Ballot Measures Update
Seventeen statewide measures have been certified for the 2021 ballot in five states so far.
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Three new measures were certified for the 2021 ballot last week:
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One additional 2021 initiative in Maine has been certified to the legislature, which means it will go on the November ballot if legislators do not enact it.
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On May 18, Pennsylvania voters will decide four statewide ballot measures. The measures include two constitutional amendments on the governor's emergency powers, which have been a point of conflict between the Republican-controlled Legislature and Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf during the coronavirus pandemic.
Forty-one statewide measures have been certified for the 2022 ballot in 20 states so far.
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One new measure was certified for the 2022 ballot last week:
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Signatures have been submitted and are pending verification for four additional 2022 initiatives in California and Michigan.
Virginia Republicans select nominees for state executive offices
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Republican delegates selected their nominees for governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general at a statewide unassembled convention on May 8. The convention took place at 39 satellite locations statewide with over 30,500 delegates participating. Delegate votes were weighted by voting unit, and ranked-choice voting was used to determine the nominees. Counting began on May 9 and finished on May 11.
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Democrats will select their statewide nominees through a primary election on June 6. Republicans have not won a statewide election in Virginia since 2009 when voters elected Bob McDonnell, Bill Bolling, and Ken Cuccinelli governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general, respectively.
Governor
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Glenn Youngkin won the Republican nomination for governor after six rounds of vote-counting. He defeated six candidates, including business owner Pete Snyder, state Sen. Amanda Chase, and former House Speaker Kirk Cox. After the final round of vote-counting, Youngkin received 55% of the delegate vote to Snyder’s 45%.
Lieutenant governor
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Winsome Earle-Sears won the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor after five rounds of vote-counting. She defeated five candidates, including Air Force veteran Lance Allen and former House members, Glenn Davis and Tim Hugo. After the final round of vote-counting, Earle-Sears received 54% of the delegate vote to Davis’ 46%. She is a Marine Corps veteran and a former House member. She also previously served as vice president of the Virginia State Board of Education.
Attorney general
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Jason Miyares won the Republican nomination for attorney general after three rounds of vote-counting. He defeated three candidates: Chesterfield County Supervisor Leslie Haley and attorneys Chuck Smith and Jack White. After the final round of voting, Miyares received 52% of the delegate vote to Smith’s 48%. Miyares is a member of the House of Delegates and an attorney. He also worked as a prosecutor for the City of Virginia Beach.
Ohio governor announces lottery for vaccinated residents
Here are some notable changes to vaccine availability and distribution in various states during the past week:
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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (R) announced that people who receive at least one vaccine dose can enter a lottery to win $1,000,000. The drawing will happen each Wednesday for five weeks, with a maximum of five winners. Additionally, the state is holding a lottery for five full scholarships to the state’s public universities to vaccinated residents under 18.
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In New York, eight pop-up vaccination sites offering Johnson & Johnson vaccines opened at MTA stations on May 12. Each site has the capacity to accept up to 300 walk-ups per day and is offering free seven-day metro cards, Long Island Railroad tickets, or Metro-North tickets to recipients. The sites are open through May 16.
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South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) signed an executive order prohibiting any local government, state agency, or state employee from requiring proof of vaccination to access government services or facilities.
Pennsylvania voters to decide statewide judicial primaries, ballot measures
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Pennsylvania voters will decide statewide primaries, including several judicial races and four statewide ballot measures, on May 18.
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One seat is up for election on the seven-member Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Justice Thomas Saylor (R) is not running for re-election. Three candidates—Kevin Brobson, Patricia McCullough, and Paula Patrick—are running in the Republican primary, and Maria McLaughlin is running unopposed in the Democratic primary.
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Primary elections will be held for one seat each on the state's superior court and commonwealth court, which are the state's intermediate appeals courts. The seat up for partisan election on the Pennsylvania Superior Court is currently vacant. Judge Andrew Crompton (R) is running for re-election to the commonwealth court.
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Voters will also decide four statewide ballot measures. Two constitutional amendments would give the legislature more authority over the governor's emergency powers. The third amendment would add language to the state constitution prohibiting the denial or abridgment of rights due to an individual's race or ethnicity. The fourth measure would expand the state's loan program for volunteer fire companies and ambulance services to also include municipal fire companies and EMS services.
States in session
Twenty-eight states—Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, and Wisconsin—are in regular session.
At least seven states amend mask requirements to align with updated CDC guidance
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on May 13 that fully-vaccinated people do not need to wear masks in most indoor or outdoor public settings. As of May 14 at 1:00 p.m. EST, at least seven states had amended their existing mask orders to exempt fully-vaccinated individuals from most indoor mask requirements:
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Kentucky
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Nevada
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Oregon
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Pennsylvania
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Vermont
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Washington
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West Virginia
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At least three other states also amended their mask requirements or announced upcoming changes:
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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) ended the statewide mask mandate for vaccinated and unvaccinated residents on May 14.
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Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) announced he would amend the state’s mask requirements to align with CDC guidance starting May 19.
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Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) announced he would amend the state’s mask requirements to align with the CDC guidance but did not say when he would update the order.
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Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said on May 12 he will lift the statewide indoor mask mandate once 70% of adult residents have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. At the time of the announcement, 65% of Maryland adults were vaccinated.
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In total, 39 states issued statewide public mask requirements during the pandemic. At the time of writing, 24 states had statewide mask orders, including 19 of the 23 states with Democratic governors and five of the 27 states with Republican governors. Of those 24 states with statewide mask orders, 17 required masks for vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals.
Stothert wins re-election for mayor of Omaha, Nebraska; Anchorage mayoral race not yet decided
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Incumbent Jean Stothert (R) won re-election to a third term after defeating RJ Neary (D) in the nonpartisan mayoral general election. Unofficial results showed Stothert received 67% of the vote to Neary's 33% at the time Neary conceded. Stothert is one of 25 Republican mayors among the country's 100 largest cities. She was first elected in 2013 after defeating incumbent Jim Suttle (D) and won re-election to a second term in 2017. If Stothert serves the full four-year term as mayor, she will become the longest-serving mayor in Omaha's history. No mayor has served for more than nine consecutive years. Stothert has already served eight years as mayor.
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The outcome of the May 11 Anchorage, Alaska mayoral election remains uncertain as mail-in ballots continue to arrive. As of May 13, Dave Bronson led Forrest Dunbar with 50.39% of the vote to Dunbar’s 49.61%. Mail-in ballots postmarked no later than May 11 will continue to be counted if they arrive by May 21. Overseas ballots must arrive by May 25, the same day the city assembly is scheduled to certify the results. Voter turnout is at 34.3% with over 81,000 ballots counted so far, already exceeding the 75,441 votes cast in the April 6 general election. According to deputy clerk Erika McConnell, the elections center had received 89,469 ballots as of Thursday.
Local Ballot Measures: The Week in Review
In 2021, Ballotpedia is providing comprehensive coverage of elections in America's 100 largest cities by population and all state capitals. This encompasses every office on the ballot in these cities, including their municipal elections, trial court elections, school board elections, and local ballot measures. Ballotpedia also covers all local recall elections, as well as all local ballot measures in California and a selection of notable local ballot measures about elections and police-related policies. Recent and upcoming local ballot measure elections are listed below:
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May 4 in Ohio: Voters in Cincinnati and a school district that overlaps with Columbus decided four local ballot measures. Cincinnati voters defeated Issue 3, an initiative to create a new fund and governing board dedicated to providing housing affordable to households with income below certain thresholds.
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May 11 in Oklahoma: Voters in the Edmond Public Schools District approved two bond propositions.
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May 18 in Pennsylvania: Voters in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, and Philadelphia will decide three local ballot measures. The measures include two law enforcement initiatives to ban solitary confinement in the Allegheny County Jail and ban the use of no-knock warrants by Pittsburgh police.
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May 18 in Oregon: Voters in Multnomah County will decide a measure to renew a property tax to fund the Oregon Historical Society.
Federal appeals court hears Ohio's challenge to Census Bureau delay in delivering redistricting data
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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit heard oral argument on May 12 in Ohio v. Coggins, in which Ohio officials are seeking to force the U.S. Census Bureau to release redistricting data to the states ahead of its Sept. 30 target date.
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On Feb. 25, the state filed its lawsuit against the Census Bureau in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. Judge Thomas Rose, a George W. Bush (R) appointee, dismissed the lawsuit on March 24, writing, "The Court will therefore reject Ohio's request for an order that pretends that the Census Bureau could provide census-based redistricting data by March 31, 2021. The Court cannot 'order a party to jump higher, run faster, or lift more than she is physically capable.'" The next day, the state appealed Rose's decision to the Sixth Circuit.
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A similar lawsuit is pending in Alabama.
Hawaii allows fully-vaccinated residents to travel between islands without quarantine, test requirements
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Hawaii launched the state’s “Vaccine Exemption Program” on May 10 allowing fully-vaccinated residents to bypass COVID-19 travel restrictions when traveling between islands. Currently, out-of-state travelers and unvaccinated individuals must present a negative COVID-19 test or quarantine for 10 days upon arrival. According to the program, only individuals vaccinated in the state of Hawaii are eligible to bypass the test or quarantine requirement.
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Gov. David Ige (D) said he plans to expand the Vaccine Exemption Program to out-of-state and international travelers later in the year.
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The Kansas Department of Health and Environment updated its travel quarantine list on May 10 to include people who have traveled to certain Colorado counties on or after May 6. The Department had previously included all of Colorado on its restrictions list. Click here to see the list of Colorado counties.
Special Elections
Thirty-eight state legislative special elections have been scheduled in 16 states so far this year. Twenty-one (21) specials have taken place already. Heading into those races, Democrats had previously controlled 10 of the seats, and Republicans previously controlled 11. No seats have changed party hands as a result of the special elections.
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In special elections between 2011 and 2020, one party (either Republicans or Democrats) saw an average net gain of four seats nationally each year.
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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).
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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:
May 18
May 25
Treg Taylor confirmed as Alaska attorney general
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A joint session of the Alaska Legislature voted 35-24 to confirm Treg Taylor as the state's attorney general on May 11. Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) appointed Taylor as acting attorney general on Jan. 29, after Ed Sniffen resigned following allegations of sexual misconduct.
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Before Gov. Dunleavy appointed Taylor attorney general, Taylor served as deputy attorney general in charge of the civil division at the Alaska Department of Law. He previously ran for a seat on the Anchorage Municipal Assembly and lost in the general election in 2016.
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The attorney general is a state executive office in all 50 states and is the chief legal advisor for state government. Attorneys general are empowered to prosecute violations of state law, represent the state in legal disputes, and issue legal advice to state agencies and the legislature.
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Nationwide, 26 states have Republican Party-affiliated attorneys general, and 24 states have Democratic Party-affiliated attorneys general. Virginia is the only state electing its attorney general this year. Thirty states will elect an attorney general in 2022.
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