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The State and Local Tap: Every vote counts: close races and coin flips

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November 17, 2017Issue No. 90

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Week in review
On tap next week

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

Here's what happened in state and local politics last week. To see what happened in federal politics, click here.

State Politics: The Week in Review

Ballot Measures Update

2017:

  • In 2017, 27 statewide measures were certified for ballots in nine different states. This is the lowest number of statewide ballot measures to be certified for the ballot in 70 years—since 1947 when there were 23 statewide measures. One measure was decided in Maine on June 13. West Virginia voters decided a measure on October 7. Louisiana voters decided three measures on October 14. The remaining 22 measures were on ballots for the election on November 7; voters approved 16 measures, defeated three, and voted to advise repealing three tax bills in Washington. In 2015, a below-average 28 measures were certified for the ballot. In 2013, there were 31 measures on the ballot. From 1987 through 2015, the average number of measures on the ballot in odd-numbered years was 51 in an average of 11 states. Since 2001, the average was 41 measures in 10 states. In the last decade the average dropped to 34 measures in eight states. The number of measures on the ballot in odd-numbered years after 1990 peaked in 1999 at 72.

2018:

Monday, November 13

Revised draft of North Carolina legislative district maps issued by court-appointed special master

  • Nate Persily, the special master appointed to assist the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina in evaluating North Carolina's state legislative district plans, issued draft revisions to those plans. Persily noted that "these draft plans are provided at this early date to give the parties time to lodge objections and to make suggestions, as to unpairing incumbents or otherwise, that might be accommodated in the final plan," which is due to the court by December 1, 2017.
  • The district maps in question were adopted by the General Assembly of North Carolina in August in response to a series of federal court decisions finding that the original maps, which were adopted by the state legislature in 2011, constituted an illegal racial gerrymander. On October 26, the district court appointed Persily, a Stanford University law professor, as special master to assist in the case. At that time, the court indicated that the redrawn maps for Senate Districts 21 and 28 and House Districts 21, 36, 37, 40, 41, 57, and 105 "either fail to remedy the identified constitutional violation or are otherwise legally unacceptable."

Nevada Democrats file a lawsuit claiming signatures in Woodhouse recall are invalid

  • On Monday, Democrats filed a lawsuit in Clark County District Court claiming that more than 5,500 signatures submitted in the recall against Sen. Joyce Woodhouse (D) were invalid. Democrats said that more than 2,000 petition signers filed to have their names removed from the Woodhouse recall. The petitioners claimed that they were misled by canvassers. The lawsuit also claims that more than 3,000 signatures submitted in the recall came from people were not registered to vote in District 5, did not vote in 2016, or are not registered to vote in Nevada.
  • The recall petition did not give an official reason for the recall against Sen. Woodhouse, but signature-gatherers told residents that Woodhouse was targeted for recall over her support of sanctuary city legislation. The recall seeks to replace Woodhouse with Republican Carrie Buck.
  • The office of the Nevada Secretary of State found on November 3, 2017, that 15,444 of the 17,502 signatures submitted in the recall against Woodhouse were valid. This exceeds the 14,412 signatures needed to trigger a recall election. A special election will be scheduled for sometime in December unless the court grants the injunction request by Democrats to halt the recall efforts.
  • On November 6, 2017, Attorneys for Nevada Democrats filed a request for a preliminary injunction to block the recall efforts against three state senators. At the time of the filing, three recall petitions were underway against three state senators, but the recall against Sen. Patricia Farley (nonpartisan) submitted insufficient signatures on November 9. The recall against Sen. Nicole Cannizzaro (D) is still ongoing. Attorneys Marc Elias and Bradley Schrager argue in the request that if special elections are needed in the recalls, it would “burden, abridge, and deny the fundamental right to vote” for voters in the three state Senate districts.” U.S District Court Judge James Mahan set a hearing for the injunction request on November 29.
  • As of November 2017, seven recall petitions had been filed against state lawmakers in 2017. Three recall petitions failed to make the ballot, and four are still ongoing. Since 2011, 72 recall petitions have been filed against state lawmakers. Eight recalls were successful, nine were defeated at the ballot, 51 did not go to a vote, and four recall campaigns are still ongoing. The last time a state legislative recall petition made the ballot was in 2013. Two Colorado state senators were successfully recalled in 2013.
  • Nevada is one of 18 states under divided government. Democrats have a 10-9 majority in the Nevada State Senate, with one nonpartisan member caucusing with Democrats and one vacancy. Democrats also have a 27-14 majority in the Nevada State Assembly with one vacancy. The governor’s office is held by Republican Brian Sandoval.

Coughlin to become the next speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly

  • Democrats voted Monday to make Assemblyman Craig Coughlin (D) the next speaker of the General Assembly. He will officially replace two-term Speaker Vincent Prieto (D) on January 9. Coughlin has served in the chamber since 2010.
  • Last Thursday, Prieto endorsed Coughlin to replace him, ending the battle between the two over the leadership post. Coughlin for months had claimed he had the caucus votes to win the speakership, but Prieto held out hope that the election would flip the votes back in his favor. That was not the case.
  • When Coughlin is officially elected in January, the Assembly will be run by a lawmaker from Central Jersey. For the past eight years, the speaker and Senate president have been either from North or South Jersey. Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D) is from South Jersey.
  • New Jersey is currently one of 18 states under divided government. Democrats control the Senate by a 24-16 majority. Democrats control the Assembly by a 52-28 majority. Gov. Chris Christie (R) was elected to a four-year term in 2013. As a result of the 2017 elections, New Jersey will become a Democratic trifecta when Gov.-elect Phil Murphy (D) is sworn into office on January 16.

Alaska Senate attempts to adjourn from special session after passing crime bill; House remains in session

  • On Friday, November 10, the Alaska State Senate voted to adjourn from a special legislative session soon after it gave final approval to SB 54, a bill that would roll back a 2016 measure aimed at reducing criminal sentences and encouraging alternatives to prison. On Monday, November 13, Alaska House of Representatives leaders said that they were not adjourning because the other item on the special session agenda—a wage tax proposed by Gov. Bill Walker (I)—had not been addressed and SB 54 possibly contained unconstitutional language.
  • The state House can block the state Senate from officially adjourning because the Alaska Constitution says neither chamber can adjourn for more than three days without agreement from the other. However, the state Senate can hold technical sessions until the special session ends on November 21. These technical sessions do not require members to be in attendance and could allow the Senate to officially remain in session without conducting legislative business or addressing the wage tax and constitutional concerns with SB 54. State Senate President Pete Kelly (R) said his chamber can address SB 54 when the legislature reconvenes for its regular session in January.
  • SB 54 passed the state House on Tuesday, November 7, and then went on to final approval from the state Senate on Friday. Although Gov. Walker said he would sign the bill into law, attorneys for his administration and the state legislature have said that SB 54 could violate the state’s constitution because it creates prison sentences for low-level felonies with the same length as some higher-level penalties. According to the attorneys, this could violate a provision of the Alaska Constitution that has been interpreted to prohibit arbitrary criminal penalties.

Special session background

  • In addition to SB 54, Gov. Walker asked that legislators consider HB 4001, a 1.5 percent payroll tax, during the special session, which started October 23. HB 4001 was expected to raise around $300 million a year. It was aimed at closing Alaska’s budget deficit, which is expected to be $2.5 billion by July 1, 2018. During the 2017 session and subsequent special sessions, the legislature debated how to address the budget deficit, which has persisted in recent years as the price of oil, a major business and source of government revenue in Alaska, has declined. The state House, which is effectively controlled by Democrats through a bipartisan coalition, has advocated for an income tax, while the state Senate, which is controlled by Republicans, has generally pushed for spending cuts to close the deficit.
  • While funds from the state’s Constitutional Budget reserve have been used in recent years to cover the deficit, both chambers have also expressed interest in using dividends from the state’s $60 billion Permanent Fund, which uses money from the oil industry to send an annual check to each Alaskan. Both chambers passed bills in 2017 that would have drawn from the Permanent Fund to decrease the deficit. However, the differences between the bills were not reconciled between the chambers. The amount of the check that Alaskans receive has fluctuated between $1,000 and $2,000 over the last three years. Alaska is the only state that does not currently have an income tax or a statewide sales tax.
  • Alaska is one of 18 states under divided government. Republicans have a 14-6 majority in the Senate, while a coalition of 17 Democrats, three Republicans, and two independents control the 40-member House.

Tuesday, November 14

Recall supporters submit signatures against second Nevada state senator

  • Supporters of the recall effort against Nevada state Sen. Nicole Cannizzaro (D) have submitted 16,875 signatures. This exceeds the 14,975 signatures needed to trigger a recall election. The Clark County registrar’s office will now pull a sample size of five percent of the signatures to verify that they are valid. The percentage of valid signatures in the sample will be extrapolated to determine if there are more than enough signatures to force a special election. The county will then submit the signature count to the secretary of state’s office. After the secretary of state’s office verifies the signatures, recall opponents will have five days to review the signatures and file any legal challenges. During this time, petition signers can also have their names removed from the Cannizzaro recall.
  • The recall petition did not give an official reason for the recall against Sen. Cannizzaro, but it seeks to replace her with Republican April Becker. Cannizzaro was elected to the chamber in 2016. She defeated former Assemblywoman Victoria Seaman (R) in the 2016 general election by 1,036 votes, 51 percent to 49 percent. Of the 11 seats up for election in 2018, Democrats hold four seats, Republicans hold six seats, and one seat belongs to a nonpartisan member. Sen. Cannizzaro represents a district that voted for Hillary Clinton (D) in 2016 by 50 percent to 45 percent. Cannizzaro’s seat is not up for election again until 2020.
  • On November 6, 2017, Attorneys for Nevada Democrats filed a request for a preliminary injunction to block the recall efforts against three state senators. At the time of the filing, three recall petitions were underway against three state senators, but the recall against Sen. Patricia Farley (nonpartisan) submitted insufficient signatures on November 9. The recalls against Cannizzaro and Sen. Joyce Woodhouse (D) are still ongoing. Attorneys Marc Elias and Bradley Schrager argue in the request that if special elections are needed in the recalls, it would “burden, abridge, and deny the fundamental right to vote” for voters in the three state Senate districts.” U.S District Court Judge James Mahan set a hearing for the injunction on November 29.
  • As of November 2017, seven recall petitions had been filed against state lawmakers in 2017. Three recall petitions failed to make the ballot and four are still ongoing. Since 2011, 72 recall petitions have been filed against state lawmakers. Eight recalls were successful, nine were defeated at the ballot, 51 did not go to a vote, and four recall campaigns are still ongoing. The last time a state legislative recall petition made the ballot was in 2013. Two Colorado state senators were successfully recalled in 2013.
  • Nevada is one of 18 states under divided government. Democrats have a 10-9 majority in the Nevada State Senate with one nonpartisan member caucusing with Democrats and one vacancy. Democrats also have a 27-14 majority in the Nevada State Assembly with one vacancy. The governor’s office is held by Republican Brian Sandoval.

After provisional ballots are counted, Republicans lead three uncalled Virginia House races

  • On November 13 and 14, provisional ballots were counted for three Virginia House races that are too close to call. Republicans maintained leads in all three races and remained on track to control the Virginia House in January 2018 by a 51-49 margin. The three Democratic candidates in these races can ask for recounts after the results are certified by the State Board of Elections next week. Because Democrats won 49 seats of the chamber’s 100 seats on November 7, they would need to win at least one seat to force the chamber into a 50-50 tie and at least two seats to take control of the chamber for the first time since the early 1990s.
    • In Virginia, provisional ballots are cast by voters who either do not have photo identification or are notified of some other clerical issue that calls into question whether they are qualified to cast a ballot. Provisional ballots are not counted on Election Day. Voters have until the Monday following the election to submit a photo identification. They are also allowed to be present when their local electoral board meets to find out the status of their vote and what they need to do to have it verified. If voters verify their provisional ballot, then it will be counted.
  • The three uncalled races where Republicans maintain leads are Districts 28, 40, and 94. The vote totals separating Republican and Democratic candidates in the three races are 82 votes (District 28), 106 votes (District 40), and 10 votes (District 94). All three races are within the one percentage point margin required for the apparent loser to ask for a recount. Shelly Simonds (D), the apparent loser in District 94, has said she will request a recount.
  • Provisional ballots for District 28 were not counted until November 14, one day later than the vote counts for Districts 40 and 94. This was because a lawsuit filed by voters represented by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund led a judge in Stafford County to put a temporary hold on vote counting. The plaintiffs claimed that Stafford County election officials made the provisional ballot verification process confusing. The judge allowed the vote counts to proceed after ruling that the plaintiffs did not have standing to sue.
  • Also at issue in District 28 is the status of 55 absentee ballots that the Stafford County registrar did not receive before the 7:00 p.m. deadline for absentee ballots on November 7. Because there are multiple state House districts intersecting with Stafford County, it is unclear how many of the ballots were cast in the District 28 race. The ballots were disqualified by a 2-1 vote of the Stafford County Electoral Board on November 14. Later that night, the House Democratic Caucus filed a lawsuit claiming that the votes were mishandled by the U.S. Postal Service and should be counted.
  • Republicans have controlled the Virginia House since the late 1990s and held a 66-34 majority heading into the November 7 election. Democrats won 15 seats on election night (not counting the three that are too close to call), with 14 of those wins coming in districts that Hillary Clinton (D) won in the 2016 presidential election. According to Democratic Leader David Toscano, this was the first time Democrats had won more than five seats in a single year since 1975. Regardless of the outcomes of the three races, Virginia will be under divided government from 2018 to 2019 because Republicans hold a 21-19 majority in the state Senate. Democrat Ralph Northam was elected governor on November 7, and his term will not expire until 2021.

Democrats flip seat in Oklahoma legislative special elections

  • Allison Ikley-Freeman (D) defeated Brian O'Hara (R) in the special election for Oklahoma State Senate District 37. Unofficial results showed Ikley-Freeman winning with 50.4 percent of the vote. On June 6, 2017, Senator Dan Newberry (R) announced that he will resign from the state Senate, effective January 31, 2018. He cited his pursuit of a professional promotion in a press release. Newberry last won election in 2016 with 55.7 percent of the vote. President Donald Trump (R) earned 66.8 percent of the vote in Senate District 37 in the 2016 presidential election.
  • Oklahoma held seven special elections in 2017 to fill vacancies in the state legislature. Senate District 37 was the fourth seat in the legislature to flip from Republican control to Democratic control as a result of 2017 special elections. Senate District 44, House District 75, and House District 46 changed to Democratic control earlier in the year.
  • Special elections were also held Tuesday in Senate District 45 and House District 76. Senate District 45 was left vacant after Kyle D. Loveless (R) resigned on April 27, 2017, amid an investigation by the Oklahoma Ethics Commission. Paul Rosino (R) defeated Steven Vincent (D) in the general election. In House District 76, Ross Ford (R) defeated Chris Vanlandingham (D) in the general election. That seat was left vacant after David Brumbaugh (R) passed away on April 15, 2017.
  • Oklahoma is one of 26 Republican state government trifectas. With two vacancies, Republicans hold a 39-7 majority in the state Senate. The state House is controlled by a 71-28 Republican majority with two vacancies. Gov. Mary Fallin (R) was elected to a four-year term in 2014.

Special primary election in the South Carolina House of Representatives moves to a runoff

  • Nancy Mace and Mark Smith advanced to a November 28 Republican primary runoff in District 99 of the South Carolina House of Representatives. Mace and Smith defeated Jarrod Brooks and Shawn Pinkston in the Republican primary. Cindy Boatwright ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. The general election is being held on January 16, 2018. The seat is vacant following James Merrill's (R) resignation on September 1, 2017. On December 14, 2016, Merrill was indicted by a grand jury on 30 counts of ethics violations.
  • In House District 28, Ashley Trantham defeated three other candidates in the Republican primary. Trantham is now running unopposed in the January 16 special election. On August 29, 2017, District 28 Representative Eric Bedingfield announced that he will resign from the state House effective January 18, 2018, in order to become the director of government affairs at Greenville Technical College.
  • South Carolina is one of 26 Republican state government trifectas. Republicans maintain a 28-18 majority in the state Senate. With three vacancies, Republicans hold a 78-43 majority in the state House. Gov. Henry McMaster (R) succeeded former Governor Nikki Haley (R), who was confirmed as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations on January 24, 2017. McMaster will serve out the remainder of Haley's term, which expires in January 2019.

Wednesday, November 15

Connecticut budget fix approved by General Assembly

  • On November 15, the Connecticut House of Representatives gave final approval to a bill that proponents say will fix flaws in the state budget that was signed into law by Gov. Dan Malloy (D) on October 31. According to The Connecticut Mirror, the fixes applied to the state’s hospital tax and a renters’ rebate program. The budget fix passed the House by a 123-12 vote just one day after it passed the state Senate 34-0. Malloy said he would sign it into law. Opponents of the budget fix said that it would require towns to assume $8.5 million in costs from the renters’ rebate program and that the costs would not be equitably distributed based on a community's income level.
  • On October 31, Malloy signed most of a bipartisan budget that sets Connecticut’s spending and taxation levels for the FY2018-2019 biennium. Before the budget passed, Connecticut faced a $3.5 billion deficit over the biennium. Malloy vetoed a portion of the budget that increased the hospital provider fee from 6 percent to 8 percent, citing concerns with the language that he said could cost the state $1 billion. According to Malloy spokeswoman Kelly Donnelly, the bill passed November 15 addressed his concerns.
  • The original budget deal passed both chambers of the Democratic-controlled General Assembly on October 26. It had been negotiated by Democratic and Republican legislative leaders without input from Malloy’s office. It passed the state Senate by a 33-3 margin and the state House by a 126-23 margin, both large enough to override a potential veto by Malloy.
  • When Malloy signed the budget on October 31, Connecticut ended a 123-day period without having a spending and taxation plan in place. This was the longest period of time the state had ever gone without a budget. The second-longest period was in 1991 when legislators debated whether to create a state income tax.
  • Democrats currently have a 79-72 advantage in the state House and effectively control the 18-18 divided state Senate because Lieutenant Gov. Nancy Wyman (D) can cast tie-breaking votes. Connecticut is one of six Democratic trifectas.

Story background:

  • Connecticut’s budget impasse began when lawmakers were unable to agree to a two-year budget plan to close the state’s projected $5.1 billion budget deficit before the 2018 fiscal year began on July 1. Without a budget in place, Malloy funded state services at reduced levels via an executive order.
    • On October 1, education payments to cities and towns were reduced or eliminated under the executive order signed by Malloy. The Connecticut Education Association—the state’s largest teachers’ union—filed a lawsuit on October 11 claiming that education cuts would prevent schools from providing an adequate education for students.
  • The budget was not passed on time due to disagreements between Malloy and the Democratic-controlled General Assembly, disagreements among members of the majority Democratic caucus, and disagreements between Democratic and Republican legislators. Issues include the state’s income and sales taxes, relations with the state employees unions, funding for social services, and state aid for municipalities and education.
  • The competitive nature of Connecticut politics complicated budget discussions. The two parties have nearly equal numbers in both legislative chambers, and control of the state will be up for grabs in 2018. Both chambers have enough competitive seats in 2018 to swing control of the General Assembly to either party.
  • The governor’s race is also expected to be competitive. Malloy is near the end of his second term as governor and has registered an approval rating as low as 29 percent. In April 2017, he announced that he would not seek a third term in office. Before Malloy was elected in 2010, Connecticut had elected a Republican governor since 1994. Malloy saw margins of victory of less than 5 percent in his 2010 and 2014 elections to the office. Cook Political Report has rated the 2018 election as a “Toss-up.”
  • The General Assembly ratified a labor concessions agreement on July 31. The concessions deal amended the state’s agreement with state employee unions to allow for wage freezes and increased pension contributions while also extending the labor agreement from 2022 to 2027. Proponents say that the concessions deal will save the state $1.57 billion in two years, decreasing the projected two-year budget deficit from $5.1 billion to $3.5 billion. The deal passed the Connecticut House on July 24 in a 78-72 vote, with most Democrats in support and all Republicans opposed. On July 31, the Connecticut Senate had an 18-18 party line split on the vote, with all Democrats in favor and all Republicans opposed. Lieutenant Gov. Wyman cast a tie-breaking vote in favor of the deal.

Judge issues split ruling in lawsuit over Kentucky education boards

  • On Wednesday, Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate issued a ruling upholding elements of both parties' arguments in a lawsuit between Governor Matt Bevin (R) and Attorney General Andy Beshear (D) over an executive order Bevin had issued modifying the structure of several education-related state boards.
  • The lawsuit stems from an executive order signed by Bevin in June that modified the structure of several state boards overseeing education. The order altered the structure and membership of three boards, abolished five other boards and recreated them under new terms, and established a new Charter Schools Advisory Council. An initial challenge from Beshear was followed by a revised executive order later that month. Beshear filed a lawsuit challenging the revised order on June 20.
  • In his ruling, Wingate found that it was within Bevin's authority as governor to issue executive orders making structural changes to the boards since the order was issued when the legislature was not in session. Wingate added that the changes would need to be approved by the legislature during its next session in order to be maintained.
  • However, Wingate also found that Bevin had exceeded his authority in a procedural change he had made to the Education Professional Standards Board, which is responsible for teacher certification and hearing appeals from educators accused of violating professional standards. The June executive order eliminated a procedure allowing teachers to challenge decisions made by the board in court, requiring instead that an appeal be issued before the state Board of Education before bringing the matter to court. Wingate's ruling found that this change exceeded Bevin's authority.
  • In a statement, Bevin spokeswoman Amanda Stamper stated that the governor was satisfied with the court's decision: "The Court shot down Attorney General Beshear’s politically motivated arguments that he has repeatedly raised over the last two years." Beshear has stated that he was pleased with the ruling on the Education Professional Standards Board but planned to appeal Wingate's ruling before the Kentucky Supreme Court: "I believe the Kentucky Supreme Court will find the governor broke more laws when this matter is appealed. The governor simply cannot rewrite law through executive order."
  • Bevin and Beshear were first elected to their respective offices in the state’s 2015 elections. Bevin succeeded term-limited Gov. Steve Beshear (D), Andy Beshear’s father. This lawsuit is the fourth levied by Beshear against Bevin since their swearing-in. Beshear successfully sued Bevin in April 2016 over cuts to education spending, while a June 2016 lawsuit over an attempt by Bevin to reorganize the state’s Retirement Systems board of trustees led to intervention by the state legislature allowing Bevin’s proposal to go forward. The third lawsuit between the two, over a reorganization by Bevin of the University of Louisville Board of Trustees, ended in September when the Kentucky Supreme Court found the case moot on the basis that the legislature had passed a bill upholding Bevin's executive order and granting the governor power to further reorganize university-related boards in the future.
  • Kentucky is one of 26 states where the governor and majorities in both houses of the state legislature are Republicans, making it a Republican trifecta. Because the attorney general and secretary of state are members of the Democratic Party while the governor is a Republican, Kentucky is one of 16 states with divided triplex status. Kentucky is one of six states—alongside Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New Mexico, and Vermont—to have a Republican governor and a Democratic attorney general and secretary of state. Of those states, Kentucky is the only one to have Republican majorities in both houses of the legislature.

Massachusetts State Legislature votes to amend 2002 initiative requiring sheltered English immersion

  • In 2002, voters in Massachusetts approved a ballot initiative, titled Question 2, to require that public school students be taught English using the English language and in English-language classrooms. This style of English learning is referred to as sheltered immersion.
  • On November 15, 2017—15 years after voters approved Question 2—the Massachusetts House of Representatives voted 155-1 to amend the ballot initiative, ending the requirement that public schools use sheltered immersion to teach English. The one representative to vote against the bill, known as HB 4032, was Republican Rep. James Lyons. The Massachusetts Senate unanimously approved the bill on the same day, sending the bill to the desk of Gov. Charlie Baker (R) for his signature, the final step required to enact the bill. As of November 16, 2017, Gov. Baker had not said whether he intended to sign the bill. Brendan Moss, a spokesperson for the governor, said, "The governor will carefully review any legislation that reaches his desk."
  • Like Question 2, HB 4032 would require that public school students be taught English. HB 4032 would allow school districts to use different programs, including sheltered English immersion, transitional bilingual education, dual-language education, or other methods in compliance with federal and state laws to teach English.
  • Voters approved Question 2 in a vote of 61 percent to 29 percent. Question 2 played a role in the gubernatorial election in 2002, with Republican candidate Mitt Romney, who won the election, supporting the initiative and Democratic candidate Shannon O’Brien opposing the initiative.
  • Massachusetts isn’t the first state to repeal a sheltered English immersion initiative. In 2016, the California State Legislature referred Proposition 58 to the ballot to repeal the 1998 initiative Proposition 227. California voters approved the sheltered immersion initiative in 1998 in a vote of 61 percent to 39 percent, and they approved the proposition to repeal the initiative in 2016 in a vote of 74 percent to 26 percent.
  • Unlike in California, where the state legislature was required to refer the act to repeal the initiative to the ballot, the Massachusetts State Legislature does not need voters’ approval to amend or repeal an initiative. Massachusetts is one of 11 states that has no restrictions on how soon or with what majority state legislators can repeal or amend citizen initiated statutes.


Thursday, November 16

Montana special session adjourns with plan to address $227 million budget deficit

  • Montana state legislators convened in a special session on Monday, November 13, to address the state’s projected $227 million budget deficit. The roughly three-day session, which was called by Governor Steve Bullock (D) on November 6, adjourned shortly after 1 a.m. on Thursday, November 16.
  • An unanticipated revenue shortfall, combined with $75 million spent to combat one of the worst wildfire seasons in the state’s history, left Montana lawmakers facing an estimated $227 million budget deficit. Bullock had proposed addressing the shortfall by making adjustments in three budget areas: $76 million in gubernatorial cuts to state agencies, $75 million in fund transfers and delayed payments, and $75 million in temporary tax increases.
  • The state legislature, which is controlled by Republican majorities in both the state House and the state Senate, assembled a separate plan to address the deficit. Lawmakers approved a legislation package that is projected to garner $94 million through fund transfers and delayed payments, $30 million through an investment fee charged to the state’s workers’ compensation insurance provider, $15 million through state employee furloughs, $6.3 million through changing the state’s liquor license lottery to an auction, and $32 million through a contract negotiation with a private prison operator. Legislators also cut $13 million in block grants to schools across the state, while Bullock approved the $76 million in gubernatorial cuts to state agencies.
  • "Tonight we reached a reasonable and responsible compromise to balance our budget and pay for Montana's record fire season,” said Bullock in a statement released after the session adjourned. “While I'm disappointed we were not able to reach a full agreement, I would be remiss not to acknowledge all the progress made to minimize the impacts of severe budget cuts on the most vulnerable among us.”
  • Montana is currently one of 18 states under divided government. Democrat Steve Bullock holds the governor’s office while Republican state legislators have a 32-18 majority in the state Senate and a 59-41 majority in the state House.

Minnesota Supreme Court refuses to reinstate legislature's funding, overturning lower court decision

  • On November 16, the Minnesota Supreme Court made a final ruling in the Minnesota Legislature's lawsuit against Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton. The court upheld Dayton's line-item vetoes of the legislature's funding, ruling that the legislature has access to sufficient funding to continue operating until the new legislative session opens in February. The legislature had argued that Dayton's vetoes violated the separation of powers clause of the Minnesota Constitution by effectively eliminating the legislative branch of government. The court countered that because the legislature had enough funding to stay open until the beginning of the next legislative session, Dayton's vetoes did not close the legislature.
  • Moreover, the court concluded that it lacked the constitutional authority to order funding. It emphasized that state budget issues were the province of the executive and legislative branches, not the judicial branch. The court wrote, "Here, the way to resolve the parties’ dispute is through the usual political process of appropriations....And, based on the record now before us and our analysis above, the other Branches have the opportunity to resolve this dispute when the Legislature reconvenes on February 20, 2018."
  • The lawsuit stems from a dispute over Dayton's line-item vetoes of the legislature's funding. During the 2017 session, the Republican-controlled legislature passed several bills and policy changes Dayton opposed. After a special session, the legislature passed a state budget bill and then immediately adjourned. Dayton signed the bill into law, but used his line-item veto authority to veto the legislature's funding. Dayton said that he would reinstate the funding if the legislature agreed to reconsider some of the bills and policy changes Dayton had opposed. The legislature refused and filed suit, claiming that Dayton’s vetoes violated the separation of powers clause of the Minnesota Constitution. A Minnesota trial court judge ruled in favor of the legislature, and Dayton appealed to the Minnesota Supreme Court.
  • The court noted that the decision marked the first time it had ruled in a lawsuit filed by one branch of government against another. Minnesota is currently one of 18 states under divided government.

Special Elections

As of this week, 83 state legislative seats have been filled through special elections in 2017, and another 15 special elections have been scheduled in nine states. Elections have been held for 37 Democratic seats and 46 Republican seats. Democrats have flipped 13 seats as a result of special state legislative elections in 2017. Republicans have flipped one seat. In special elections between 2011 and 2016, one party (either Republicans or Democrats) saw an average net gain of three seats across the country each year. The number of net seats won and lost by Democrats and Republicans in state legislative special elections in 2017 has, so far, been similar to prior years.

  • An average of 89 seats were filled through special elections in each of the past three odd years (2011: 94, 2013: 84, 2015: 88).
  • An average of 44 seats were filled through special elections in each of the past four even years (2010: 26, 2012: 45, 2014: 40, 2016: 65).

Upcoming special elections include:

November 18

November 28

Verbatim Fact Checks

Tony Evers on University of Wisconsin free speech policy

  • Tony Evers, Wisconsin’s superintendent of public instruction, is also a member of the University of Wisconsin (UW) Board of Regents and a candidate for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. He was recently the board’s lone vote against a new policy entitled "Commitment to Academic Freedom and Freedom of Expression." In an October 13 commentary, Evers claimed that the policy "gives the university the means to expel a student for participating in any sort of protest" and "does not even provide a definition for the word 'disrupt.'" Evers is incorrect. The policy allows the university to expel a student only after he or she has been found responsible for three incidents of disrupting the expressive rights of others. The policy also defines disruptive conduct subject to discipline by reference to the university system’s administrative code.

Local Politics: The Week in Review

Elections Update

Monday, November 13

Connecticut school board member-elect ineligible to hold position

  • Six of the 11 seats on the Danbury Public Schools school board were up for partisan general election on November 7, 2017. Less than a week after winning an at-large seat, Democratic candidate Jeanne Grandieri discovered she would not be able to serve as a board member due to her employment status. When Grandieri accepted a position with the district as a behavioral therapist in October 2017, she became ineligible to serve on the board according to district policy. The News-Times reported that Grandieri said she was unaware that holding a position with the school district prevented her from serving on the school board. Democratic leaders said Grandieri had not informed the Democratic Town Committee that she had become a district employee prior to the election. Members of the Democratic Party have argued that the Democratic Town Committee should choose Grandieri's replacement, but members of the Republican Party have disagreed. While the Democrats say Grandieri was legitimately elected but chose to resign from the board rather than from her position with the district, Republicans argued that her election was not valid because she was ineligible to hold the position when she was elected. Republican Mayor Mark Boughton told The News-Times that the Republican Town Committee was looking into challenging the election results. Danbury Public Schools is the seventh-largest school district in the state and served 10,920 students during the 2014-2015 school year, approximately 1.23 percent of all public school students in the state.
    • A total of 10 of the largest Connecticut school districts by enrollment held elections on November 7, 2017, for 43 seats. For more information about these Connecticut school board elections, please click here.

Tuesday, November 14

Keller wins Albuquerque mayoral runoff despite campaign finance violation

  • The city of Albuquerque held runoff elections for mayor and one city council seat. After advancing from a general election held on October 3, 2017, Timothy Keller (D) defeated Albuquerque City Councilman Dan Lewis in the runoff election. Although the city’s elections are officially nonpartisan, Lewis is considered a Republican. In the District 5 race for city council, Cynthia Borrego defeated Robert Aragon by 8 percentage points. The additional races in Districts 1, 3, 7, and 9 were decided in the general election on October 3, 2017.
    • Just one day before the runoff election was held, an ethics board ruled that Keller broke campaign finance rules. While no penalties were imposed against Keller, the board said he broke campaign finance laws when his publicly funded campaign accepted in-kind cash donations. Keller’s opponent, Dan Lewis, released a statement saying Keller “lied to Albuquerque voters and illegally worked with his political allies to funnel cash to his campaign.” Keller responded saying he accepted the board’s decision and the ruling “gave needed clarity going forward.” Albuquerque is the largest city in New Mexico and the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. by population.

Effort to recall Nebraska school board member defeated at polls

  • An effort to recall J.B. Atkins from his position on the Broken Bow Public Schools school board in Nebraska was defeated. The recall ballot asked voters if Atkins should be removed from his position, and just over 60 percent of constituents voted no. Atkins was first elected to a four-year term on the school board in 2016. Recall supporters said that Atkins sought a personal agenda when he voted to lower the district's tax levy and cut the district's budget by 5 percent, causing the district to be underfunded. Atkins said he voted to cut the budget and the tax levy to protect district residents from an increased tax burden in Broken Bow’s agriculture-based economy.
    • Recall supporters also filed petitions to recall board member Carl French, but that effort did not go to a vote. French questioned the legality of the recall effort against him due to a law that prohibited filing recall petitions within six months of an incumbent’s filing deadline to run for re-election. A judge for the Eighth District Court ruled in French’s favor, saying that the recall petition against him had been filed three days too late and could not appear on the ballot.
    • As of November 10, 2017, Ballotpedia tracked 222 recalls against 306 elected officials. Of the 51 elected officials who faced recall elections, 26 officials were recalled, for a rate of 50.9 percent. This is lower than the 56.3 percent rate for 2016 recalls and the 64.5 percent rate for 2015 recalls. For more information on Ballotpedia’s recall coverage, please click here.

Bottoms receives former candidate’s endorsement in Atlanta mayoral runoff

  • Atlanta City Councilman Kwanza Hall announced his endorsement of Councilwoman Keisha Bottoms in the mayoral runoff election scheduled on December 5, 2017. Bottoms and City Councilwoman Mary Norwood are competing to replace term-limited Mayor Kasim Reed. In the general election held on November 7, 2017, Bottoms placed first with 26.1 percent of the vote, Norwood placed second with 20.8 percent of the vote, and Hall placed seventh out of the 12 candidates on the ballot with 4.3 percent of the vote. Bottoms and Norwood are competing to become the second female mayor in the city's history after Shirley Franklin's tenure from 2002 to 2010. If Norwood wins, she will become the first white mayor of Atlanta since 1973. Atlanta is the largest city in Georgia and the 40th-largest city in the U.S. by population.

Conway Public Schools changes school board election date from September to May

  • The Conway Public Schools Board of Education in Arkansas voted to change its school board election schedule. Instead of holding elections every year in September, the district will now hold elections every year in May. The number of seats up for election each year will not change. The schedule change was necessitated by Act 910, a bill that required school board elections to be held on the same day as state election dates starting in 2018. The bill allowed school boards to choose between the preferential primary date in May or the general election date in November. The bill was signed into law on April 5, 2017.
    • Conway Public Schools was the last of the Arkansas public school districts covered by Ballotpedia to vote on its new election schedule. A majority of the districts chose to hold their elections in May. Only one—the Bentonville School District—chose to hold its school board election in November. The Conway school district is the eighth-largest school district in the state and served 10,051 students during the 2014-2015 school year, approximately 2.1 percent of all public school students in the state.
    • Seven of the largest school districts by enrollment in Arkansas covered by Ballotpedia held elections for nine school board seats on September 19, 2017. For more information on Arkansas school board elections in 2017, please click here.

Wednesday, November 15

Seattle officials speak out against DOJ letter

  • After receiving a letter from the Department of Justice (DOJ), both Seattle Mayor Tim Burgess and Mayor-elect Jenny Durkan have reaffirmed Seattle’s status as a sanctuary city. Burgess said the letter sent to city officials by the DOJ expressed concern over a 2013 municipal statute that prevents any city employee, including police officers, from asking about a person’s immigration status. According to Burgess, the letter threatened to cut federal funding and would compromise Seattle’s police resources. Burgess said the city adopted the law “so that no one would fear reporting a crime or approaching a police officer to request help, especially victims of domestic violence.” Durkan called the letter “immoral and illegal.” Seattle is the largest city in Washington and the 21st-largest city in the U.S. by population.
    • Seattle held elections for mayor and city council on November 7, 2017. For more information about the candidates and the issues they faced, please click here.
    • Ballotpedia has covered sanctuary policy preemption conflicts between the federal and local governments throughout 2017. For detailed information on these conflicts, please click here.

State employee replaces Analee Maestas on Albuquerque Board of Education

  • Yolanda Montoya-Cordova was sworn into office as the District 1 representative on the Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education in New Mexico two days after the board appointed her to the position. The Albuquerque Board of Education voted 4-2 to appoint Montoya-Cordova to the position previously held by Analee Maestas. Maestas resigned from the board on October 10, 2017, after a recall effort was organized against her. In September 2017, the New Mexico State Auditor released a report claiming that nearly $700,000 had been embezzled from La Promesa Early Learning Center, a charter school Maestas founded in 2008 and where she served as executive director until 2016. Maestas denied any knowledge of financial mismanagement, and her lawyer said that the report did not show evidence that Maestas had participated in the alleged embezzlement.
    • Montoya-Cordova oversees Workforce Investment and Opportunity Act activities for the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions, and she teaches at the New Mexico Highlands University School of Social Work as an adjunct professor. She will serve until February 2019, when the seat is next up for election. Albuquerque Public Schools is the largest school district in the state and served 93,001 students during the 2014-2015 school year, approximately 27.5 percent of all public school students in the state.

Francis Suarez sworn in as mayor of Miami; Former opponent Manolo Reyes takes his seat on the city’s board of commissioners

  • Francis Suarez was sworn in as the new mayor of Miami, after winning the general election on November 7, 2017. He succeeds Tomas Regalado, who was not eligible to run for re-election in 2017 due to term limits. Although mayoral elections in Miami are officially nonpartisan, both Suarez and Regalado are affiliated with the Republican Party. Suarez was the District 4 representative on the Miami Board of Commissioners at the time of his mayoral run. He has been succeeded in that seat by Manuel "Manolo" Reyes, a high school math and economics teacher and one of Suarez's opponents in his 2009 bid for election to the board.
    • In addition to the mayoral election, the city of Miami also held a general election for the District 3 and District 4 seats on the city’s board of commissioners. Reyes won the race to replace Suarez in District 4. None of the candidates in the crowded race for the District 3 seat secured a majority of votes in the general election, so the top two vote-getters, Joe Carollo and Alfonso “Alfie” Leon, advanced to a runoff election on November 21, 2017.
    • A third seat, in District 5, was also up for election in 2017. Incumbent Keon Hardemon won re-election automatically when no other candidates filed to run against him, so the race did not appear on the ballot. Miami is the second-largest city in Florida and the 44th-largest city in the U.S. by population.

Thursday, November 16

Opposite coasts, opposite outcomes for female representation in city government

  • New York: New York City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley conceded the District 30 race to challenger Robert Holden. The general election held on November 7, 2017, was too close to call on election night, with Crowley trailing Holden by 133 votes. She conceded the race after a count of paper ballots by the New York City Board of Elections found Holden in the lead by 137 votes. With Crowley's loss, the number of women on the New York City Council will drop from 13 to 11 when the new council is sworn in in January 2018. On November 7, 2017, Adrienne Adams picked up the District 28 seat previously held by Ruben Wills, but male candidates won three female-held seats. That resulted in a net loss of two seats for female representatives, continuing the decline in female councilmembers from 18 in 2009 to 13 prior to the November 7, 2017, election.
    • New York City also held general elections for mayor, comptroller, public advocate, and all 51 seats on the city council on November 7, 2017. New York City residents voted on three statewide ballot proposals, seats on local courts, and elections for borough offices, such as borough president and district attorney. New York City is the largest city in the U.S. by population.
  • Seattle: On the opposite side of the country, Seattle saw an uptick in the female share of its city government after the general election on November 7, 2017. Teresa Mosqueda defeated Jon Grant in the open race for the Position 8 seat on the Seattle City Council, which was vacated by Tim Burgess when he was appointed as interim mayor following the September 2017 resignation of former Mayor Ed Murray. Kirsten Harris-Talley was appointed as the interim council member and will serve until Mosqueda is sworn in. Mosqueda's win cements a six-member female majority on Seattle's nine-member city council. The city also elected its first female mayor in almost 100 years on November 7, 2017. Jenny Durkan defeated fellow female candidate Cary Moon 57 percent to 43 percent to win the race to replace Burgess. The last woman to hold the Seattle mayorship was Bertha Knight Landes, who served from 1926 to 1928. Seattle is the largest city in Washington and the 21st-largest city in the U.S. by population.
    • Housing costs, homelessness, and an income tax ordinance headlined Seattle’s city council races, while turmoil marked Seattle’s mayoral race in 2017. For more information about these races, please click here.
    • Seattle Public Schools also held a general election for three school board seats on November 7, 2017. For more information about these races and the issues facing the candidates, please click here.

Every vote counts: close races and coin flips

  • Victory margins thin in at least two city council elections.
    • Challenger Michelle Kennedy edged out incumbent Mike Barber by 99 votes on November 7 to pick up the third at-large seat on the Greensboro City Council in North Carolina. In New York City, challenger Robert Holden defeated incumbent Elizabeth Crowley by fewer than 140 votes to claim the District 30 seat on the New York City Council. Greensboro is the third-largest city in North Carolina and the 68th-largest city in the U.S. by population, while New York City is the largest city in the U.S. by population.
  • Coin tosses decide the outcomes of at least four local races after candidates tie at the ballot box.
    • In Connecticut, Republican incumbent Michael Eremita, who tied with Democratic challenger Kim Miller at 718 votes, won a coin flip on November 14, 2017, to keep his seat on the Bolton Board of Selectmen. According to The Kansas City Star, William Young won a coin toss on November 15, 2017, to claim one of six at-large seats up for election on the Mission Woods City Council. Young and fellow candidate Michael Knierim were tied for the sixth seat, with each candidate securing 35 votes in a town of fewer than 200 residents. According to the U.S. Census estimates in 2016, Bolton and Mission Woods had populations of 4,930 and 198, respectively.
    • Idaho saw at least two coin flips, with challenger Glen Loveland tying Heyburn City Councilman Dick Galbraith at 112 votes in the November 7, 2017, election. City Clerk Ashlee Langlee flipped a coin to determine who would secure the Heyburn City Council seat. Loveland won the coin toss on November 15, 2017, to unseat Galbraith. Similarly, White Bird City Council candidates Barbara Lowe and Paul Sand won 26 votes apiece. Lowe won her coin toss on November 16, 2017, to claim the seat in White Bird. According to the U.S. Census estimates in 2016, Heyburn had 3,275 residents, while White Bird had 91.
      • While Ballotpedia provides comprehensive coverage of the 100 largest cities in America by population, the cities discussed above are outside of that coverage scope. For more information about all city, county, and special district elections appearing on the ballot within Ballotpedia’s coverage scope, please click here.
WHAT'S ON TAP NEXT WEEK

Here's what is happening in state and local politics this week. To see what happened in federal politics, click here.

State Politics: What's On Tap Next Week

Saturday, November 18

Louisiana holds general election for treasurer

  • On Saturday, voters in Louisiana will go to the polls to elect a new state treasurer, responsible for the investment and disbursement of state funds as well as the return of unclaimed property.
  • Elections in Louisiana follow a unique system reminiscent of a top-two or blanket primary system. In Louisiana elections, all candidates are featured on the same primary ballot regardless of party affiliation. If one candidate receives a majority of the vote during the first round of voting, that candidate wins the election outright. If no candidate receives a majority during the primary election, then the top two finishers advance to a general election. This is not to be confused with the top-two primary system in place in California and Washington, in which the top two candidates always advance to the general election regardless of whether the top finisher received a majority of the vote.
  • In the first round of voting, held on October 14, no candidate received a majority of the vote. Earning the right to appear on Saturday's ballot, the top two finishers were attorney Derrick Edwards (D) with 31 percent of the vote and former state Rep. John Schroder (R) with 24 percent. Former Commissioner of Administration Angele Davis (R), state Sen. Neil Riser (R), businessman Terry Hughes (R), and mail carrier Joseph D. Little (L) were eliminated in the primary election. The four Republican candidates received a combined 67 percent of the vote in the first round of voting.
  • The special election was called following the resignation of former Treasurer John Neely Kennedy (R) after he was elected to the U.S. Senate last year. Kennedy had held the treasurer's office since 2000. The winner of Saturday's election will take over from interim Treasurer Ron Henson (R) and finish the remainder of Kennedy's final term, set to expire in January 2020.
  • Because the governor is a Democrat while the Republican Party controls majorities in both houses of the state Legislature, Louisiana is one of 18 states under divided government. Similarly, since the governor is a Democrat while the secretary of state and attorney general are Republicans, Louisiana is also one of 16 states to be under divided triplex control.

Two Republicans go head-to-head in runoff election for Louisiana House of Representatives District 77

  • A general runoff election for District 77 of the Louisiana House of Representatives will take place on Saturday, November 18. Republican candidates Mark Wright and Rob Maness will compete to represent the vacant seat.
  • Maness, Wright, Casey Revere (R), and Lisa Condrey Ward (no party) faced off in the primary election on October 14. The top two performers from the primary election, Wright and Maness, advanced to the general runoff election.
  • The District 77 seat became vacant after former officeholder John Schroder (R) resigned at the end of the 2017 legislative session on June 16, 2017, in order to run for state treasurer. The winner of Saturday’s election will serve out the remainder of Schroder’s term, which expires in January 2020.
  • The Louisiana Legislature is one of 15 state legislatures with term limits. Under Louisiana's term limits, state representatives can serve no more than three four-year terms in the state House.
  • Louisiana is currently one of 18 states under divided government. Republicans hold a 25-14 majority in the state Senate and a 60-41 majority in the state House with three independent members and one vacancy. The governor’s office is held by Democrat John Bel Edwards.

Monday, November 20

Proponents of a 2018 marijuana legalization initiative in Michigan plan to submit signatures after making final payments to petition management company

  • The Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol announced last week that it planned to submit about 360,000 signatures for its initiative to legalize recreational marijuana on Monday. The group needs at least 252,523 of those signatures to be found valid and less than 180 days old for the Michigan initiative petition to qualify as sufficient. If enough signatures are verified, then the state legislature has 40 days to adopt or reject the proposal. If Michigan lawmakers reject the initiative or take no action, then the measure would be placed on the November 2018 ballot. The group hoped to submit signatures last week, but it did not have the funds available to pay the final $30,000 payment to National Petition Management, the signature drive management company the group hired to collect signatures. The company was holding the final installment of signatures until the final payment was made. The total signatures collected included 250,288 that employees of the petition drive company had verified themselves, according to Lisa Satori, a coordinator for the effort.
  • The measure would legalize the personal possession and use of marijuana for persons 21 years of age or older. It would allow individuals to possess, use, transport, or process 2.5 ounces or less of marijuana or 15 grams of marijuana concentrate, and individuals would be allowed to grow up to 12 marijuana plants in their residences for personal use.
  • The measure would also legalize the cultivation, processing, distribution, and sale of industrial hemp and authorize the department of licensing and regulatory affairs to license marijuana retailers, testing facilities, transporters, processing facilities, cultivators, and other marijuana-related businesses. Under the initiative, the regulatory department would be responsible for deciding testing, packaging, and labeling standards for marijuana, and municipalities would be allowed to ban or limit marijuana establishments within their boundaries.
  • The initiative was designed to levy an excise sales tax of 10 percent on marijuana businesses, in addition to the existing 6 percent state sales tax rate. Revenue from this tax would be distributed as follows: (a) 15 percent to municipalities with a marijuana retail store or a microbusiness; (b) 15 percent to counties with a marijuana retail store or a microbusiness; 35 percent to the school aid fund to be used for K-12 education; and (d) 35 percent to the state transportation fund for the repair and maintenance of roads and bridges.
  • Several efforts to put marijuana legalization initiatives on the ballot in 2016 were unsuccessful. During the 2016 efforts, key marijuana activist groups and supporters were divided between the efforts. This 2018 initiative, however, received unified backing from the Marijuana Policy Project, MI Legalize, Michigan Cannabis Coalition, Michigan NORML, the National Patients Rights Association, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Marijuana Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan, and the National Cannabis Industry Association. Recent support from the National Cannabis Industry Association was an important factor in pushing the group past the fundraising hurdle that allowed them to pay for the last batch of signatures, according to Josh Hovey, a spokesman for the proponent group. One other marijuana legalization initiative, an initiated constitutional amendment, was also filed targeting the 2018 ballot.
  • In 2016, National Petition Management was hired to collect signatures for seven successful citizen initiative efforts and was the company with the third most successful initiative petition drives in 2016 after FieldWorks (9) and PCI Consultants (11). For 2016 initiative petition drives in which National Petition Management was involved, the average cost per required signature (CPRS) was $6.11. The 2016 initiatives, however, were in California and Missouri. The last successful citizen-initiated measures on the ballot in Michigan were two veto referendums in 2014, which had an average cost per required signature of $2.53. Those petition drives were run by PCI Consultants, which featured an average CPRS in 2016 of $6.28—which was very close to the average cost for National Petition Management. Applying the 2014 average CPRS in Michigan to this 2018 initiative results in an estimated total petition drive cost of roughly $640,000. If the initiative is certified for the ballot, Ballotpedia will analyze the total cost according to actual campaign finance filings and publish the information in our annual signature costs report.
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Local Politics: What's On Tap Next Week

Saturday, November 18

Cantrell leading Charbonnet in polling, campaign finance in New Orleans race for mayor

  • Councilwoman LaToya Cantrell (D) faces former Municipal Judge Desiree Charbonnet (D) in a general election for mayor of New Orleans. The general election is taking place after neither candidate won a majority of votes in a primary election held on October 14, 2017. Cantrell and Charbonnet finished ahead of 16 other candidates in the primary with Cantrell receiving 39 percent of the vote and Charbonnet receiving 30.4 percent of the vote. According to a University of New Orleans poll released on November 13, 2017, Cantrell leads Charbonnet 46 percent to 35 percent in the mayoral race. In a previous poll, Cantrell led Charbonnet 44 percent to 26 percent, and Cantrell led Charbonnet in campaign contributions $613,000 to $357,434 for the filing period ending on October 29, 2017. Cantrell and Charbonnet are running to replace Mayor Mitch Landrieu (D), who was unable to seek re-election due to term limits. The winner will become the first female mayor of New Orleans.
    • A general election will also be held for two seats on the New Orleans City Council. Jay Banks (D) and Seth Bloom (D) advanced from the primary election held on October 14, 2017, to replace District B incumbent and mayoral candidate LaToya Cantrell. In District E, incumbent James Gray (D) faces challenger Cyndi Nguyen (D). Five additional city council races were decided outright in the primary election. New Orleans is the largest city in Louisiana and the 51st-largest city in the U.S. by population.

Two Louisiana court judgeships up for grabs

  • Partisan general elections will be held in Louisiana after no candidate running for Division A of the 18th Judicial Court or District J of the Orleans Parish Civil District Court won a majority of the votes cast in a primary election held on October 14, 2017. A total of 18 local judgeships were up for election in Louisiana in 2017. Eight of the 10 contested races were decided in the October primary election. Eight additional candidates ran unopposed and were declared elected after the end of the candidate filing period on January 13, 2017. Their names did not appear on the primary election ballot.

Monday, November 20

Atlanta Public Schools furloughs 1,200 employees

  • Amid ongoing funding uncertainties, Atlanta Public Schools (APS) employees will be furloughed. Announced on November 8, 2017, the furlough will last through November 21, 2017. Those affected include hourly employees, part-time employees, and administrators who will not be paid for the furlough days. The district said it plans to repay employees, apart from hourly workers, for the two-day furlough by January 15, 2018, and that it will also provide them with a $500 one-time bonus.
    • The district’s funding problems arose after the Fulton County Board of Commissioners decided to freeze property assessment values at their 2016 levels in June 2017. As APS is part of Fulton County, the decision affected the district’s revenue. Approximately 62.5 percent of the district’s $777 million budget comes from Fulton County tax revenue, but as of November 2017 the district had not received any of the anticipated funds. The fall tax collection was delayed after residents of Fulton County argued the 2017 property assessments were too steep. After APS, along with Fulton County and Fulton County Schools, filed a motion for a tax collection order, the county was granted the ability to begin collecting property taxes by a DeKalb County judge on November 3, 2017. The Fulton County tax commissioner speculated that roughly 25 percent of taxes collected from the residents of Atlanta would be returned by the last week of December 2017 but did not estimate a return date for taxes collected from Fulton County residents. In the meantime, APS has said it will have to take expense-saving measures, including placing a freeze on hiring and delaying spending. APS is the sixth-largest school district in the state and served 51,145 students during the 2014-2015 school year, approximately 3.0 percent of all public school students in the state.
    • Atlanta Public Schools also held a nonpartisan general election for nine school board seats on November 7, 2017. Four seats proceeded to a runoff election scheduled for December 5, 2017. For more information on these races, please click here.

Tuesday, November 21

Candidates face off in Miami City Council runoff election

  • A runoff election will be held for the District 3 seat on the Miami City Council after no candidate won a majority of the votes cast in the general election on November 7, 2017. Joe Carollo and Alfonso M. Leon defeated five candidates in the crowded general election field. Both men have ties to the current incumbent, term-limited Commissioner Frank Carollo. Joe Carollo, a former Miami mayor and city commissioner, is Frank Carollo's brother, and Leon has served as his chief policy advisor. Click here to read more about the connections between the 2017 candidates for city office and other city, county, and state officials.

Recall election will replace Wisconsin school board member

  • A recall election will be held to replace Lois Havenor on the Eleva-Strum School District school board in Wisconsin. While Havenor officially resigned from the board on September 28, 2017, the recall election is still taking place. This is because recall supporters submitted more signatures (528) than were required to get the recall on the ballot (412) prior to Havenor's resignation. The winner of the election will replace Havenor on the board and serve until April 2019. Recall supporters said Havenor abused her power as a board member, acted without the full board's consent, intimidated employees, and retaliated against a special education teacher who presented a letter of concern to the board. Havenor did not comment on the recall effort before she resigned.
    • As of November 10, 2017, Ballotpedia tracked 222 recalls against 306 elected officials. Of the 51 elected officials who faced recall elections, 26 officials were recalled, for a rate of 50.9 percent. This is lower than the 56.3 percent rate for 2016 recalls and the 64.5 percent rate for 2015 recalls. For more information on Ballotpedia’s recall coverage, click here.

Nebraska village trustees face recall over accusations of financial gain, hostile work environment

  • Sutherland Village Trustees John Lutz and Ray Ravenscroft will face a recall election. Recall organizers Mary Gibbons and Steve Seifer accuse Lutz of using his office for financial gain. Gibbons and Seifer are pursuing Ravenscroft’s removal due to allegations that he created a hostile work environment for village trustees. Lutz and Ravenscroft responded to the recall effort with an August 2017 editorial highlighting their work on the village budget. The targeted trustees said that the petitioners ignored budget troubles inherited from the previous village president. Lutz and Ravenscroft also argued that they saved the village $1.5 million in the current budget and improved relationships within village departments.
    • As of November 10, 2017, Ballotpedia tracked 222 recalls against 306 elected officials. Of the 51 elected officials who faced recall elections, 26 officials were recalled, for a rate of 50.9 percent. This is lower than the 56.3 percent rate for 2016 recalls and the 64.5 percent rate for 2015 recalls. For more information on Ballotpedia’s recall coverage, click here.


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The Tap covered election news, public policy, and other noteworthy events from February 2016 to February 2022.

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