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The State and Local Tap: January 29, 2022

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Our weekly summary of state & local news highlights the Michigan Supreme Court's decision to overturn some initiative petition requirements and updated legislative district maps in Ohio. Read all about it in this week’s edition of the State & Local Tap.

Ballot Measures Update

Sixty-four (64) statewide measures have been certified for the 2022 ballot in 30 states so far. No new measures were certified for the ballot last week.

Signatures have been submitted and are pending verification for four additional initiatives in Alaska, Florida, and Ohio:

Enough signatures were verified for three initiatives in Massachusetts to certify them to the legislature. If the legislature doesn’t enact them, proponents will need to gather a second round of signatures.

States in session

Thirty-eight (38) state legislatures—Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin—are in regular session.

Special Elections

Thirty-two (32) state legislative special elections have been scheduled in 15 states this year. Eight specials have taken place already. Heading into those races, Democrats had controlled seven of the seats, and Republicans controlled one.

  • In special elections between 2011 and 2021, one party (either Republicans or Democrats) saw an average net gain of four seats nationally each year.
  • An average of 57 seats were filled through special elections in each of the past six even years (2010: 30, 2012: 46, 2014: 40, 2016: 65, 2018: 99, 2020: 59).
  • An average of 85 seats were filled through special elections in each of the past six odd years (2011: 95, 2013: 84, 2015: 89, 2017:98, 2019: 77, 2021: 66).

Upcoming special elections include:

Feb. 8

Feb. 15

Feb. 22

Michigan Supreme Court overturns distribution and paid circulator registration requirements for initiative petition drives

On Jan. 24, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled the provisions of a 2018 law adding restrictions to the state's initiative process unconstitutional.

The decision overturned two provisions of House Bill 6595 (HB 6595):

  1. a distribution requirement to allow no more than 15 percent of required signatures to come from a given congressional district and
  2. a registration requirement for paid signature gatherers.

Justice Megan Cavanagh wrote, "It would run directly contrary to the clear intention that nothing more than a minimum number of signatures from the statewide population is necessary to propose changes to Michigan’s laws."

The supreme court upheld a provision requiring paid circulators to identify that they are paid on petitions forms.

A distribution requirement states that petitions for an initiative or veto referendum petition must be signed by voters from different political subdivisions in order for the ballot measure to qualify for the ballotIn the 26 states that feature the powers of initiative, veto referendum, or both, 16 have laws imposing distribution requirements, while 10 of them, including Michigan, do not.

Arizona enacts new legislative maps; Ohio Redistricting Commission approves second map after state supreme court ruling

Arizona

Arizona enacted new legislative maps on Jan. 24 after the state’s Independent Redistricting Commission transmitted its finalized plans to the secretary of state. The commission originally voted in favor of the legislative map on Dec. 22, 2021, which was followed by a period for counties to request administrative changes before a final vote.

The commission finalized and certified the legislative map plan by a 3-2 vote on Jan. 21. The commission's nonpartisan chairwoman, Erika Neuberg, joined the two Republican members—David Mehl and Douglas York—voting in favor of the map. The commission's two Democratic members—Shereen Lerner and Derrick Watchman—were opposed. These maps take effect for Arizona's 2022 legislative elections.

The Arizona Mirror’s Jeremy Duda wrote, "The final map has 13 Republican districts, 12 Democratic ones and five that would be considered competitive ... Four of those five competitive districts lean toward the GOP."

Ohio

The Ohio Redistricting Commission approved a new set of state legislative maps in a 5-2 vote on Jan. 22. If the Ohio Supreme Court approves the maps, they will take effect for the state's 2022 legislative elections and last for four years, rather than ten, since the commission's approval vote was along party lines. On Jan. 12, the state supreme court ruled against the state's previously enacted legislative maps and ordered the commission to redraw them within 10 days.

The commission had previously approved new state legislative district maps by a 5-2 vote on Sept. 16, 2021. All five Republican members voted in favor of those maps and both Democratic members were opposed. 

State legislative special elections in Connecticut and South Carolina

State legislative special elections were held on Jan. 25 across two states: 

  • A special general election was held for Connecticut House of Representatives District 144. Hubert Delany (D) won the special election with 1,661 votes and defeated Danny Melchionne (R). The special election was called after Caroline Simmons (D) left office to become mayor of Stamford, Connecticut, on Dec. 1. Simmons served from 2015 to 2021. 
  • A special primary election was held for South Carolina State Senate District 31. Mike Reichenbach (R) advanced to the special general election and defeated Jay Jordan (R). The special general election is scheduled for March 29, 2022. The special election was called after the seat became vacant due to the death of Hugh Leatherman (R) on Nov. 12. Leatherman served from 1981 to 2021. 

As of January 2022, 31 state legislative special elections have been scheduled for 2022 in 15 states. Between 2011 and 2021, an average of 74 special elections took place each year. Connecticut has held 45 state legislative special elections from 2010 to 2021, and South Carolina has held 33 during the same timeframe.

Jan. 25 marked the second statewide filing deadline for the 2022 election cycle

On Jan. 25, the filing deadline to run for elected office in Kentucky passed. Candidates filed for the following offices: 

Ballotpedia is also covering local elections in the following areas:

The primary is scheduled for May 17, and the general election is scheduled for Nov. 8, 2022.

Kentucky’s statewide filing deadline was the second to take place in the 2022 election cycle. The next filing deadline after Kentucky's for state and local candidates was on Jan. 28 in Alabama. West Virginia, New Mexico, Ohio, and Indiana also have filing deadlines passing in the coming week. 

Entering the 2022 election, the state House has 24 Democrats, 75 Republicans, and one vacancy. All 100 seats are up for election. A majority in the chamber requires 51 seats. Kentucky has a divided government. A state government trifecta exists when one political party simultaneously holds the governor’s office and both state legislative chambers. 
Entering the 2022 election, the state Senate has eight Democrats and 30 Republicans. Nineteen (19) seats are up for election.

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