Daily Brew: November 9, 2018

November 9, 2018

Triplexes, webinars, and election recovery   Join us today! Today, Ballotpedia staffers Dave Beaudoin and Rob Oldham will discuss how state government trifectas—where one party controls the governorship and both state legislative chambers—changed in the 2018 elections. They'll break down the results from competitive gubernatorial and state legislative races and provide context on the direction state governments might be heading in the 2019 and 2020 state elections. Join us today at 10:00 am ET Reserve your spot here! Missed our other webinars? Listen as Ballot Measures expert Josh Altic, elections expert Rob Oldham, and News Editor Sarah Rosier discuss what happened on Election Night 2018. Ballotpedia will give you the rundown on partisan control at the federal and state levels and what happened in the most noteworthy ballot measures of the cycle.   On Tuesday, voters in 37 states weighed in on 155 statewide ballot measures. Rather than catch up on each of these measures individually, let our experts break down the results for you.   Learn more         We didn’t forget about triplexes. Here’s what happened in 2018 with our other measure of state partisan control. Election 2018 gave Democrats a net gain of five state government triplexes and reduced the number of Republican triplexes by at least three. (An additional Republican triplex could be lost, pending the outcome of a runoff election in Georgia). A state government triplex is defined as one political party holding the offices of governor, attorney general, and secretary of state. These 2018 results trim the GOP advantage to 19 triplex states versus 17 for Democrats. Going into the election, Republicans held a 22-12 advantage. In states where these officers are not all from the same party, differing political views often bring them into direct conflict with one another. In two states, triplexes were flipped from one party to the other: Alaska: Republicans picked up their only in triplex gain Alaska—and took one away from the Democrats—with former state Sen. Mike Dunleavy (R) defeating former U.S. Sen. Mark Begich (D) in the governor’s race. Because the attorney general of Alaska is appointed by the governor, and the state does not have a secretary of state, Ballotpedia considers a triplex in Alaska to be the party controlling the governor’s office. Incumbent Gov. Bill Walker is an independent, but he was endorsed by the Democrats, creating a triplex for Democrats. Walker had been running in a three-way contest for re-election, but he suspended his re-election campaign in October and endorsed Begich. Michigan: Democrats flipped all three offices and took a triplex away from the Republicans. Governor: Former state Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer (D) defeated Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette (R) to become governor. Incumbent Gov. Rick Snyder (R) was term-limited. Attorney General: Dana Nessel (D) defeated Tom Leonard (R), the speaker of the House in the Michigan House of Representatives. Incumbent Attorney Gen. Bill Schuette (R) was term-limited. Secretary of State: Jocelyn Benson (D) defeated Mary Treder Lang (R). Incumbent Ruth Johnson (R) was term-limited. See our full analysis here→ How are you recovering from Election Week? This week was Super Bowl Sunday for our staff. Nothing is more inspiring for me than watching Ballotpedians come together for the final pushes right before and during elections. Our staff believes in our mission. It’s wonderful to watch. It’s also exhausting. I was lucky enough to get the Bridge Shift, which began Wednesday morning at 2 a.m. and ended… well… Wednesday night around 9 p.m. So, this weekend? I’ll be catching up on laundry and cooking healthy food. I might even try to take the dogs for a hike if it’s another beautiful autumn Saturday in Maryland. I asked our staff what they’ll be doing this weekend. Here’s a sampling. Let me know what you’ll be doing as we all take a quick breather before 2020 coverage begins. Rod Oldham, marquee staff writer: Fishing on the Chattahoochee River. Kristen Vonasek, director of communication and currently living in Malawi, Africa: Attending an African fashion show. Heidi Jung, graphic designer: "We’re getting another wave of snow, so we’ll try to do some fun snowy things." (Note from Sarah: #WisconsinProbs) Jane Scharl, elections staff writer: "Making pies!" (Note from Sarah: Please feel free to send one my way. I’m a pumpkin traditionalist.) Rest up, friends. The first filing deadline of the 2019 election season is coming up in a few weeks-we see you out there, Chicago.