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Daily Brew: May 1, 2019

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May 1, 2019

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Today's Brew highlights two new judges appointed to the Iowa Court of Appeals + a rundown of legislative changes to ballot measure laws  
The Daily Brew

Welcome to the Wednesday, May 1, 2019 Brew. Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

  1. IA Gov. Reynolds (R) appoints two judges to Iowa Court of Appeals
  2. Sixteen proposals changing state ballot measure laws have passed in 2019
  3. Greg Murphy and Joan Perry advance from the Republican Primary in the NC-3 special election

Gov. Reynolds (R) makes first two appointments to Iowa Court of Appeals

Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) appointed Sharon Soorholtz Greer and David May to the Iowa Court of Appeals on April 27. They were the first two judges Reynolds appointed to the appellate court.

Judges of the Iowa Court of Appeals are appointed by the governor from a list of nominees submitted by the Iowa Judicial Nominating Commission. The 17-member JNC consists of the senior associate justice on the Iowa Supreme Court, eight members elected by the Iowa Bar, and eight members appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Iowa State Senate.

Greer and May will serve for one year and must participate in a yes-no retention election in 2020 to remain on the bench. If they are retained, they will serve full six-year terms on the court.

The court now has five Republican-appointed judges and four Democratic-appointed judges. Of the other seven judges, three were appointed by Gov. Terry Branstad (R), two were appointed by Gov. Chet Culver (D), and one was appointed by Gov. Tom Vilsack (D).

Greer succeeded Judge Christopher McDonald, a Branstad appointee who now serves on the Iowa Supreme Court. May succeeded Chief Judge David Danilson, a Culver appointee.

The Iowa Supreme Court, the highest court in the state, has five Republican appointees and two Democratic appointees. Reynolds appointed two justices, Branstad appointed three, and Vilsack appointed two.

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Sixteen proposals changing state ballot measure laws have passed in 2019

One of my favorite regular updates comes from our ballot measures team—in particular, their analysis about state-level legislation that would affect laws governing ballot measures. As of April 25, 2019, we tracked 209 legislative proposals in 31 states concerning ballot initiatives, veto referendums, referrals, local ballot measures, and recall. Sixteen proposals had been approved across six states: Arkansas, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Utah.

Here are some of the highlights from 2019:

  • The Idaho State Legislature passed but the governor vetoed a pair of bills that were designed to increase the state's initiative signature requirement and its distribution requirement, reduce the allowed circulation period, enact a single-subject rule, and require a fiscal impact statement.
  • Arkansas legislators passed a bill to change the timeline for approval of the ballot title and popular name of citizen initiatives to after signatures are submitted. They also sent an amendment to the 2020 ballot increasing the state's distribution requirement and adding a supermajority vote requirement for the legislature to put amendments on the ballot.
  • Utah legislators approved five bills changing the initiative process. The bills change initiative signature requirements, require county clerks to post the names of those who sign an initiative petition on county websites, require funding sources to be specified, and establish rolling signature submission deadlines.

Greg Murphy and Joan Perry advance from the Republican Primary in the NC-3 special election

State Rep. Greg Murphy and Dr. Joan Perry advanced from a field of 17 candidates in Tuesday night's Republican primary for North Carolina’s 3rd Congressional District. They will compete in a runoff on July 9. Murphy received 22.5% of the vote, which was short of the 30 percent needed to avoid a runoff election. Perry received 15.4% of the vote. Murphy led the field in primary fundraising ($318k) and Perry had the second-most contributions ($154k).

The winner of the July runoff will face Allen Thomas (D) and Tim Harris (L) in the general election. Thomas won the Democratic primary outright with 49.9% of the vote, while Harris won the Libertarian primary with 56.4% of the vote.

This special election is being held to fill the vacancy left by Walter Jones (R), who died on February 10, 2019. Jones, who was first elected in 1994, did not face a general election challenger in 2018. In the 2016 presidential election, the district voted for Donald Trump (R) over Hillary Clinton (D) by more than 23 percentage points.


See also

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