Daily Brew: November 12, 2018

November 12, 2018

We take a look ahead at a notable 2019 election and fill you in on what's next for state legislators   Welcome to the Monday, November 12 Brew. Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day: With filing deadline approaching, 17 candidates have already declared their candidacy for Chicago mayor When do your new state legislators get sworn-in? And here’s when they’ll start legislating: two months until the 2019 legislative sessions With filing deadline approaching, 17 candidates have already declared their candidacy for Chicago mayor Like I mentioned last week, I hope everyone is rested up from the midterms. We’re already buckling down for the 2019 races (and let’s not forget about the runoff we’re tracking for U.S. Senate special election in Mississippi on November 27!). First up: the filing deadline for the Chicago municipal races. Chicago, the third-largest city in the U.S. by population, will hold elections for mayor and other municipal offices on February 26, 2019. Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced in September that he would not seek a third term, leaving the seat open. The candidate filing deadline is November 26, 2018—two weeks from today. So far, 18 candidates have officially announced their bids for mayor. In addition to voting for mayor, residents of the city will vote for a city clerk, city treasurer, and all 50 seats on the city council on February 26. A candidate for any office must receive more than 50 percent of the vote in order to win outright. A runoff election is scheduled for April 2 for top-two vote-getters, should no candidate reach the majority threshold in any election on February 26. Follow along here Note to Chicago residents: Are you concerned about the future of Chicago but feel like no one will listen? We will, and we can help make sure candidates in next February’s municipal elections and thousands of other Chicagoans do, too. The Interactivity Foundation and Ballotpedia are joining forces to conduct listening sessions all across Chicago. The results of these short online video sessions, facilitated by experts, will be put to candidates, whose answers will be made available on Ballotpedia for all to see. Click here if you're interested When do your new state legislators get sworn-in? When Ballotpedia’s coverage put this page together, I was really surprised to see how many states automatically swear-in their new members immediately following the election. I’m used to Congress and Maryland where it doesn’t happen until January. In 37 states, legislators who are elected in November don't assume office until the following year, while in 13 states, legislators assume office before December 31 of the year in which they were elected. Here are the states that have already sworn-in their newly elected legislators: Alabama Delaware Florida Hawaii Indiana Nevada Tennessee Later today, South Carolina will be swearing-in their members. For the full list, see here→ And here’s when they’ll start legislating: two months until the 2019 legislative sessions Forty-six state legislatures hold regular sessions annually. The other four states—Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, and Texas—meet in odd-numbered years. That means all 50 states will be holding a session in 2019. Check out our page with information on the 2019 legislative sessions in all 50 states. The page includes a table breaking down the start and end date of a state's legislative session, the length of the session, special sessions, and the state's trifecta status. Find out when your state starts→