon became the fifth state to issue a stay-at-home order due to the coronavirus pandemic. California was the first state to do so on March 19. At the federal level, President Donald Trump signed the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act on March 27. That was the first of now three aid packages Congress passed and presidents Trump or Biden have signed. Throughout March and April 2020, many states issued stay-at-home orders, closed schools, restricted travel, and changed election dates. Several of those policies are still in place. We’ll be periodically looking back on those events of one year ago. Today let’s explore a sampling of the events that happened one year ago this week. The specifics of each stay-at-home order varied from state to state, but they all closed certain categories of businesses and required people to stay home unless doing activities designated as essential.
For a list of policy changes Ballotpedia covered on other days one year ago this week, click here. For the most recent coronavirus news, including the latest on vaccines and mask mandates, subscribe to our daily newsletter, Documenting America’s Path to Recovery. Register for our election systems briefing on Wednesday
Voters approved all these changes and more through ballot measures in recent years. The landscape of election systems has changed quite a bit in the past year. On Wednesday, March 24, Ballot Measures Project Director Josh Altic and staff writer Amée LaTour will hold a briefing on recent ballot measures that have changed how people vote in certain states and cities around the country. They’ll discuss the measures I mentioned in Alaska, New York City, and St. Louis, as well as those in several cities in California, Colorado, Minnesota, and Vermont. They'll also highlight interesting primaries using new election systems this year. The briefing is at 11 a.m. Central Time on Wednesday. And if you can’t attend the presentation live, we’ll send you a link to the recording when it’s available so you can watch it on your schedule. I hope you'll join us!  Three challenge Pittsburgh mayor in Democratic primaryPittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto will face three challengers—state Rep. Edward Gainey, Tony Moreno, and Michael Thompson—in the city’s Democratic primary on May 18, according to an unofficial list issued by Allegheny County as of March 18. No Republican candidates filed to run. The filing deadline was March 9. Peduto was first elected in 2013 with 84% support to Republican Joshua Wander's 12%. Peduto won the Democratic primary that year with 52% of the vote against three other candidates. In 2017, Peduto won the Democratic primary against two other candidates with 69% of the vote and was unopposed in the general election. The primary winner will advance to the city’s mayoral general election on Nov. 2. Independent candidates have until Aug. 2 to file. If no independent candidate files, the May 18 Democratic primary winner will be unopposed in the general election. As of January, 64 mayors in the nation’s 100 largest cities were Democrats, 25 were Republican, and 11 were independent or nonpartisan. Between 2014 and 2020, 68.2% of incumbent mayors sought re-election; of these, 17.6% were defeated in their bids for re-election.
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