State Legislative Tracker: Georgia continues special redistricting session, Wisconsin ends recall season

August 22, 2011

By Jackie Arthur

This week's tracker features a spotlight on the legislative efforts currently taking place to reform recall law in the badger state, and an update on last week's Democratic recall elections.

Sessions

So far this year, 43 out of 50 state legislatures have officially adjourned their regular session. This week, no states are scheduled to adjourn their 2011 regular session.

Current sessions capture for the week of August 22, 2011

Regular sessions

The following 7 states remain in regular legislative sessions:

• California *
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• New Jersey **
• Ohio **
• Pennsylvania **
• Wisconsin *

* California and Wisconsin are both convened in ongoing special sessions, but are still in regular session. Wisconsin will be in recess until September 13.

** New Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania are in recess.

Click here to see a chart of each state's 2011 session information.

Special sessions

Special sessions have been and are expected to be a widespread occurrence in the state legislatures in 2011, in particular due to the necessity of states to conduct the redistricting of state legislative and congressional districts. This week California, Georgia, and Wisconsin continue ongoing special sessions.

Special sessions that ended last week:

• August 21 - West Virginia, redistricting
  

West Virginia's special session wrapped up Sunday after Democrats and Republicans reached an agreement on an apportionment plan for the House of Delegates. Governor Earl Ray Tomblin (D) has approved the state Senate and congressional redistricting plans passed in the previous special session. Last week's special session was the legislature's second redistricting special session this year.

Special sessions scheduled to adjourn this week:

• August 26 - Georgia
  

Today, Georgia state legislators released the proposed U.S congressional district map, containing the newly created U.S. House Congressional District 14. D14 spans most of Northwest Georgia and trails south to include Polk, Haralson and Paulding counties. The new district also shifted District 9 east, pushing it to extend to the South Carolina state line. The new district was created as a result of a population boom in northern Georgia.

No special sessions are scheduled to begin this week.

In recess

As of August 22, 24 states' sessions are currently in recess:

• Alaska - Mid-term recess April 18 through January 16, 2012
• Delaware - July 1, 2011 through January 10, 2012
• Georgia - Mid-term recess April 15 through January 8, 2012
• Hawaii - Mid-term recess May 6 through January 7, 2012
• Illinois - June 23 through October 24, 2011 (est.)

• Iowa - Mid-term recess June 30 through January 8, 2012
• Kansas - Mid-term recess June 1 through January 8, 2012
• Maine - Mid-term recess June 30 through January 3, 2012 (est.)
• Minnesota - Mid-term recess May 24 through January 23, 2012
• Nebraska - Mid-term recess May 27 through January 3, 2012
• New Hampshire - Summer recess June 30 through September 6, 2011

• New Jersey - June 30 through September 15
• New York - Mid-term recess June 25 through January 3, 2012 (est.)
• North Carolina - July 27 through September 11, 2011
• Ohio - June 30 through September 12
• Oklahoma - Mid-term recess May 28 through January 31, 2012
• Pennsylvania - Summer recess July 1- September 19

• Rhode Island - June 30 through October
• South Carolina - Mid-term recess July 27 through ?
• Tennessee - Mid-term recess May 22 through January 9, 2012
• Vermont - Mid-term recess May 7 through January 3, 2012
• Virginia - Special session recess July 30 through August 25 (est.)
• Washington - Mid-term recess April 23 through January 8, 2012
• Wisconsin - Regular/special session summer recess June 25 through September 13

Sessions spotlight

In light of the recent recall elections in Wisconsin, our spotlight this week focuses on the beginnings of attempted changes to the recall process in the badger state, and an update on the final round of Wisconsin recalls that took place last week.

Wisconsin: In the wake of the recent recall elections, some Wisconsinites are trying to prevent what they categorize to be a costly and dramatic ordeal from happening again so easily. To date, the Government Accountability Board and state taxpayers spent $88,300 to facilitate the recalls, while estimates for private party spending continues to climb to near the $40 million mark.

On August 10, Wisconsin Assemblyman Robin Vos (R) announced his intent to draft legislation that would amend the Wisconsin Constitution to clarify the reasons for recall. In a quote given to the Wisconsin Reporter, Vos said, "Losing an election does not mean you count down days until you can recall somebody," and that "despising someone should not rise to the level of a recallable offense."

In his press release, Vos said, "No longer should taxpayer dollars be wasted on unnecessary recall elections that were triggered by a vote that some special interest group didn’t like. It undermines our democracy and wastes precious taxpayer dollars that are needed elsewhere."

Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC), a business association with about 4,000 members, has recently thrown its support behind Vos' efforts. A statement on the organization's website outlined the group's position. "As we all know, uncertainty and political instability are not good for job creation. That’s why WMC will be supporting recall reform in Wisconsin."

Among those opposing the idea is Assembly Democratic Leader Peter Barca. Barca issued the following statement in an August press release:

"Floating this constitutional amendment the day after successful recall elections that held legislators accountable appears to indicate that Republicans are frightened that future actions to hold them accountable will also be successful. We must encourage and build on the amazing outpouring of public involvement in democracy that we have seen this year."

According to Article 13, section 12, the state constitution gives only these stipulations for recall:

• Legislators must have served at least one year to be eligible for recall
• To initiate a recall against a legislator, a recall petition needs to be signed by electors equaling at least twenty-five percent of the vote cast for the office of governor at the last preceding election, in the state, county or district which the incumbent represents

Presently, there is no requirement for state level recall petitions to declare a reason why the targeted legislator should be recalled. A reason is currently required at the local level. Vos' amendment would seek to unify the state and local requirements, thereby incorporating into state recall law a mandate requiring petitions to include a valid reason for recall.

Vos is scheduled to introduce the constitutional amendment during the fall legislative session. It is intended to be the first piece of bi-partisan legislation introduced this September. In order to become law, a Constitutional amendment must pass two sessions of the Legislature and be approved in a statewide referendum.

Recall results update
In the final installment of the Wisconsin state senate recall elections, both Democratic incumbents retained their seats, maintaining the razor-thin Republican majority.

Wisconsin State Senate Partisan Breakdown Before and After the 2011 Recalls
Party		As of August 1, 2011	After the August Recalls
	Democratic Party	14	16
	Republican Party	19	17
Total		33	33

Democrats Jim Holperin and Robert Wirch triumphed over their challengers by double-digit margins in the August 16 election. Holperin defeated challenger Kim Simac, a tea party organizer, and Wirch defeated Jonathan Steitz, a corporate attorney.

2011 Wisconsin Senate Recalls
Senators Facing Recall
Robert Cowles • Alberta Darling • Sheila Harsdorf • Dave Hansen • Jim Holperin • Randy Hopper • Dan Kapanke • Luther Olsen • Robert Wirch
Other Recall Information
Recalls by Year • Recall Law in Wisconsin • Recall laws in other states • Recalls in Wisconsin • 2011 Scott Walker Budget Repair Bill • Protests over Budget Repair Bill • Wisconsin Government Accountability Board • Recall timeline • Election Results

District 12

August 16 Recall - District 12
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Jim Holperin (D)		30,450	55.12%
Kim Simac (R)		24,682	44.67%
Scattering		110	0.19%

District 22

August 16 Recall - District 22
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Robert Wirch (D)		25,524	57.35%
Jonathan Steitz (R)		19,662	42.51%
Brian Harwood (Write-in)		23	.05%
Scattering		42	.09%

Elections

A total of 578 seats will be up for general election in state legislatures in 2011.

In this year's 2011 election cycle, two state legislative primaries remain in Louisiana and Virginia. New Jersey held statewide primaries on June 7, 2011, and Mississippi held statewide primaries on August 2.

Upcoming elections

See also: Virginia House of Delegates elections, 2011 and Virginia State Senate elections, 2011

Tomorrow, Virginia will hold its state legislative primary. Mississippi will hold primary runoffs for several state house and senate seats. Virginia's signature filing deadline was June 15. Virginia's primary was rescheduled to August 23, 2011 instead of its usual date of June 14, 2011 after delays and uncertainty in the redistricting process..

Out of the 280 possible primaries (140 total seats, one primary per party, per seat) tomorrow in Virginia, there are only 16 contested races on the ballot. Only two incumbents -- Thomas Norment, a Republican from Senate District 3, and Algie Howell, a Democrat from House District 9, face a primary opponent tomorrow.

The next state with a signature filing deadline in 2011 is Louisiana on September 8.

Mississippi runoffs

See also: Mississippi State Senate elections, 2011, Mississippi House of Representatives elections, 2011, Mississippi gubernatorial election, 2011 and Mississippi down ballot state executive elections, 2011

Despite some clear wins on August 2, an August 23 runoff election will be held for three state executive offices -- Governor, Treasurer and Public Service Commission -- as well as 10 state legislative districts in which no one candidate earned more than 50% of the vote.

Governor

Current Governor Haley Barbour is prevented by term limits from running again, and there are a number of candidates eager to take his place.

Democratic candidates

Gubernatorial Democratic Primary election
Party		Candidate	Vote Percentage
	Democratic Party	aJohnny DuPree	43.5%
	Democratic Party	aBill Luckett, Jr.	39.2%
	Democratic Party	William Bond Compton, Jr.	9.8%
	Democratic Party	Guy Dale Shaw	7.3%
Total Votes			412,530

The following candidates have already advanced to the general election.

Republican candidate

• Phil Bryant

Independent candidates

• William D. Oatis

Reform candidates

• Bobby Kearan
• Shawn O'Hara

Treasurer

See also: Mississippi down ballot state executive elections, 2011

Tate Reeves, the current Mississippi State Treasurer, is a candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi in 2011. Republicans Lee Yancey and Lynn Smith will compete in an August 23 primary runoff for the nomination to face Democrat Connie Moran in the November 8 general contest.

Republican Candidates

Treasurer -- Republican primary results
Party		Candidate	Vote Percentage
	Republican Party	aLynn Fitch	38%
	Republican Party	aLee Yancey	34%
	Republican Party	Lucien Smith	29%
Total Votes			269,726

State Senate

The following races are runoffs tomorrow.

• District 20

Josh Harkins vs. Knox Ross

• District 25

Charles Barbour vs. William Longwitz

• District 39

Bill Boerner vs. Sally Doty

• District 40

Sidney Albritton vs. Angela Hill

• District 43

Phillip Gandy vs. Connie Wilkerson

• District 46

Mickey Lagasse vs. Philip Moran

State House

The following races are runoffs tomorrow.

• District 4

James Nunnally vs. Jody Steverson.

• District 13

Don Randolph vs. Billy Gray.

• District 118

Roger Ishee vs. Greg Haney.

• District 119

Sonya Williams-Barnes vs. Richard Marsh.

Special elections

No special elections are set to take place this week.

Last week, two special elections took place in Georgia and Maine.

Georgia runoff results

Georgia Senate District 26, Runoff Election

Robert Brown (D) announced his resignation in May, 2011 in order to seek the office of Macon Mayor. The special election for State Senate District 26 took place in Twiggs County and portions of Bibb, Houston and Wilkinson Counties. The election was a nonpartisan special election with an open primary. Since no candidate received a majority of the vote, a runoff election was held on Tuesday, August 16, 2011.

Democratic Candidates:

• Miriam Paris 12,950
• David Lucas, Sr. 10,220

Republican Candidate:

• Bobby Gale (Eliminated in primary)

Maine results

Maine House District 121

Cynthia Dill (D) was elected to the Maine State Senate in a 2011 special election. A special election was held to replace her on August 16, 2011.

Democratic Candidate:

• Kimberly Monaghan-Derrig 1,340

Republican Candidate:

• Nancy Thompson 1,164

Looking ahead

Upcoming special elections include:

• August 30- South Carolina House District 10.

External links

• Wisconsin Government Accountability Board
• Virginia Board of Elections