Daily Brew: September 18, 2018

September 18, 2018

Find out if your representative is trying to change their job title + Massachusetts recount results   Welcome to the Tuesday, September 18 Brew. Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day: 185 state legislative leaders running for re-election or new offices What do newspapers say about California’s Prop 10? Trahan defeats Koh in MA-03 Democratic primary following district-wide recount 185 state legislative leaders running for re-election or new offices Although there are 7,383 state legislators, the 283 state legislative leaders are the primary drivers of state policies and agendas. With the election cycle moving into the general election stage, we thought this would be a good time to take a look at what those legislative leaders are up to in 2018. How many of them are running for re-election? How many of them are seeking higher office? In defining state legislative leaders, we are using state senate presidents, state house speakers, and the majority and minority party leaders in both chambers. We found that 161 state legislative leaders filed to run for re-election, 24 filed to run for a different office, and seven either did not file to run for any office or dropped out from their races. The leadership position with the fewest legislators running for re-election or a different office in 2018 is senate presidents at 20, while the position with the most legislators is house majority leaders at 39. State house leaders make up about 60 percent of the state legislative leaders who are running for office in 2018. Five state legislative leadership seats are vacant in chambers that are up for election this year. Thirteen state legislative leaders are either running for governor or lost in gubernatorial primaries: six senate presidents, one house speaker, one senate majority leader, one senate minority leader, and four house minority leaders. Three state legislative leaders—Mike Stack (Pennsylvania State Senate President), Jonathan Shell (Kentucky State House Majority Leader), and Charisse E. Millett (Alaska State House Minority Leader)—ran for re-election this year and lost their primaries. One state legislative leader, Jenny Eck (Montana State House Minority Leader), ran for re-election and dropped out two weeks after she won her primary. Not all state legislative leaders are up for re-election, and some whose terms end in 2018 were ineligible to run for re-election due to term limits in their states. Learn more California's two largest newspapers take opposite stances on Proposition 10, the rent control initiative On November 6, Californians will determine the fate of Proposition 10, which would expand the power of local governments to enact rent control ordinances. The editorial boards of California's two largest newspapers, the Los Angeles Times and The Mercury News, took opposite positions on Proposition 10—The Los Angeles Times supports the proposition while The Mercury News opposes it. As of 2018, state law limits municipal rent control ordinances to (a) housing occupied before February 1, 1995, and (b) housing units where the title for connected units is the same, such as apartment complexes. Both the Los Angeles Times and The Mercury News had similar success rates in 2016, despite taking different positions on four ballot propositions. The endorsements of each newspaper aligned with how a majority of electors voted on 10 of the 17 (58.8 percent) ballot propositions. The Los Angeles Times (September 15, 2018), which is supporting Proposition 10, wrote: "Still, any predictions that Proposition 10 would either save or devastate the housing market are overstated. If passed, the measure would allow local communities to debate and decide what renter protections to adopt, if any. That’s important. Although the housing crisis is widespread, each city has its own challenges and needs the flexibility to adopt its own remedies. ... Proposition 10 isn’t the solution to the state’s affordable housing crisis, but it is a valuable tool to manage the consequences." The Mercury News (August 27, 2018), which is opposing Proposition 10, wrote: "Rent control is a feel-good idea. A quick fix to a complicated problem. But it is not very effective at protecting poor or vulnerable tenants. And, more significantly, rent control discourages new rental home construction, the very thing we need to ease the state’s housing crisis. ... The solution is not to impose price controls, which is exactly what rent control is. The solution is to encourage development so that supply can meet demand. ... In other words, it would not fix the state’s housing crisis; it would exacerbate it." Read more about Prop 10 here→ Trahan defeats Koh in MA-03 Democratic primary following district-wide recount The recount results are in - Lori Trahan (D) defeated Dan Koh (D) in the Democratic primary for Massachusetts' 3rd Congressional District. The district-wide hand recount concluded yesterday. The candidates were separated by less than 0.5 percent of the vote after the September 4 primary, leading Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin (D) to order the recount. Ten Democratic candidates ran for this safe Democratic seat represented by retiring incumbent Rep. Niki Tsongas (D). This was the first contested Democratic primary in the district since 1994. Trahan will face Republican Rick Green in the general election. Learn more→