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State Legislative Tracker: Sign stirs controversy in Texas

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March 16, 2015

Edited by Joel Williams
This week’s tracker includes a look at a New Mexico representative's controversial comments, debate over a sign in Texas and the continuing saga of firing squads in Utah.

Weekly highlight

  • New Mexico: New Mexico Rep. Ken Martinez (D-69) has come under criticism for his comments made during a March 4 House Judiciary Committee debate over House Bill 387, which would strip convicted rapists of certain parental rights.[1] In the committee, Martinez said "rape is defined in many ways, and some of it is just drunken college sex."[2] Martinez claims that his words were taken out of context and that at the end of his comment he also added the phrase "without the ability to consent."[3] That portion is inaudible on the official committee recording.[1] Many Republicans are calling on Martinez to apologize for his comments. Former state Sen. Rod Adair (R-33) first wrote about the controversial comment in his blog, New Mexico Political Journal. Following the blog post, Rep. Kelly K. Fajardo (R-7) said, "It is simply inexcusable that Rep. Kenny Martinez dismissed a serious crime as nothing more than a night of ‘drunken college sex.'" She added that his comments were "belittling to anyone who has ever been a victim and survivor of sexual abuse," and expressed her hope that Martinez would apologize for the comment.[4] Martinez has said that he will not apologize, and is calling on Adair and Fajardo to apologize. "To create a political stunt on something this important, I really think they owe an apology to every victim of rape in the state of New Mexico," he said.[2] Sheila Lewis, the director of Safe, an organization dedicated to preventing domestic violence and sexual assault, said in an interview with the Deming Headlight, "We have no greater champion. I have no doubt in my mind that what he [Martinez] said was in support of women."[5] Lewis claims that the controversy is just a political ploy and that Martinez is dedicated to women's rights.[5] No one commented on Martinez's definition of rape while in committee or while the bill passed though the committee unchallenged. On March 11, 2015, House Bill 387 passed the State House by a vote of 65 to 0.[6] It was referred to the State Senate for debate.
  • Texas: Texas lawmakers scuffled mid-week after Rep. Jonathan Stickland (R) posted a sign on the wall outside his Capitol office that identified him as a "FORMER FETUS" on Wednesday, March 11, 2015.[7] A photo of the sign was posted to Stickland's Facebook account, with an explanation for it: "Today Planned Parenthood is visiting and lobbying the Capitol. In honor of their visit, I put this sign up on my office door. Organizations that murder children are not welcome in my office. #prolifeandproudofit."[8] The sign was subsequently removed by Rep. Charlie Geren (D), but the two lawmakers disagree about how Geren removed the sign.[7] According to Stickland, the sign was ripped down and thrown in the face of one of his staff members in an attempt to intimidate Stickland's staff. Geren denies Stickland's account of events, categorizing Stickland's reaction as childish and stating he simply removed the sign because it violated rules set forth by the State Preservation Board, which maintains the Capitol grounds.[9] The disagreement moved to Twitter, where Melissa Conway, a spokeswoman for Texas Right to Life, said it was "sad that signs are being torn down."[7] Geren joined the Twitter conversation, stating the signs were removed simply because signs were not allowed in the building and thus they were placed in the lawmakers' offices.[10] Texas Right to Life says they distributed the signs to a few members of the Texas Legislature the day prior to a scheduled rally by Planned Parenthood supporters. Many of those attending the rally were in the state's Capitol to lobby the Texas State Senate as they consider restructuring Texas' state program for low-income women to receive breast and cervical cancer screenings.[7]
  • Utah: Last year, the Tracker reported on a controversial proposal to allow the state of Utah to conduct executions by firing squad in the event that lethal injection, currently the state's only method, cannot be administered. Last Tuesday, House Bill 11 passed the state Senate. Gov. Gary Herbert (R) has not said whether he will sign the bill but is expected to announce a decision this week. The bill came in response to botched procedures in Tennessee and Arizona last year. In recent years, states have faced shortages of the necessary drugs to carry out the procedure as European pharmaceutical producers have either refused to supply them on ethical grounds or were legally barred from exporting them. Attempts to improvise with other combinations of drugs have been blamed for the previous incidents.[11] In a statement, Herbert expressed a commitment to lethal injection, but noted that if drugs remain difficult to obtain, the bill "would make sure that those instructed to carry out the lawful order of the court and the carefully deliberated decision of the jury can do so."[12] Randy Gardner, whose brother Ronnie Lee was the last Utahan to be executed by firing squad, decried the possible reinstatement of the firing squad, saying, "When you take somebody and you tie them to a chair, put a hood over their head, and you shoot them from 25 feet with four rifles pointed at their heart, that's pretty barbaric." Rep. Paul Ray (R), the bill's sponsor, argues differently, saying that when shot by a firing squad, a convict dies in a faster, more humane way. Utah is the only state to execute anyone by firing squad in the four decades since the death penalty was restored, having done so thrice; although banned in 2004, Ronnie Lee Gardner, having already been sentenced to death before the ban, took the option of firing squad for his execution in 2010.[13][14]

Sessions

Regular sessions

See also: Dates of 2015 state legislative sessions
Click here to see a chart of each state's 2015 session information.

Currently 49 out of 50 state legislatures have convened their 2015 session. No states have adjourned their 2015 legislative session.

The following states have convened their 2015 regular session:[15]

2015 Legislative Elections

See also: State legislative elections, 2015

A total of seven of the 99 chambers will hold state legislative elections on November 3, 2015.

There are seven chambers in four states with elections in 2015:

The New Jersey Senate also typically holds elections in odd years, but all members were elected to four-year terms in 2013 and are not up for election again until 2017.

Of 1,972 state senate seats in the country, 131 are up for re-election in November 2015, and 407 of the country's 5,411 state house seats are up for re-election. Altogether, 538 of the country's 7,383 state legislative seats are up for re-election on November 3, 2015.

Primary Information

The state legislative filing deadlines and primary dates are as follows:

Filing Deadlines

Primary Dates

Special Elections

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See also: State legislative special elections, 2015

There are no special elections scheduled this week. The next one will take place on March 24 in Pennsylvania.

Recent election results

March 10, 2015

☑ Maine House of Representatives District 93

See also: Maine state legislative special elections, 2015

Anne "Pinny" Beebe-Center (D) defeated James Kalloch (R), Ron Huber (G) and Shawn Levasseur (L) in the special election on March 10.[20][21][22]

The seat was vacant following Elizabeth Dickerson's (D) resignation on January 13, 2015, to move to Colorado.[23]

A special election for the position of Maine House of Representatives District 93 was called for March 10. Candidates were nominated by parties rather than chosen in primaries.[20]

Maine House of Representatives, District 93, Special Election, 2015
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngAnne Beebe-Center 52.9% 915
     Republican James Kalloch 44.5% 770
     Green Independent Ron Huber 2% 34
     Libertarian Shawn Levasseur 0.6% 11
Total Votes 1,730
March 10 Special election candidates:
Democratic Party Anne "Pinny" Beebe-Center Green check mark transparent.png
Republican Party James Kalloch
Green Party Ron Huber
Libertarian Party Shawn Levasseur

Looking ahead

Upcoming special elections include:

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Latin Times, "New Mexico Rape Comment Controversy: Kenny Martinez, Democratic Legislator Calls Criticism ‘Political Stunt’," accessed March 13, 2015
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Yahoo News, "New Mexico lawmaker under fire for defining rape as 'drunken college sex'," accessed March 13, 2015
  3. ↑ CNN, "New Mexico lawmaker compares rape to 'drunken college sex'," accessed March 13, 2015
  4. ↑ Albuquerque Journal, "Representative’s rape remarks draw fire," accessed March 13, 2015
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Deming Headlight, "Lawmaker says no need to apologize for rape comment," accessed March 13, 2015
  6. ↑ New Mexico Legislature, "HFS/HB 387," accessed March 13, 2015
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Patrick Svitek and Edgar Walters, The Texas Tribune, "'Former Fetus' Signs Cause Stir at Capitol," March 11, 2015
  8. ↑ Jonathan Stickland, Facebook, "Jonathan Stickland's Photos," accessed March 12, 2015
  9. ↑ Patrick Svitek, KHOU.com, "'Former Fetus' signs cause stir at Texas Capitol," March 11, 2015
  10. ↑ Laura Bassett, Huff Post Politics, "Texas GOP Lawmaker Hangs 'Former Fetus' Sign Outside His Office In State Capitol," March 11, 2015
  11. ↑ PennLive, "Utah may bring back the firing squad for executions - should Pa. do the same? A PennLive poll," March 12, 2015
  12. ↑ St George News, "Firing squad bill passes Legislature, awaits governor’s signature," March 11, 2015
  13. ↑ Associated Press, "Vote for firing squad a sign of frustration," March 12, 2015
  14. ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Utah proposal to revive firing squads raises concerns; a question and answer," March 12, 2015
  15. ↑ Stateside Associates, "Session Calendar 2014," accessed March 16, 2015
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Mississippi Secretary of State, "2015 Elections," accessed January 2, 2015
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Mississippi Secretary of State, "2015 Election Calendar," accessed January 2, 2015
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 New Jersey Department of Elections, "2015 Primary Election Timeline," accessed February 2, 2015
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Virginia State Board of Elections, "2015 November Election Calendar," accessed January 2, 2015
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Green Party Watch, "Maine Greens nominate State Rep candidate for special election," February 10, 2015
  21. ↑ maine.gov, "Official Results for Special Election State Representative District 93," accessed April 8, 2015
  22. ↑ Portland Press Herald, "Rockland Democrat wins House seat in special election," March 10, 2015
  23. ↑ Bangor Daily News, "Rockland-area House seat could be vacant for few months," January 13, 2015
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