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The State and Local Tap: July 10, 2021

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Eric Adams wins New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary

The New York City Board of Elections released the second set of unofficial ranked-choice voting (RCV) results on June 6 for the city’s Democratic mayoral primary held on June 22. Those results showed Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams (D) defeating former New York City Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia (D) and 11 other candidates. 

Adams led Garcia in the eighth and final round by 8,400 votes, 50.5% to 49.5%. This batch of results included a majority of the 125,000 absentee ballots not factored into last week’s release. Incumbent Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) is not running for re-election due to term limits. Including de Blasio, four of the city’s previous six mayors were Democrats.

Candidate filing deadline for California gubernatorial recall election is July 16

California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis (D) announced on July 1 that a recall election of Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) would take place on Sept.14. The deadline for candidates to file certain documentation, such as their past five years’ tax returns, personal financial disclosures, nomination signatures, and a declaration of candidacy is July 16. The secretary of state’s office issued a recall election calendar and a list of qualifications for running for governor in this election and will publish the names of all official candidates on its website on July 17.

The recall election will present voters with two questions. The first will ask whether Newsom should be recalled, and the second will ask who should succeed Newsom if he is recalled. If a majority of voters approve the first question, Newsom will be recalled from office, and the candidate with the most votes on the second question becomes governor. 

In the 2003 recall of then-Gov. Gray Davis (D), Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) was chosen among 135 candidates as Davis' replacement. Sixty-one candidates have filed statements of intention to run in the recall election as of July 9, including San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer (R), 2018 gubernatorial candidate John Cox (R), former U.S. Rep. Doug Ose (R), and Caitlyn Jenner (R).

States in session

Eight states—California, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin—are in regular session.

Alabama, Colorado end COVID-19 emergencies

Emergency orders issued in response to the COVID-19 pandemic ended in two states this week: 

  • Gov. Jared Polis (D) ended Colorado’s COVID-19 health emergency on July 8. Polis subsequently issued a new “Recovery Executive Order,” allowing him to retain some aspects of his original order, including the continued deployment of the National Guard to assist local governments with vaccination efforts. Polis first declared a health emergency in response to the pandemic on March 10, 2020. 
  • Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) issued an order terminating the statewide COVID-19 emergency. Ivey first declared a state of emergency in reaction to the pandemic on March 13, 2020.  

As of July 9, COVID-19 emergency orders have expired in 24 states. They remain active in 26 states. 

Governors and state agencies in all 50 states issued orders declaring active emergencies in response to the coronavirus pandemic. These orders allowed officials to access resources unavailable to them during non-emergencies, like stockpiles of medical goods and equipment, and to waive or suspend certain rules and regulations. Governors and state agencies relied on emergency power authority to enact lockdown and stay-at-home orders, mask mandates, and other restrictions on businesses and individuals. 

President Biden announces nomination of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to be ambassador to India

President Joe Biden (D) announced on July 9 he will nominate Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (D) to serve as the U.S. ambassador to India. This position requires confirmation by the U.S. Senate.

Garcetti, who was first elected mayor in 2013, is a retired lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Reserve and former intelligence officer. His term was scheduled to end in December 2022.

If confirmed, the Los Angeles City Council will decide whether to appoint an interim mayor or hold a special election.

Ballot Measures Update

Thirty-one (31) statewide measures have been certified for the 2021 ballot in seven states so far.

Two new measures were certified for the 2021 ballot last week:

Fifty-seven statewide measures have been certified for the 2022 ballot in 26 states so far. No new measures were certified for the 2022 ballot last week.

Signatures have been submitted and are pending verification for three additional 2022 initiatives in California and Michigan.

Michigan Supreme Court rejects lawsuit to delay redistricting

On July 9, the Michigan Supreme Court denied a request in a lawsuit brought by the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Committee and the secretary of state requesting an extension in the deadline for producing new congressional and state legislative district maps. The plaintiffs had requested that the deadline for a first draft to be presented to the public be moved back from Sept. 17 to Dec. 11.

Justin Fecteau resigns from Maine House of Representatives

Justin Fecteau (R) resigned from the Maine House of Representatives on July 4 to accept a teaching job outside his legislative district. He was first elected to Maine House District 86 on Nov. 6, 2018. He took office on Dec. 5 of that year. Fecteau won re-election in 2020, defeating Adam Turner (D), 57\% to 43%.

Vacancies in the Maine state House are filled by special election. The governor must call for an election and allow all political committees representing the vacant seat to set all deadlines. The person elected to the seat will serve the remainder of Fecteau’s unexpired term, which was set to expire on Dec. 6, 2022.

Fecteau’s district is one of 710 state legislative districts that intersect with one or more Pivot Counties. Ballotpedia identified 206 Pivot Counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. The 206 Pivot Counties are located in 34 states. Iowa, with 31, has the most such counties. Maine has eight Pivot Counties.

Special Elections

Forty-two state legislative special elections have been scheduled in 17 states so far this year. Twenty-nine (29) specials have taken place already. Heading into those races, Democrats had previously controlled 15 of the seats, and Republicans previously controlled 14. No seats have changed party hands as a result of the special elections.

  • In special elections between 2011 and 2020, 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 88 seats were filled through special elections in each of the past five odd years (2011: 94, 2013: 84, 2015: 89, 2017: 98, 2019: 77).

Upcoming special elections include:

July 13

July 27

Virginia House of Delegates candidate sues over maps used for this year's legislative elections

Paul Goldman, a candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates, filed suit on June 28 against Gov. Ralph Northam (D) and the Virginia State Board of Elections (among other state officials), asking that a U.S. District Court declare this year’s House of Delegates elections invalid, limit the terms of delegates elected in 2021 to one year, and order new elections to take place in 2022. Because members of the House of Delegates serve two-year terms, a court order to this effect would result in elections in three consecutive years: 2021, 2022, and 2023.

The Constitution of Virginia requires that elections for the House of Delegates take place every two years on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November. Regularly scheduled elections occur in odd-numbered years. Because of the delayed release of U.S. Census redistricting data, redistricting authorities in Virginia were unable to draft new legislative district maps for this year's elections. Consequently, existing maps will remain in force. Goldman argues that conducting the 2021 elections under the existing maps violates both the state and federal constitutions. Citing Cosner v. Dalton, a 1981 decision in which a federal court ordered that the terms of delegates elected in 1981 under invalid maps be limited to one year, Goldman is asking that the court limit the terms of delegates elected in 2021 to one year and schedule elections under new maps in 2022.

Hawaii ends testing, quarantine requirement for fully-vaccinated travelers

On July 8, Gov. David Ige (D) allowed travelers fully vaccinated in the United States and U.S. territories to bypass the requirement to provide a negative COVID-19 test or quarantine for 10 days upon arrival. Previously, on June 15, Ige allowed travelers fully vaccinated in the state of Hawaii to bypass the quarantine or test requirement. 

Ige first imposed restrictions on out-of-state travelers on March 17, 2020. 

To date, twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia have issued at least one executive order restricting interstate travel. Currently, only Hawaii, Kansas, Rhode Island, and Washington D.C. maintain active travel restrictions.

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