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Daily Brew: March 25, 2019

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March 25, 2019

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Today's Brew highlights Chicago’s mayoral runoff that is eight days away + the special election for a Los Angeles Unified School District board seat now heads to a runoff  
The Daily Brew

Welcome to the Monday, March 25 Brew. Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

  1. Just over one week until Chicago’s mayoral runoff
  2. Goldberg and Repenning advance to runoff in LAUSD school board special election
  3. Measure filed to amend Oregon's recreational and medical cannabis laws

Just over one week until Chicago’s mayoral runoff

We’re just over a week until the runoff election for mayor of Chicago on April 2 between former Chicago Police Board President Lori Lightfoot and Cook County Board of Commissioners President Toni Preckwinkle. The two emerged from a 14-candidate field in the general election on February 26, in which Lightfoot finished first with 17.5 percent of the vote and Preckwinkle finished second with 16 percent.

Both Lightfoot and Preckwinkle describe themselves as the progressive in the race and have questioned their opponent’s progressive credentials. Lightfoot emphasizes her past roles in city government, saying she has experience managing teams and budgets. Preckwinkle highlights her experience as an alderman and Cook County Board of Commissioners president, saying she has the experience to run the city and a progressive record.

Lightfoot recently received the endorsement of Our Revolution Chicago, former 2019 mayoral candidates Jerry Joyce and Gery Chico, and the Chicago Tribune editorial board. She was also endorsed last week by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 9, the Amalgamated Transit Union Locals 241 and 308, and the Chicago chapter of Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA).

Preckwinkle was recently endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union, several affiliates of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the Teamsters Joint Council 25, and the Illinois Federation of Teachers. She has also been backed by U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, Former Cook County Board of Commissioners President Todd Stroger, and Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White.

This the second mayoral runoff in the city's history and the fourth open-seat mayoral race in the city in 100 years. Regardless of whether Lightfoot or Preckwinkle wins next Tuesday, Chicago will elect its first African-American female mayor. In addition to the mayoral race, Chicago is also holding runoff elections for 15 city council seats and for city treasurer.

Click below to sign up for Ballotpedia’s free webinar on Tuesday about the key issues and differences in the mayoral race. We'll also talk about the council races that went to a runoff.

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Goldberg and Repenning advance to runoff in LAUSD school board special election

Jackie Goldberg and Heather Repenning will compete in a May 14, 2019, runoff election for the District 5 seat on the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Board of Education, according to certified election results from a March 5 special election. The runoff will take place because no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote.

Goldberg finished first, receiving 48.2 percent of the vote. Repenning was second with 13.1 percent. Repenning defeated Grace Ortiz for the second-place spot by 31 votes out of just over 33,000 ballots cast.

The election was necessary to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Ref Rodriguez, who resigned after pleading guilty to a felony conspiracy charge and four misdemeanor counts of reimbursing 2015 campaign donors. After Rodriguez’ resignation, the Los Angeles Unified School Board was split 3-3 between members supported by United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) and the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA). Rodriguez had been supported by CCSA, which did not endorse in the March 5 election. The UTLA backed Goldberg.

Both Goldberg and Repenning have said they support holding charter schools to the same standards as public schools, among other positions.

LAUSD is the largest school district in California and the second-largest in the nation by enrollment. The district's total budget for the 2018-2019 school year was $13.7 billion, which is roughly equal to the $13.9 billion of total expenditures in the 2017 fiscal year by the state of Nevada.

Measure filed to amend Oregon's recreational and medical cannabis laws

Last week, a group called the Oregon Justice League filed Oregon Initiative #18, which would make changes to state laws regarding medical and recreational marijuana.

Among other things, the measure is designed to:

  • Legalize cannabis cafes/lounges where consumers could smoke marijuana indoors and allow existing dispensaries to add social consumption spaces;
  • Prohibit employers from requiring as a condition of employment that an employee or prospective employee refrain from using marijuana off-the-clock;
  • Issue lifetime medical marijuana cards to those diagnosed with incurable or chronic illnesses; and
  • Redistribute cannabis tax revenue to fund minority community development and subsidize medical cannabis purchases for low-income patients.

In 2014, voters approved Oregon Measure 91, also known as the Control, Regulation, and Taxation of Marijuana and Industrial Hemp Act of 2014, by a vote of 56 percent to 44 percent. Since its approval, the legislature has amended or repealed and replaced the text of Measure 91 multiple times.

On the latest initiative petition, the sponsors wrote, "The Oregon Justice League does not believe the State of Oregon has implemented Measure 91 in the spirit under which the law was passed. The OJL seeks to right these wrongs as well as provide a model for other states to implement a more just version of cannabis legalization.”

Oregon requires that the signatures of at least 1,000 electors accompany an initiative petition application in order to trigger a review by state officials, a period of public commentary, and the drafting of a ballot title. The 1,000 preliminary signatures count toward the final total required.

To get an initiated state statute certified for the 2020 ballot, 112,020 valid signatures are required. The deadline to submit signatures is July 2, 2020.

A total of 183 measures appeared on statewide ballots in Oregon from 1995 through 2018. The approval rate for measures on Oregon's ballot was 47.5 percent.


See also

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