Your monthly support provides voters the knowledge they need to make confident decisions at the polls. Donate today.

The Tap: 1 in 5 Republican voters

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search


August 13, 2016Issue No. 29

The Tap Graphic-750x191px.png

The week in review: August 6 - August 12
What's on Tap next week: August 13 - August 19

Navigate The Tap by clicking the tabs below:

Federal

What's on tap?

According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday, almost one in five Republican voters surveyed thought Trump should drop out of the race, while 44 percent of all registered voters thought he should terminate his White House bid. To see where Republican officeholders stand on the issue, read Ballotpedia’s page on Republicans and their declared positions on Donald Trump. What would happen if he did drop out? Learn about the state laws and party rules on replacing a presidential nominee.

 

Federal

The Week in Review

Saturday, August 6

  • The Obama administration released its Presidential Policy Guidance, informally known as the drone strike “playbook,” to the American Civil Liberties Union as part of a Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit brought by the group. The document explains the procedures the administration must follow in order to kill or capture terrorists outside of war zones with or without drones. According to The New York Times, “The newly declassified document shows that if the top lawyers and leaders of the departments and agencies on the National Security Council agree that a proposed strike would be lawful and appropriate, the Pentagon or the Central Intelligence Agency can proceed. If they disagree, or if the person to be targeted is an American citizen, the matter must go to the president for a decision.”

Sunday, August 7

  • Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) said in an interview that although he could not vote for Hillary Clinton, he could not say that he supported Donald Trump. "There's so much water over the dam now, it's become increasingly difficult. But I want, you know, unifying,” he said. Kasich also confirmed a story reported by The New York Times that Donald Trump Jr. had contacted Kasich’s campaign to offer him an expansive vice presidency including control of both domestic and foreign policy. "That's what one of them has told me, yes,” Kasich said.
  • Shahram Amiri, an Iranian scientist who reportedly shared information about Iran’s nuclear program with the United States, “was hanged for revealing the country’s top secrets to the enemy,” according to Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, a spokesman for Iran’s Justice Ministry. In a video posted in 2010, Amiri first claimed that he was kidnapped by the Central Intelligence Agency. In a second video, he claimed to be living freely in the United States. Amiri then returned to Iran and repeated his claim that was kidnapped by U.S. intelligence agents for information about Iran’s nuclear program while the nuclear deal was being negotiated. According to CNN, “U.S. officials at the time said Amiri had defected voluntarily and provided ‘useful information to the United States,’ a claim supported by emails sent to Hilary [sic] Clinton -- then Secretary of State -- and released by the U.S. State Department last year.”
    • Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) called Clinton “reckless” for sending emails on her private email server that discussed Amiri. Cotton said, "I'm not going to comment on what he may or may not have done for the United States government, but in the emails that were on Hillary Clinton's private server, there were conversations among her senior advisers about this gentleman. That goes to show just how reckless and careless her decision was to put that kind of highly classified information on a private server and I think her judgment is not suited to keep this country safe."

Monday, August 8

  • Fifty Republican senior national security officials released a joint statement charging that Donald Trump “fundamentally...lacks the character, values, and experience” to be commander-in-chief. They continued, “He is unable or unwilling to separate truth from falsehood. He does not encourage conflicting views. He lacks self-control and acts impetuously. He cannot tolerate personal criticism. He has alarmed our closest allies with his erratic behavior.” While they also expressed reservations about Hillary Clinton, they concluded that Trump “is not the answer to America’s daunting challenges and to this crucial election.”
  • Former Michigan Gov. William Milliken (R) endorsed Hillary Clinton. “This nation has long prided itself on its abiding commitments to tolerance, civility and equality. We face a critically important choice in this year's presidential election that will define whether we maintain our commitment to those ideals or embark on a path that has doomed other governments and nations throughout history,” he said in a statement.
  • U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) published an op-ed in The Washington Post declaring that she would not vote for Trump in November. “With the passage of time, I have become increasingly dismayed by his constant stream of cruel comments and his inability to admit error or apologize. But it was his attacks directed at people who could not respond on an equal footing — either because they do not share his power or stature or because professional responsibility precluded them from engaging at such a level — that revealed Mr. Trump as unworthy of being our president,” she wrote. Collins cited his apparent mocking of a reporter with disabilities, questioning of federal Judge Gonzalo Curiel’s ability to preside over a Trump University lawsuit fairly because of his Mexican heritage, and dispute with the Khan military family as causes for concern.
  • Freedom Watch USA’s Larry Klayman filed a lawsuit in federal court against Hillary Clinton on behalf of Patricia Smith and Tyrone Woods for wrongful death, defamation, and the intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress resulting from the death of their sons in the 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi. "Having used a secret private email server that we now know was used to communicate with Ambassador Christopher Stevens with confidential and classified government information, and which we also now know was likely hacked by hostile adversaries such as Iran, Russia, China and North Korea aligning with terrorist groups, it is clear that Hillary Clinton allegedly negligently and recklessly gave up the classified location of the plaintiffs' sons, resulting in a deadly terrorist attack that took their lives,” Klayman said in a statement.

Tuesday, August 9

  • At a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, on Tuesday, Donald Trump generated controversy with comments on Hillary Clinton’s stance on the Second Amendment and the possibility of her filling vacancies on the Supreme Court. Democratic members of Congress, social media users, and some in the press interpreted his comments as a threat of violence against Clinton. Trump said, “Hillary wants to abolish -- essentially abolish the Second Amendment. And if she gets to pick … if she gets to pick her judges: Nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is. I don't know. But I tell you what, that will be a horrible day.”
    • The Trump campaign released a statement shortly after the rally saying that the comment about “Second Amendment people” was in reference to the political power of Second Amendment supporters. “It’s called the power of unification. 2nd Amendment people have amazing spirit and are tremendously unified, which gives them great political power,” the statement read.
    • The Clinton campaign also released a statement, calling Trump’s comments dangerous: “This is simple—what Trump is saying is dangerous. A person seeking to be the President of the United States should not suggest violence in any way.”
    • Calls from Democrats in Congress and social media users for an investigation into Trump’s comments prompted a brief response from the Secret Service’s Twitter account. “The Secret Service is aware of the comments made earlier this afternoon,” read the tweet. On Wednesday, the Secret Service reportedly confirmed with CNN that it had spoken with the Trump campaign about the comments. “There has been more than one conversation,” an official with the Secret Service told CNN. Trump, however, tweeted that “no such meeting” ever happened: “No such meeting or conversation ever happened - a made up story by ‘low ratings.’”
    • Paul Ryan said that he hopes Trump “clears up” the comments quicky. “It sounds like just a joke gone bad. I hope he clears it up very quickly. You should never joke about something like that,” said Ryan.
  • At the Borinquen Medical Center in Miami, Florida, on Tuesday, Clinton called on members of Congress to return from recess and to pass funding to fight the spread of the Zika virus. Florida Gov. Rick Scott announced shortly before Clinton’s remarks that the 21st case of “locally transmitted Zika” had been confirmed in South Florida. Clinton said, “I am very disappointed that the Congress went on recess before actually agreeing on what they would do to put the resources into this fight, and I really am hoping that they will pay attention. In fact, I would very much urge the leadership of Congress to call people back for a special session and get a bill passed.”
  • While campaigning in Florida, Clinton voiced her support for former DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who is running for re-election in Florida’s 23rd Congressional District. “I can't think of anyone who [more] deserves your support for re-election, starting with the primary on August 30th, than my friend Debbie. And I am committed to doing whatever I can to support her as she returns to the Congress with your support,” said Clinton. Wasserman Schultz’s opponent, Tim Canova, was endorsed by Clinton’s former Democratic primary rival Sen. Bernie Sanders.
  • The Commission on Presidential Debates has directed hosts for presidential debates in September and October to prepare for the possibility of a third-party candidate on the stage. Commission co-chair Mike McCurry explained to Politico, “With [former Gov.] Gary Johnson polling in some places more than double digits, they might have, some of our production people may have said, ‘Just in case, you need to plan out what that might look like.” Currently, the commission requires candidates to be polling at 15 percent or higher in five national polls and to appear on enough ballots to have a “mathematical chance” at winning. Johnson’s average on RealClearPolitics’ aggregation of polling data had him at 8.3 percent as of August 12, 2016, though in some polls he has reached as high as 12 percent. Johnson is currently on the ballot in 39 states for the general election, and he has stated that he plans to appear on ballots in all 50 states. Final ballot access deadlines for the remaining 11 states are in late August and early September.
  • In an interview with Time magazine, Donald Trump said that he planned to participate in the three presidential debates scheduled for September and October but hinted that he might first seek to negotiate the terms of the debates. Trump said, “I will absolutely do three debates. I want to debate very badly. But I have to see the conditions. …I renegotiated the debates in the primaries, remember? They were making a fortune on them and they had us in for three and a half hours and I said that’s ridiculous. I’m sure they’ll be open to any suggestions I have, because I think they’ll be very fair suggestions. … I’ll have to see who the moderators are. Yeah, I would say that certain moderators would be unacceptable, absolutely. I did very well in the debates on the primaries. According to the polls, I won all of them. So I look forward to the debates. But, yeah, I want to have fair moderators … I will demand fair moderators.” Trump dropped out of two debates during the primary season—January 28 and March 21—and feuded with moderators like Megyn Kelly of Fox News.
  • Donald Trump stated his support for a voter ID law in North Carolina that a federal appeals court struck down last month. The court argued that the law was “passed with racially discriminatory intent.” Regarding North Carolina’s voter ID law and others like it elsewhere, Trump stated, “Voter ID. What’s with that? What’s with voter ID? Why aren’t we having voter ID. In other words, I want to vote, here’s my identification. I want to vote. As opposed to somebody coming up and voting 15 times for Hillary. And I will not tell you to vote 15 times. I will not tell you to do that. You won’t vote 15 times, but people will. They’ll vote many times, and how that could have happened is unbelievable.”
  • The Department of Health and Human Services announced a $4.1 million agreement with Hologic Inc. of Marlborough, Massachusetts, to aid in the development of a blood screening test that will prevent Zika from being transmitted through blood transfusions. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority acting Director Dr. Richard Hatchett said, “Accurate blood-screening tools are vital to protecting our nation’s blood supply from Zika. This test may provide another tool laboratories can use to identify infected blood donations to help ensure patients’ safety. At the same time, we are pursuing promising diagnostic tools, and vaccines to identify and prevent Zika virus infections.”
  • Republican Sens. Mark Kirk (Ill.), David Perdue (Ga.), and Johnny Isakson (Ga.) sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry asking for details about the $400 million cash payment to Iran in January 2016 that coincided with the release of Americans detained in Tehran and the formal implementation of the nuclear agreement with Iran. The senators wrote, "We question the timing — concurrent with the release of five American hostages — as well as the method and lack of disclosure of the payment. We are concerned that this payment, along with the swap for seven Iranian prisoners detained in the U.S., has and will continue to encourage further hostage-taking of Americans by Iran.” According to The Hill, the senators asked Kerry to explain how the payment “was shipped, why more information was not given to lawmakers, and why the administration agreed to make the payment when Tehran still owes America money. They also want to know whether the payment was linked to the release of the American hostages, whether the money will be used to support terrorism, and whether administration violated sanctions by making the payment.” President Barack Obama said that the $400 million sent to Iran was not a ransom payment and that the payment “wasn't a secret.” He added, “We were completely open with everybody about it."
  • The Republican National Committee announced that it had hired three African American activists as advisors for attracting African American votes, primarily in battleground states. According to The Washington Post, the RNC hired Ashley Bell as national director of African American political engagement, while Shannon Reeves (a political science professor) and J.C. Watts (a former Rand Paul staffer) were hired for statistical and political guidance.
  • At an event with the Soutwest Broward Republican Organization in Florida, Donald Trump advisor Roger Stone—who no longer works directly with the campaign—claimed he had been in contact with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange about potential future leaks affecting the presidential election. He told the group, “Well, it could be any number of things. I actually have communicated with Assange. I believe the next tranche of his documents pertain to the Clinton Foundation but there's no telling what the October surprise may be.”
  • Connecticut held congressional primaries.
    • While it was technically Connecticut’s primary date, no congressional primaries were truly held. All major-party candidates were decided at conventions earlier in the year, so there were no contested primaries.
    • The U.S. Senate seat held by Richard Blumenthal (D) is up for election in 2016. Blumenthal will face Dan Carter (R) in the general election. The race is rated safely Democratic.
    • Connecticut has five U.S. House districts. The Democratic Party currently holds all five seats. All five incumbents are seeking re-election. Each House seat is rated safely Democratic in the general election.
  • Wisconsin held congressional primaries.
    • The U.S. Senate seat held by Ron Johnson (R) is up for election in 2016. Johnson faced no primary opponent. Russ Feingold defeated Scott Harbach to win the Democratic nomination. Incumbent Johnson will now face a rematch with former Sen. Feingold in the general election. Feingold previously held the seat but was ousted by Johnson in 2016. The race is rated as a battleground in the general election and is likely to be one of the eight races that determines which party will control the Senate.
    • Wisconsin has eight U.S. House districts. The Republican Party currently holds five seats to the Democratic Party’s three. Seven of the state’s eight incumbents are seeking re-election. Of those seven, four faced a primary challenger. All incumbents who faced a primary opponent easily advanced to the general election.
    • In Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District, Speaker Paul Ryan (R) defeated Paul Nehlen in the Republican primary by taking in 84 percent of the votes to Nehlen’s 16 percent. On the other side of the aisle, Ryan Solen defeated Tom Breu to win the Democratic nomination. The Republican primary received significant attention in the week leading up to the primary due to Donald Trump’s initial refusal to endorse Ryan. However, Ryan was heavily advantaged in the race. The race is rated safely Republican in the general election.
    • Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional DIstrict is a battleground in 2016. Incumbent Reid Ribble (R) is not seeking re-election. Mike Gallagher defeated Frank Lasee and Terry McNulty to win the Republican primary. Gallagher will face Tom Nelson (D) in the general election.

Wednesday, August 10

  • U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton announced that his campaign intended to use the augmented reality game Pokemon Go to draw in potential young voters. According to The Boston Globe, Moulton’s “campaign team plans to draw in potential young voters next week by placing a Pokemon Go ‘lure,’ a special item in the game used to attract rare Pokemon to a specific area, on the Lynn Commons, in Lynn. The area is a known ‘Pokestop,’ where players can collect Pokeballs and other objects.” Moulton said, “We’re going to put a lure out to encourage more people to come over to our voter registration site, and sign people up to get involved in the political process at a time when it’s important.”
  • WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said the organization was offering a $20,000 reward for information concerning the death of former DNC staffer Seth Rich. Assange suggested that Rich—who was the DNC director of voter expansion and who was murdered in July in his Washington, D.C., neighborhood—was the source for the DNC email leak during the Democratic National Convention. While Assange did not identify Rich as the source of the leak, he did make a more general statement about those aiding WikiLeaks, saying, “Whistle-blowers go to significant efforts to get us material and often very significant risks. As a 27-year-old, works for the DNC, was shot in the back, murdered just a few weeks ago for unknown reasons as he was walking down the street in Washington.”
  • A newly released batch of emails revealed potential ties between the State Department and the Clinton Foundation during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state. Tom Fitton, the president of Judicial Watch, told The New York Times that the emails show that “the State Department and the Clinton Foundation worked hand in hand in terms of policy and donor effort.” Donald Trump addressed the emails in a speech in Virginia on Wednesday, saying, “A couple of very bad ones came out. And it's called pay for play. And some of these were really, really bad and illegal.”
    • In one exchange from the emails, a representative from the Clinton Foundation requested assistance from the State Department in getting in touch with the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon. Another exchange showed a Clinton Foundation representative requesting that the State Department find a job for a “foundation associate,” according to The New York Times.
    • Clinton’s campaign addressed the emails in a statement, saying, “Neither of these emails involve the secretary or relate to the foundation’s work. They are communications between her aides and the president’s personal aide, and indeed the recommendation was for one of the secretary’s former staffers who was not employed by the foundation.”
    • See also: Hillary Clinton email investigation
  • On Wednesday, Clinton’s campaign launched Together for America, a group focused on leading the “campaign’s recruitment and outreach to the growing number of Republicans and Independents who are stepping forward to endorse Hillary Clinton for president.” Clinton’s campaign announced endorsements from two former officials from George W. Bush’s administration on Wednesday: John Negroponte, a former Director of National Intelligence, and Carlos Gutierrez, a former secretary of commerce. The Together for America website features a list of almost 50 prominent Republicans who have endorsed Clinton.
  • After Seddique Mateen, the father of the shooter who killed 49 people at a nightclub in Orlando in June, expressed support for Hillary Clinton at a campaign rally on Monday, her campaign disavowed his support. A spokesperson said that Clinton, “disagrees with his views and disavows his support. … The rally was a 3,000-person, open-door event for the public. This individual wasn’t invited as a guest and the campaign was unaware of his attendance until after the event.”
  • Hillary Clinton published an op-ed in the Utah newspaper Deseret News in which she sought to appeal to Mormon voters in the state by highlighting her record on religious freedom. “I’ve been fighting to defend religious freedom for years. As secretary of state, I made it a cornerstone of our foreign policy to protect the rights of religious minorities around the world — from Coptic Christians in Egypt to Buddhists in Tibet. And along with Jon Huntsman, our then-ambassador in Beijing, I stood in solidarity with Chinese Christians facing persecution from their government,” wrote Clinton. Though Utah has voted Republican in 72 percent of the last 29 presidential elections, some have speculated that the state could be in play for Democrats this year, as Mormon voters in Utah have expressed disapproval for Donald Trump.
  • At a rally in Florida, Donald Trump called President Obama the “founder of ISIS” and Hillary Clinton the “co-founder.” Trump said, “ISIS is honoring President Obama. He is the founder of ISIS. He founded ISIS. And, I would say the co-founder would be crooked Hillary Clinton. … He was the founder of ISIS, absolutely. The way he removed our troops -- you shouldn't have gone in. I was against the war in Iraq. Totally against it.” Jake Sullivan, a senior policy advisor for Clinton, responded in a statement, saying, “What’s remarkable about Trump’s comments is that, once again, he’s echoing the talking points of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and our adversaries to attack American leaders and American interests, while failing to offer any serious plans to confront terrorism or make this country more secure.”
  • Independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin told The Weekly Standard that he plans to get on the ballot in all 50 states, despite ballot access deadlines that have already passed or soon will. He said, “We expect to be on a broad number of states' [ballots], and in some especially critical states across the country. And we expect to be competitive. And we do see, even at this late hour, a difficult but very possible route to winning, and that is the goal, and that is what we're going to fight for until the end. … It's a multi-pronged strategy that involves getting on ballots through signatures where we can do that. We're also talking to other parties who are interested in what we're doing. We are preparing some legal challenges.”
  • The U.S. Interior Department advised state governments to hold coal companies responsible for the cost of cleaning up abandoned coal mines. State mining agencies will enforce the federal rules requiring coal companies to meet “legally mandated reclamation obligations.” The department argued that the rules are necessary to ensure that taxpayers do not have to bear the costs of mine cleanup. Industry groups argue that the rules would harm coal companies struggling with the decline in coal demand and that the federal government would still be responsible for paying cleanup costs even if coal companies go bankrupt. Other opponents have argued that rules are unnecessary because coal companies already comply with cleanup regulations issued by states and other federal agencies.
  • The U.S. Department of Justice issued a 163-page report detailing violations of the constitutional rights of Baltimore residents by the Baltimore Police Department between 2010 and 2016. The report focused on the department's disproportionate use of excessive force, high volumes of traffic stops, and discretionary arrests on black residents.

Thursday, August 11

  • The federal government rejected a proposal to declassify marijuana as an illegal Schedule I drug and to allow marijuana to be used for medical purposes. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stated that marijuana has not been proven scientifically to be medically safe or effective; therefore, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) could not allow the drug to be declassified. Currently, in opposition to the federal law, 24 states and the District of Columbia have legalized the use of marijuana for medical purposes, which has led to enforcement uncertainty. Marijuana was classified as a Schedule I drug in 1970 as part of the Controlled Substances Act. The DEA ruling did allow for more facilities to grow marijuana for research purposes, but proponents of legal medical use of marijuana said the ruling did not go far enough.
  • A group of more than 70 Republicans, including former members of Congress and Republican National Committee (RNC) staffers, sent an open letter to RNC Chair Reince Priebus requesting that the party’s resources be spent on Senate and House races rather than on Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. “We believe that Donald Trump’s divisiveness, recklessness, incompetence, and record-breaking unpopularity risk turning this election into a Democratic landslide, and only the immediate shift of all available RNC resources to vulnerable Senate and House races will prevent the GOP from drowning with a Trump-emblazoned anchor around its neck,” they wrote.
  • Conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt called on Donald Trump to clarify remarks he made the day before saying that President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were the founders of ISIS. Hewitt said, “You meant that he [Obama] created the vacuum, he lost the peace.” Trump said, “No, I meant he’s the founder of ISIS. I do. He was the most valuable player. I give him the most valuable player award. I give her, too, by the way, Hillary Clinton.” On Friday morning, Trump tweeted that his comments were “sarcasm.” In another tweet, he continued, “I love watching these poor, pathetic people (pundits) on television working so hard and so seriously to try and figure me out. They can't!”
  • House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D) said on Thursday that last year’s hack of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), which included the private email accounts of some party officials, was “an electronic Watergate.” She told reporters, “The Russians broke in. Who did they give the information to? I don't know. Who dumped it? I don't know. But I do know that this is a Watergate-like electronic break in. And anyone who would exploit for the purpose of embarrassment or something like that is an accomplice to that."
  • Hillary Clinton delivered an economic policy speech in Michigan aimed at rebutting Donald Trump’s new economic proposals. She criticized his plan to reduce the top personal tax rate to 33 percent and to tax pass-through income at 15 percent for small businesses, calling it “the Trump loophole.” She charged, "It would allow him to pay less than half the current tax rate on income from many of his companies. He'd pay a lower rate than millions of middle class families.” On trade, Clinton sought to reassure progressives in her party, saying, “I will stop any trade deal that kills jobs or holds down wages, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership. I oppose it now. I’ll oppose it after the election. And I’ll oppose it as president.”
  • Donald Trump added nine new members to his economic advisory team, including eight women, bringing some gender balance to the team, which was previously comprised of 13 men. “Many of the new additions are donors, including Anthony Scaramucci, a top Republican fundraiser and New York investor; Diane Hendricks, a Republican fundraiser who is active in the Koch political network, which has refused to back Trump's campaign; and Liz Uihlein, who is a major party donor. One of the members, Judy Shelton, has been an outspoken advocate for the gold standard. Another, former New York lieutenant governor Betsy McCaughey, suggested in 2009 that the Affordable Care Act included a provision that would ‘absolutely require’ seniors on Medicare to attend a panel every five years on how to end their lives sooner,” The Washington Post reported.
  • In an interview with The Miami Herald, Donald Trump said that he would accept American civilians suspected of terrorism being tried by a military tribunal in Guantánamo. “I would say they could be tried there, that would be fine,” he said.
  • Utah Gov. Gary Herbert (R) announced that he was supporting Donald Trump. “I think governing and campaigning are two different things. How you campaign is not necessarily how you're going to govern and vice versa. Again, he's never run for office before, so he doesn't have that traditional way of doing it,” Herbert said.
  • Jill Stein released the first two pages of her 2015 tax return on her campaign website. She and her husband reported income of approximately $349,000.
  • Intelligence assessments approved by senior leaders at U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) from the middle of 2014 to the middle of 2015 consistently presented a more optimistic representation of what was happening on the ground in the fight against the Islamic State, according to a report released by a House Republican task force. The investigation revealed that CENTCOM leaders regularly disseminated intelligence that was inconsistent with the judgments of many senior, career CENTCOM analysts. The task force launched its investigation in December 2015 after a whistleblower filed a complaint in May 2015 stating that senior leaders "violated regulations, tradecraft standards, and professional ethics by modifying intelligence assessments to present an unduly positive outlook on CENTCOM efforts to train the ISF [Iraqi Security Forces] and combat ISIL [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]." Additionally, the report found that "many CENTCOM press releases, public statements, and congressional testimonies were also significantly more positive than actual events," which led Republican members of the task force to suggest that CENTCOM officials may have influenced senior U.S. policymakers' understanding of how the fight against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS and ISIL, was progressing. House Democrats, who are conducting their own investigation, agreed that CENTCOM officials manipulated intelligence reports but said that they "found no evidence of politicization of intelligence in this case” or collaboration with the White House. Investigations are ongoing.
  • The Pentagon has refused to say how many members of the U.S. military are on the ground in Iraq and Syria fighting ISIS despite multiple requests from reporters. Currently, there are 3,825 full-time troops on the ground in Iraq and 300 in Syria, but those figures do not include individuals who are there on temporary deployments or defense contractors. A spokesman for the Joint Chiefs said that it is difficult to explain how many troops are on the ground in Iraq and Syria at a given time because temporary deployments change frequently. The Office of the Defense Secretary and U.S. Central Command said on Wednesday that the total number of individuals fighting ISIS will not be released. According to The Hill, “Some worry that officials are hiding the deepening U.S. involvement in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.” The Hill estimates that anywhere from to 8,252 to 10,152 troops and Defense Department personnel could be involved in the fight against ISIS. While military officials say that the use of defense contractors and temporary deployments is necessary due to the cap on U.S. troops in Iraq, some say that the practice puts individuals at risk. House Armed Services Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) said, “If you are rotating people in every 30 days or whatever it is to keep below the troop caps then the people who are rotating in are not going to have time to get acclimated to the environment and may be at increased risk.”
  • In a letter to members of Congress, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell said that $81 million in funds will be shifted away from programs that research cures for cancer and diabetes, a program that supplies heating oil subsidies for low-income families, and substance abuse programs. The funds will be used to fight the Zika virus. She said that the funding will only last through next month and requested that Congress act on legislation to fully fund research efforts to continue the development of a Zika vaccine. Congress left for its summer recess without passing a Zika funding bill. The Senate rejected legislation that proposed providing $1.1 billion to fight Zika. Democrats opposed the bill because it would have denied new funding to Planned Parenthood clinics in Puerto Rico for birth control, and it would have eased the requirements on spraying pesticides to kill mosquitoes. The House passed the legislation on June 23, 2016.
  • A Morning Consult poll revealed a slight increase in support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal (TPP) and a slight increase in voters' knowledge of it since Morning Consult’s March 2016 poll. The poll, conducted August 8-10, 2016, found that 10 percent of those polled “Strongly support” the TPP and 25 percent “Somewhat support” the trade deal, while 13 percent “Somewhat oppose” the deal and 9 percent “Strongly oppose” it. Forty-three percent said that they were unsure whether they supported or opposed the deal or said that they had no opinion about it. Sixty-two percent of those polled said that they know "not much" or "nothing at all" about the 12-nation agreement, a 10 percent decrease from the March 2016 Morning Consult poll.

Friday, August 12

  • Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, and Attorney General Loretta Lynch asking them to explain the circumstances surrounding the $400 million cash payment the Obama administration sent to Iran in January 2016. Cruz and Lee wrote, "The unusual circumstances surrounding the administration’s payment of $400 million to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran have raised serious concerns not only about the propriety of the transaction, but about its legality as well. … If the administration violated the law, then Congress and the American people should be made aware of it so that they can hold the appropriate officials accountable and take whatever steps necessary to strengthen the law and prevent any reoccurrence.” The $400 million cash payment coincided with the release of four Americans detained in Tehran and the formal implementation of the nuclear agreement with Iran, which prompted some to see it as a ransom payment. The Obama administration said that the $400 million was not ransom, explaining that it was part of a settlement to resolve a dispute from a failed arms deal dating back to 1979.
  • President Barack Obama put Congress on notice that he will be sending lawmakers a bill to implement the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal (TPP). The notification establishes a 30-day minimum before the administration can formally present the legislation. A provision in trade promotion authority legislation passed in June 2015 required Obama to notify Congress of his intent to present a bill. Matt McAlvanah, a spokesman for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, said in a statement that the notification is “meant to ensure early consultations between the administration and Congress. As such, the draft SAA [Statement of Administrative Action] was sent today in order to continue to promote transparency and collaboration in the TPP process.”
    • Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), one of the most outspoken opponents of TPP, issued a statement regarding the notification. He said, "I am disappointed by the president's decision to continue pushing forward on the disastrous Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement that will cost American jobs, harm the environment, increase the cost of prescription drugs and threaten our ability to protect public health.”
  • Hillary Clinton released her 2015 tax return. She and former President Bill Clinton reported income of $10.7 million and an effective federal tax rate of 34.2 percent. Her running mate, Tim Kaine, also released his tax returns for the past decade. "Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine continue to set the standard for financial transparency. … In stark contrast, Donald Trump is hiding behind fake excuses and backtracking on his previous promises to release his tax returns. He has failed to provide the public with the most basic financial information disclosed by every major candidate in the last 40 years. What is he trying to hide?” Clinton communications director Jennifer Palmieri said in a statement.

 

Congress is NOT in session SCOTUS is NOT in session
Both the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate are on summer recess. They will return on September 6, 2016, the Tuesday following Labor Day. The Supreme Court is in recess until Monday, October 3. For a detailed breakdown of last term, see Ballotpedia’s Supreme Court end of term review, 2015.

What’s On Tap Next Week

Saturday, August 13

  • Hawaii will hold congressional primaries.
    • The U.S. Senate seat held by Brian Schatz (D) is up for election in 2016. Schatz will face four primary challengers, while four Republican candidates will compete for their party’s nomination. The race is rated safely Democratic in November.
    • Hawaii has two U.S. House districts. The Democratic Party currently holds both seats, and both are rated safely Democratic in the general election.
    • Hawaii’s 1st District seat is currently vacant following Rep. Mark Takai’s death on July 20, 2016, from pancreatic cancer. Seven Democratic candidates will compete in the primary to replace Takai, including former Rep. Colleen Hanabusa. The winner will face Shirlene Ostrov (R) in the general election. A special election will be held concurrently with the general election to fill the final two months of Takai’s term.

Tuesday, August 16

Wednesday, August 17

 

Where was the president last week? Federal judiciary
President Barack Obama was on vacation in Martha’s Vineyard and had no public events scheduled.  
  • 95 total federal judicial vacancies
  • 60 pending nominations
  • 14 future vacancies

Back to top for State, Local, and fact checks updates

State and Local

What's on tap?

There’s a new [acting] mayor in town for Fairfax, Virginia. Former Mayor Scott Silverthorne was busted by undercover Fairfax police for a drugs-for-sex solicitation. In state news, voter ID requirements made headlines again in Wisconsin and Texas. Read more from each story in our highlights section.

 

Highlights

State

On Wednesday, August 10, the United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit stayed a lower court's ruling permitting Wisconsin voters to sign affidavits in lieu of presenting qualified forms of identification at the polls. On July 19, federal judge Lynn Adelman issued a preliminary injunction against Wisconsin's voter ID law, finding that "a safety net is needed for those voters who can't obtain qualifying ID with reasonable effort." According to election law scholar Rick Hasen, the appeals court opted to stay the ruling "because it believes it is very likely to reverse the requirement for the affidavit alternative, because it is not targeted enough to the kinds of people who face special burdens on voting."

Voter ID also made the news in Texas again this week when a federal judge approved an interim agreement remedying Texas' voter ID law in light of a July 2016 court ruling. Learn more below.

Local

On Thursday, August 9, the mayor of Fairfax, Virginia, resigned after he was caught by undercover detectives soliciting a drugs-for-sex encounter. According to Fairfax County police Captain Jack Hardin, the Fairfax police force was tipped off to Mayor Scott Silverthorne’s (D) use of a website to arrange encounters where drugs would be exchanged for sexual acts. Using information provided by the tipster, Fairfax police created an online profile with the unidentified website. The profile was ultimately contacted by Silverthorne. He arranged an in-person meeting with the undercover detective, where he was apprehended with two grams of methamphetamine. Silverthorne gave a full confession and faces a felony drug distribution charge and a misdemeanor charge of possessing drug paraphernalia. He has appointed city Councilman Jeffrey Greenfield as acting mayor, effective immediately.

 

State

The Week in Review

Ballot measures update

  • One hundred and forty-seven statewide ballot measures are certified for the ballot across 35 states so far in 2016, most of which will be decided during the November election.
    • Sixty-seven out of the 147 ballot measures certified for the ballot this year are citizen initiatives. This compares to about 30 certified citizen initiatives by this time in 2014; this year features more citizen initiatives on the ballot than in any year since 2008. Low turnout in the 2014 elections likely contributed to the spike in proposed citizen initiatives. Fewer total votes cast in 2014 led to a reduced signature burden in 2016 in some states.
    • This week featured the second-to-last official initiative signature filing deadline in Colorado. Oklahoma’s final deadline is in early September, and Arkansas features a supplementary signature gathering phase that extends through late August. Signatures have been submitted for 16 additional citizen initiatives and are being verified.
    • By this time in 2014, a total of 152 measures—including legislative referrals—had been certified for the ballot.
    • Ten new measures were certified for the ballot this week.
  • Seven statewide ballot measures have been decided so far in 2016; six were approved.
  • The next ballot measure election is in Florida on August 30, when state voters will decide Amendment 4, a measure designed to provide property tax exemptions for solar power equipment.
  • Ballotpedia has coverage of ballot measures going back to 1777.


Sunday, August 7


Monday, August 8

  • Legislative referral deadline: New Jersey
    • The New Jersey Public Worker Pension Plan Amendment will not be on the November 8, 2016, ballot. The New Jersey Senate did not vote on the amendment by the deadline. The amendment would have outlined a new public pension payment plan that would have required the state to pay toward pensions four times per year rather than annually. Starting in the 2018 fiscal year, the state would have had to contribute $2.4 billion, and that amount would have been raised to $5.5 billion by 2020.
  • Oklahoma State Questions 780 and 781 were given approval by the Oklahoma Supreme Court to be placed on the November ballot. On June 9, 2016, Oklahoma Secretary of State Scott Pruitt reworded the original ballot title. Supporters filed a request to the Oklahoma Supreme Court asking it to reject the revised ballot title wording because, they said, it contained biased language in opposition to the measure. The court ruled that both the original and revised ballot title wording were biased and gave both measures new titles, which can be read here and here. State Question 780 would reclassify certain property offenses and simple drug possession as misdemeanor crimes. State Question 781 would use money saved from reclassifying certain property and drug crimes as misdemeanors, as outlined in State Question 780, to fund rehabilitative programs. These two measures join five others that have already been certified for the Oklahoma ballot: State Questions 776, 777, 779, 790, and 792.
  • The University of Wisconsin System (UW) is expected to request lawmakers lift the tuition cap and increase funding. Governor Scott Walker had previously announced plans to extend the tuition cap for another two years and warned the UW, among other state agencies, to not expect increased funding in the 2017-2019 budget. UW President Ray Cross has asked for $42.5 million in additional funding, which he said would be used to increase advising services and fund programs to help students get degrees faster.

Tuesday, August 9

ELECTION NIGHT HIGHLIGHTS: Vermont’s gubernatorial primaries come to a close; Incumbents defeated in Minnesota’s battleground state legislatures

  • Primary election: Connecticut
    • State legislature: There are 36 state Senate seats and 151 state House seats up for election. Ten incumbents—eight Democrats and two Republicans—faced primary competition. State Reps. Ernest Hewett (D-39) and Louis Esposito (D-116) were defeated in the primary. Democrats have a six-seat majority in the Senate and a 23-seat majority in the House. With Democrat Dan Malloy as the state’s governor, Connecticut is one of seven Democratic state government trifectas. Most major party candidates were decided at conventions earlier in the year, leaving just 12 districts with primary elections.
  • Primary election: Vermont
    • State legislature: There are 30 state Senate seats and 150 state House seats up for election. Twenty-eight incumbents—12 Democrats and 16 Republicans—faced primary competition. One incumbent, Sen. Norman McAllister (R), was defeated in the primary election. Democrats have strong majorities in both chambers.
      • Incumbent Dustin Degree and state Rep. Carolyn Whitney Branagan defeated incumbent Norman McAllister (R) in the Senate Franklin District Republican primary. McAllister is currently awaiting trial on sexual assault charges. McAllister is accused of sexually assaulting two women over the course of several years while both were his tenants and employees. His trial was scheduled to begin on August 10, but it has been delayed.
    • State executives: Six seats are up for election in 2016, only four of which saw contested primary elections. Former Transportation Secretary Sue Minter (D) and Lt. Gov. Phil Scott (R) will advance to the general election for governor after the two candidates won heated and expensive primary contests.
    • Scott's candidacy leaves the lieutenant governor election open. State Sen. David Zuckerman, who was elected to the Senate on the Progressive Party ticket, won the competitive Democratic primary after receiving the endorsement of former presidential candidate and U.S. Senator for Vermont Bernie Sanders several days prior. Zuckerman was the only statewide candidate whom Sanders endorsed. T.J. Donovan won the Democratic primary for attorney general and will advance to the general election. State Treasurer Elizabeth Pearce (D) faced a primary challenger for the first time since she assumed office in 2011; she defeated Richard Dunne (D) by almost 30 percentage points. At stake in 2016 is a five-year Democratic trifecta; if Republicans win the governorship, it will end the trifecta.
  • Primary election: Wisconsin
    • State legislature: There are 16 state Senate seats and 99 state Assembly seats up for election. Seven incumbents, all Democrats, faced primary competition. No incumbents were defeated in the primary. Republicans have a five-seat majority in the Senate and a 27-seat majority in the Assembly. With Republican Scott Walker as the state’s governor, Wisconsin is one of 23 Republican state government trifectas. The Senate is included in Ballotpedia’s list of top battlegrounds in 2016.
  • The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance decided to allow insurers in the state to refile their 2017 premium rate requests for plans sold on the state’s health insurance exchange. Humana and Cigna, two of the major health insurers in the state, filed premium increases of 23 and 29 percent, respectively, in June, but later said that their requested increases were too small to cover anticipated medical costs. Kevin Walters, spokesman for the department, said the primary reason for the decision was to prevent more insurers from exiting the exchange. UnitedHealthcare announced earlier this year that it would not be selling plans on Tennessee’s exchange in 2017, and the state’s ACA co-op, Community Health Alliance, folded in 2015. Tennessee is the second state to allow insurers to refile their rate requests—following Arizona, which did so when five insurers in the state announced plans to exit or scale back their presence on the state’s exchange. Insurers in Tennessee had until August 12 to refile their rate requests.

Wednesday, August 10

  • Three bills aimed at reducing government waste and efficiency went into effect in Colorado. The bills affected reporting requirements that were previously mandated by the legislature, but which are now deemed wasteful and irrelevant; some of the reports were for programs that no longer exist. Bill 1081, sponsored by Rep. Kim Ransom (R), “repeals a number of obsolete tasks in the Departments of Health Care Policy and Financing and Education, which includes those pointless reports.” Bill 1130, proposed by Rep. Kevin Priola (R), “gets rid of a report the Department of Education provides the General Assembly on student enrollment options.” Bill 1114, sponsored by House GOP leader Brian DelGrosso (R), “repeals a requirement that businesses submit a form to the state proving confirming it completed a federal employee verification form.” All three bills were introduced by Republican legislators in the Colorado House of Representatives, which is controlled by Democrats, and signed into law by Democratic Governor John Hickenlooper.
  • A federal judge approved an interim agreement remedying Texas' voter ID law in light of a July 2016 court ruling. On July 20, the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled that Texas' voter ID law violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The appeals court ordered state officials to "ensure that any remedy enacted ameliorates [the law's] discriminatory effect, while respecting the [Texas State Legislature's] stated objective to safeguard the integrity of elections by requiring more secure forms of voter identification." On August 3, state officials and opponents of the voter ID law reached an interim agreement, under which voters will be temporarily permitted to use the following forms of identification at the polls, provided their names appear on voter registration rolls:
    • A form of identification specified in the original voter ID law (SB 14), including a Texas driver's license, a Texas identification certificate, a Texas personal identification card, a Texas concealed handgun license, a United States military identification card containing the person’s photograph, a United States citizenship certificate containing the person’s photograph, or a United States passport
    • A "valid voter registration certificate, a certified birth certificate, a current utility bill, a bank statement, a government check, a paycheck, or any other government document that displays the voter’s name and an address"
    • Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said that the state would appeal the decision.

Thursday, August 11

  • The Alabama State Board of Education selected Michael Sentance to be the new superintendent of education. Sentance was chosen from a pool of six finalists as the permanent replacement of former Superintendent Tommy Bice, who resigned to pursue a career in the private sector. Philip Cleveland had been serving as interim superintendent since April 14, 2016. Interestingly, Sentance previously served as Massachusetts secretary of education from 1991 to 1996 under former Gov. Bill Weld and is a longtime resident of Massachusetts. His out-of-state status generated some controversy from critics who questioned Sentance’s ability to understand the needs of the Alabama education system.
    • Especially among appointed positions, it is not uncommon for a former state executive official to hold public office in another state. In a recent example, former Colorado Commissioner of Education Rich Crandall, who served from January 2016 to May 2016, was also the director of the Wyoming Department of Education from 2013 to 2014. Some former statewide officials have also run for election to public offices in different states, often with less success: Weld made a failed bid for governor of New York in 2006 after nearly 20 years of public service in Massachusetts. To date, the only person to win a governorship in two states is Sam Houston, who was elected governor of Tennessee in 1827 and governor of Texas in 1859.

 

What’s On Tap Next Week

Saturday, August 13

  • Primary election: Hawaii
    • State legislature: There are 14 state Senate seats and 51 state House seats up for election. Twenty-five incumbents—23 Democrats and two Republicans—are facing primary competition. Democrats have significant majorities in both chambers. Hawaii is one of 7 Democratic state government trifectas.

Tuesday, August 16

  • Primary election: Alaska
    • State legislature: There are 10 state Senate seats and 40 state House seats up for election. Thirteen incumbents, two Democrats and 11 Republicans, are facing primary competition. Republicans maintain an eight-seat majority in the Senate and a seven-seat majority in the House. With Independent Bill Walker as the state’s governor, Alaska is one of 20 states with a divided state government.
  • Primary election: Wyoming
    • State legislature: There are 15 state Senate seats and 60 state House seats up for election. Twenty incumbents, all Republicans, are facing primary competition. Republicans have significant majorities in both chambers. Wyoming is one of 23 Republican state government trifectas.

 

State government in session

Two states, California and New Jersey, are in regular session; Ohio is in a skeleton (non-voting) session. Massachusetts is in an informal session. California is in a special session.

  • Skeleton session: In a typical skeleton session, a clerk, a presiding officer, and another legislative member are the only people present. The presiding officer will convene the session day and adjourn it minutes later. Lawmakers who live more than 50 miles from the statehouse can deduct lodging and meal expenses on their federal income tax forms for each day the legislature is in skeleton or regular session.
  • CA and NJ

Two states are in recess:

  • PA until 8/18
  • MI until 9/6

The following states have adjourned their regular sessions:

  • AK, AL, AR, AZ, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MO, MN, MS, NC, NE, NM, NH, NY, OK, OR, RI, SC, SD, TN, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, WY

Four states have no regular sessions in 2016:

  • MT, ND, NV, TX

All states whose initials appear in red or blue in the above list have unified Republican or Democratic Party control across the state house, the state senate, and the office of the governor. Ballotpedia identifies these as “trifectas.” There are seven Democratic and 23 Republican trifectas.

State government special elections

As of this week, 45 seats have been filled through legislative special elections in 2016. Nine involved party changes: four from Republican to Democratic (Oklahoma, SD 34; Massachusetts, HD Twelfth Essex; Kentucky, HD 62; and New Hampshire, HD Rockingham 21), three from Democratic to Republican (Texas, HD 118; Minnesota, HD 50B; and New York, SD 9), one from Democratic to independent (Texas, HD 120), and one from Republican to independent (Louisiana, HD 85). Another 11 (not including runoff elections) have been scheduled in 22 states. An average of 37 seats were filled through special elections in each of the past three even years (2010: 26, 2012: 45, and 2014: 40).

Local

The Week in Review

2016 elections

  • In 2016, Ballotpedia is covering municipal elections across 46 of America's 100 largest cities by population, local judicial elections across all 39 states holding elections, school board elections across 643 of America's 1,000 largest school districts by student enrollment, all local ballot measures in California, and notable measures across the United States.
    • So far this year, Ballotpedia has covered 23 city elections, 26 states with local judicial elections, 218 school board elections, and 162 local ballot measure elections in California.
  • Most elections, including local elections, are held during spring and fall months. Summer and winter months contain relatively few elections and filing deadlines.

Monday, August 8

  • Chicago Public Schools (CPS) officials proposed a $5.4 billion operating budget aimed at closing a $300 million shortfall. The proposed budget includes increased property taxes, personnel cuts, and updated contracts with labor unions employed by the school district. According to Forrest Claypool, the CPS chief executive officer, the budget is $232 million less than the budget adopted for the 2015-2016 school year. The CPS budget would offer gradual pay increases for teachers and phase out district payments into Chicago Teacher Union (CTU) pension and insurance funds. A similar proposal in January 2016 drew strong opposition from the CTU. “If it didn’t fly in January, why would they think it (will) fly now,” said CTU President Karen Lewis. “We will not accept an imposed pay cut,” Lewis added. Claypool said that the budget is contingent on Illinois state lawmakers reaching a pension reform compromise. "The reason they agreed to do (pension relief) was to protect Chicago Public Schools classrooms, which would be cut significantly if we were not able to get that first step toward pension parity." The CPS Board of Education is expected to vote on the budget on August 24, 2016. Chicago Public Schools is the largest school district in Illinois and the third-largest school district in the United States. It served 396,641 students during the 2013-2014 school year—19.2 percent of all Illinois public school students.
    • July 27: The CPS Board of Education authorized a $250,000 payment to a law firm for work on a lawsuit during 2016. Claypool described this lawsuit as “in deep freeze.” According to Claypool, the law firm Jenner and Block was hired earlier in 2016 to potentially file a civil rights lawsuit on behalf of CPS against what Claypool described as “a racially discriminatory state funding system.” Ronald Marmer, the general counsel for CPS, was previously employed by Jenner and Block. He was appointed to his position as CPS general counsel by the school board in October 2015. On August 8, Chicago Board of Education Inspector General Nicholas Schuler announced that he was investigating the relationship between the CPS school board and Jenner and Block. Because Marmer was formerly employed with the law firm, Schuler expressed concern that the relationship may constitute a breach of the school board’s ethics policy.
    • June 30: Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) signed a six-month stopgap budget into law after the budget cleared the Illinois State Legislature with bipartisan support. Rauner and Illinois Democrats had been unable to pass a budget due to controversy surrounding Chicago Public Schools. The school district has struggled to remain solvent and requested additional state aid. Rauner publicly opposed funding a bailout of Chicago Public Schools, while state Democrats supported additional funding. The adopted budget guaranteed that public elementary and secondary schools in Illinois would receive state aid funding for the entire 2016-2017 school year. The budget included $100 million in low-income student funding earmarked for Chicago Public Schools. The state of Illinois would also contribute roughly $200 million dollars per year to the Chicago Public Schools pension fund under the budget’s provisions. Rauner and Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan (D) expressed displeasure at the failure to reach a full budget agreement and hoped that the stopgap budget would lead into long-term budget reform discussions.
    • June 1: Claypool announced that the district would not open for the 2016-2017 school year if the state legislature failed to pass education funding. Illinois’ budget was a point of contention most of the year, with Gov. Rauner at odds with the Democrat-controlled legislature. Rauner indicated he would sign a stop-gap bill intended to fund the city’s public schools. Claypool noted that the school district had “no ability to access capital markets” due to its junk credit rating and that its financial reserves were insufficient to cover operational expenses.
  • FILING DEADLINE: Deadline passed to file in retention elections for local judicial offices in Colorado. The election will be held on November 8, 2016. In these elections, judges do not compete against other candidates, but voters are given a "yes" or "no" choice whether to keep the judge in office for another term. The judge must receive a majority of "yes" votes to remain in office. Judges face their first retention at the next general election occurring at least two years after their appointment. Subsequent terms last for 10 years.
  • Minnesota held primary elections for two district court judgeships in District 3. The two races were the only races across the state to have more than two candidates file. The general election will be held on November 8, 2016. Both of these races featured an incumbent facing off against two challengers. In the primary race for Position 16, incumbent Carmaine Sturino and candidate Timothy Guth will advance to the general election. In the race for Position 17, incumbent Terrence M. Walters and candidate David McLeod will advance to the general election. In total, seven of the 97 races on the ballot will have a contested general election in November.
  • Minnesota held primary elections for nine school board seats across three of the state’s largest school districts, as measured by student enrollment.
    • Elk River Area School District: Three at-large school board seats were up for primary election because the number of candidate filings was more than double the number of seats up for election. In total, seven candidates filed in the race. Incumbent Holly Thompson and five challengers will advance to the general election on November 8, 2016. A fourth seat was up for special election because the incumbent resigned before the seat’s four-year term expired. Candidate Gregg Peppin defeated two fellow candidates to win the seat. Elk River is the fifth-largest school district in the state and served 13,139 students during the 2013-2014 school year—1.5 percent of all Minnesota public school students.
    • Rochester Public Schools: One seat was up for primary election because the number of candidate filings was more than double the number of seats up for election. In total, three candidates filed in the race. Seat 3 incumbent Deborah Seelinger and challenger Bobbie Gallas will advance to the general election on November 8, 2016. Rochester is the fourth-largest school district in the state and served 16,761 during the 2013-2014 school year—1.9 of all Minnesota public school students.
    • St. Cloud Area School District: Four seats were up for primary election because the number of candidate filings was more than double the number of seats up for election. In total, nine candidates filed in the race. Incumbent Al Dahlgren faced eight challengers. Dahlgren and seven of the challengers will advance to the general election on November 8, 2016. St. Cloud is the ninth-largest school district in the state and served 10,051 during the 2013-2014 school year——1.2 percent of all Minnesota public school students.
  • Two school board members in the South Conejos School District in Colorado were recalled. In District A, board member Melton Ruybal was recalled by 70 percent of the vote. Rod Ruybalid was chosen as Ruybal’s successor. In District C, Phillip Trujillo was recalled by 66.5 percent of the votes. Eufemia “Femy” Martinez was chosen as his successor. Ruybal and Trujillo were first elected to their seats in August 2015. Supporters of the recall collected 330 signatures in favor of the recall, more than the 228 required to move the effort forward. In 2016, Ballotpedia has covered 30 school board recalls across the United States.
  • FILING DEADLINE: Deadline passed to file in the general election for 36 school board seats in 12 of Kentucky’s largest school districts by enrollment. The election will be held on November 8, 2016. These districts served 272,080 students during the 2013-2014 school year, which is 39.7 percent of all Kentucky public school students.

Tuesday, August 9

  • The California Department of Education upheld a May 2016 ruling that the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) misallocated $450 million in district expenditures intended for high-risk students. The ruling rejects an appeal filed by LAUSD in response to a complaint filed against the district by the Community Coalition of South Los Angeles. The complaint alleged that the district’s transfer of $450 million dollars from a fund earmarked for high-risk students into its general fund between 2014 and 2016 violated rules of the 2013 Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) law. Under the LCFF, school districts receive increased funding to help high-needs students, defined as low-income students, English language learners, and students in the foster system. LAUSD receives approximately $1.1 billion annually for students in these categories. The school district argued that the transferred funds directly benefitted high-needs students and that without the transfers cuts to personnel would have been necessary. LAUSD officials also argued that the LCFF gives districts the flexibility to transfer money between funds, if necessary. The district has until the 2017-2018 school year to justify the disputed spending or to redirect the $450 million to high-risk students. If no action is taken, LAUSD may face a lawsuit. The Los Angeles Unified School District is the largest school district in California and served 653,826 students during the 2013-2014 school year, which was 10.4 percent of all California public school students.

Wednesday, August 10

  • The Cleveland City Council rejected a $15 minimum wage proposal by a vote of 16-1. Council member Jeffrey Johnson was the sole “yes” vote. Proponents argue that the increase is needed to keep Cleveland’s business sector regionally competitive and to propel workers into the middle class. Opponents claimed that the wage hike would ultimately lead to lost jobs and would be implemented too quickly for businesses to adjust. There is concern that raising Cleveland’s minimum wage would make the city less competitive compared to the rest of Ohio, where the minimum wage would remain $8.10. The minimum wage increase could go to voters on November 8, 2016, if proponents are able to collect an additional 5,000 petition signatures to put it on the ballot. Cleveland is the second-largest city in Ohio and the 48th-largest city in the U.S. by population.
    • Here’s the background on this story:
      • In late July, the local advocacy group Raise Up Cleveland filed a lawsuit against the city of Cleveland with the Ohio Supreme Court. The lawsuit alleged that the office of city council clerk Patt Britt refused to accept boxes containing several thousand signatures in support of placing the issue on the November ballot. Britt argued that she could not accept the signatures because the city council had not taken a final vote on the proposal. The lawsuit is currently pending.
      • June 15: Two city council members, Jeffrey Johnson and Brian Cummins, proposed separate plans to raise the city's minimum wage to $15 per hour. Johnson's plan would set the wage at $15 by 2021, while Cummins' plan would reach that level at 2022. The proposals came in response to the plan put forward by Raise Up Cleveland, backed by the Service Employees International Union, to increase the minimum wage to $15 by 2020. On June 4, 2016, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson (D) and city council president Kevin Kelley publicly opposed the Raise Up Cleveland proposal to raise the city's minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2020.
    • Debates over the minimum wage have become commonplace in cities across the United States.
      • Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie called for a $15 minimum wage for city workers. All city job descriptions and functions will be evaluated and Cownie is seeking feedback from city council and legal advisers.
      • The Baltimore City Council voted 7-4 to raise the minimum wage to $15 by 2022. A final vote on the wage increase is expected on August 15, 2016. At least eight of the 15 city council members must support the measure in order for it to pass. Baltimore is the largest city in Maryland and the 26th-largest city in the U.S. by population.
      • In Minneapolis, the city council blocked a proposal to add a $15 minimum wage vote to the ballot on November 8, 2016. City attorney Susan Segal advised the council not to place the issue on the ballot, saying that the proposal is an ordinance, not a charter amendment, and cannot be decided by voters. Minimum wage supporters filed a legal complaint against the city on August 8, 2016, asking the Hennepin County District Court to reverse the decision. Minneapolis is the largest city in Minnesota and the 46th-largest city in the U.S. by population.
      • Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., have all begun implementation of $15 per hour minimum wages in recent years. In 2014, the Seattle City Council unanimously supported a minimum wage increase for full implementation in 2021, and San Francisco voters approved a ballot measure to phase in the full wage hike by 2018. The Los Angeles City Council soon followed in 2015 when it voted 14-1 to enact the increase by 2020. In San Mateo, California, the city council will vote on a $15 minimum wage ordinance during an August 15, 2016, meeting. It would phase into effect in 2019 with some exemptions ending in 2020. On June 7, 2016, the Washington, D.C., City Council unanimously approved a proposal to raise the city’s minimum wage to $15 by 2020.
      • Two more cities—Miami Beach, Florida, and San Diego, California—recently approved smaller minimum wage hikes. The Miami Beach City Commission voted in favor of increasing the minimum wage to $10.31 in 2018 with an increase over time until it reaches $13.31 in 2021. San Diego voters approved Proposition I by more than 63 percent of the vote, which will increase the city’s minimum wage to $11.50 in January 2017. San Diego is the second-largest city in California and the eighth-largest city in the U.S. by population.
  • In Minneapolis, Mayor Betsy Hodges (D) proposed a 5.5 percent property tax increase. Hodges proposed the tax increase as part of the 2017 Minneapolis city budget, citing the need for more municipal police officers and improved city services. Over the previous five years, Minneapolis’s population has grown by 8 percent. “We have more people using our parks and our streets, we have more people taking advantage of all that Minneapolis has to offer and therefore managing the growth of our city requires more resources,” Hodges said of the city’s growth. The increased tax rate would fund the addition of 15 police officers and pay for long-term city park and street plans. Minneapolis is the largest city in Minnesota and the 46th-largest city in the U.S. by population.
  • FILING DEADLINE: Deadline passed to file in the special election for the District 3 seat on the Phoenix City Council. The election will be held on November 8, 2016. The winner of this election will serve a term that expires in January 2020. Phoenix is the largest city in Arizona and the sixth-largest city in the U.S. by population.
  • FILING DEADLINE: Deadline passed to file in retention elections for magistrates in Idaho. The election will be held on November 8, 2016. In these elections, judges do not compete against another candidate, but voters are given a "yes" or "no" choice whether to keep the judge in office for another term. The judge must receive a majority of "yes" votes to remain in office.
  • FILING DEADLINE: Deadline passed to file in the general election for 86 school board seats in 29 of Arizona’s largest school districts by enrollment. The election will be held on November 8, 2016. These districts served 630,417 students during the 2013-2014 school year, which was 57.9 percent of all Arizona public school students.
  • FILING DEADLINE: Deadline passed for Independent Party candidates to file in the general election for six city council seats in Washington, D.C. The general election will be held on November 8, 2016. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run for the Democratic, Republican, Green, or Libertarian parties was March 16, 2016.

Friday, August 12

  • FILING DEADLINE: Deadline passed to file for 15 city council seats in four cities across California: Anaheim, Fremont, Oakland, and Santa Ana. General elections will be held on November 8, 2016. Santa Ana’s mayor is also up for election.
  • FILING DEADLINE: Deadline passed to file in the general election for three of the eight city council seats in Irving, Texas. The election will be held on November 8, 2016. Irving is the 13th-largest city in Texas and the 94th-largest city in the U.S. by population.
  • FILING DEADLINE: Deadline passed to file in the general election for 373 school board seats in 137 of California’s largest school districts by enrollment. The election will be held on November 8, 2016. These districts served 3,017,364 students during the 2013-2014 school year, which was 47.9 percent of all California public school students.

 

What’s On Tap Next Week

Saturday, August 13

  • Honolulu will hold primary elections for mayor and District 1 on the city council. In the mayoral race, incumbent Kirk Caldwell (D) faces 11 challengers. Incumbent Kymberly Marcos Pine will face three challengers in the District 1 primary. In each race, the top two vote recipients will advance to the general election. A total of six races will be on the general election ballot on November 8, 2016. Elections in Honolulu are officially nonpartisan. Honolulu is the largest city in Hawaii and the 54th-largest city in the U.S. by population.

Monday, August 15

  • FILING DEADLINE: Deadline to file in the general election for 93 school board seats across 23 of South Carolina’s largest school districts by enrollment. The election will be held on November 8, 2016. These districts served 508,860 students during the 2013-2014 school year, which was 68.2 percent of all South Carolina public school students.
  • Wheeler County, Oregon, Judge Patrick Perry will face a recall election. Supporters of the recall allege that Perry had an inappropriate relationship with a direct report earlier in 2016, and that his supervision of the human resources department has led to "excessive situations needing litigation" requiring "thousands (of dollars) in fees and settlements." Recall supporters turned in 169 valid signatures, which was above the necessary amount of signatures. Perry was first elected in 2012 and presides over probate and juvenile matters. He also serves as chairman of the Board of Commissioners. In 2016, Ballotpedia has covered 21 local court recalls across the U.S.

Tuesday, August 16

  • FILING DEADLINE: Deadline to file in the general election for 24 school board seats across eight of Minnesota’s largest school districts by enrollment. The election will be held on November 8, 2016. These districts served 149,258 students during the 2013-2014 school year, which was 17.5 percent of all Minnesota public school students.
  • FILING DEADLINE: Deadline to file in retention elections for magistrates in Alaska. The election will be held on November 8, 2016. In these elections, judges do not compete against another candidate, but voters are given a “yes” or “no” choice whether to keep the judge in office for another term. The judge must receive a majority of “yes” votes to remain in office.
  • Grant County, Oregon, County Commissioner Boyd Britton will face a recall election. Supporters of the recall collected 505 signatures, more than the 496 required to move the effort forward. In 2016, Ballotpedia has covered 11 county commission recalls across the United States.
  • The mayor and four city council members in Whitehall, Montana, will face a recall election. The recall was initiated over allegations of misconduct during a council meeting on April 11, 2016. Recall supporters argue that the council broke rules by allowing a speaker to make statements without being included on the official agenda. Recall supporters also allege that members of the public were not allowed to comment on a proposal to have county dispatchers direct the city's ambulance to fire calls. The recall will cost the county approximately $10,000. In 2016, Ballotpedia has covered 50 mayoral recalls and 58 city council recalls across the United States.

Wednesday, August 17

  • FILING DEADLINE: Deadline to file in the general election for three city council seats in Bakersfield, California. The election will take place on November 8, 2016. The filing deadline for the seats in Wards 2, 5, and 6 was extended because no incumbents filed in the race on the first filing deadline on August 12, 2016. Bakersfield is the ninth-largest city in California and the 52nd-largest city in the United States by population.

 

Back to top for Federal and fact checks updates

Fact Check

Fact Check by Ballotpedia

Federal fact checks

Fact check: Was Russ Feingold the lone U.S. Senate opponent of the USA Patriot Act? Feingold was the only senator to vote against the original USA Patriot Act, which was approved 98-1 on October 25, 2001. The House earlier approved the legislation by a vote of 357-66, with 62 Democrats voting against it along with three Republicans and independent Rep. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.


State and local fact checks

Fact check: Has New York state Sen. Gustavo Rivera been fighting for ethics reform since he got to Albany? New Yorkers for Independent Action, a political action committee that is targeting New York Sen. Gustavo Rivera and other state lawmakers in 2016, sent mailers last month attacking Rivera on ethics grounds. Rivera pushed back, claiming, “I’ve been fighting for [ethics] reform since the second I got to Albany.” Rivera's first Senate bill, which he submitted before his first legislative term officially started, was an ethics reform bill. Since then, he has introduced, co-sponsored, and/or voted for a number of other ethics initiatives.
Fact check: Have declines in state funding driven up tuition at public universities? State funding for public higher education has indeed declined in recent years, and tuition revenues have increased. However, those two data points alone do not establish a cause-and-effect relationship between declining state funding and higher tuition. Other variables, including higher spending and increases in federal funding, should also be considered.
Fact check: Did candidate for Vermont governor Matt Dunne violate a campaign fundraising pledge? Matt Dunne has been critical of candidates who give more to their own campaigns than the $4,000 any Vermonter can contribute to a candidate, and he pledged not to contribute more than $4,000 to his own campaign. Dunne loaned his campaign $95,000. Such loans are considered contributions in Vermont unless and until they are repaid.
Fact check: Does an increase in the number of propositions on the ballot in California lead to more of those propositions being rejected by voters? According to political scientist Shaun Bowler, “The conventional wisdom is the more propositions you have, the more ‘no’ voting you get because people say, ‘I don't want to take the time to figure this out.’” Ballotpedia examined the results of statewide propositions on the ballot between 1912 and 2014 to determine if there is a simple correlation between the number of propositions on the ballot and the proportion of propositions that are rejected by voters. We found that in elections with more than 13 propositions—the average number of propositions on the ballot per election during the period—voters rejected 44 percent of propositions. In elections with 13 or fewer statewide propositions on the ballot, 42 percent were rejected.  

Read the latest fact checks.


Back to top for Federal, State and Local updates

About

Ballotpedia wants to keep you in the know. In this weekly newsletter, we let you know the important things that happened last week in the federal, state and local levels of government, as well as what you should look for this week. The Tap covers election news, public policy, and other noteworthy events—everything you need to stay up-to-date on American politics. A summary of the in-depth, nonpartisan content that is added to Ballotpedia every week is now available in this digestible format for free to anyone who wants to be informed.

There are two ways to read The Tap. One is here on the website. Click the tabs for information at each level of government. For previous issues, see Ballotpedia:The Tap. You can also subscribe to have The Tap delivered to your email inbox every Saturday.



Back to top

Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Tap:_1_in_5_Republican_voters&oldid=8441463"