The Tap: Beer pouring, colonoscopies, & Nebraska’s death penalty

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search


April 11, 2016Issue No. 11

The Tap Graphic-491x125px.png

What happened last week: April 4 - April 8
What's happening this week: April 9 - April 15

Navigate The Tap by clicking the tabs below:

Federal

What's on tap?

Our newsletter has moved from Monday morning to Saturday. We know you have a busy week to stay on top of, so we thought you might like to peruse the political news for the week when you have a little more time.

Saturday was the Democratic presidential caucus in Wyoming. Eighteen delegates were at stake. Bernie Sanders won the past six primary events against Hillary Clinton. Here are the current delegate counts.

Democratic nomination

Dem nom 4 11 16.png

 

Federal

Last week

Monday, April 4

  • During its lone session for this week, the U.S. Supreme Court issued three opinions.
    • The court handed down a per curiam ruling in Woods v. Etherton reversing the judgment of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court found that the Sixth Circuit erroneously applied the benefit of the doubt to the state habeas court and to Etherton’s appellate counsel under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA) and in accordance with the court’s 2013 holding in Burt v. Titlow.
    • Justice Samuel Alito wrote for a unanimous court in Nichols v. United States. The court reversed the judgment of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals and held that the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) does not require a registered sex offender to update his or her state registration when the offender moves to a non-SORNA jurisdiction.
    • Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote for a unanimous court in Evenwel v. Abbott, affirming the U.S. District Court’s finding that states may use total population counts when drawing legislative districts. The case originated in Texas; plaintiffs Sue Evenwel and Edward Pfenninger argued that state legislative district populations should take into account only the number of registered or eligible voters residing within those districts. Total population counts have typically been used for redistricting purposes. Total population tallies include non-voting residents, such as illegal immigrants, prisoners, and children. The plaintiffs alleged that this tabulation method dilutes the voting power of citizens residing in districts that are home to smaller concentrations of non-voting residents.
  • The Supreme Court granted certiorari in Pena-Rodriguez v. Colorado. The court will hear arguments next term on whether the Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury may be violated by rules that prohibit evidence of statements made during jury deliberations—also known as “no impeachment” rules—if the rules bar evidence of juror racial bias when challenging a verdict. The case comes on appeal from the Supreme Court of Colorado.
  • The Treasury Department announced some temporary and proposed regulations that could limit corporate tax inversions—when a company moves its tax residency to a low-tax country. The department announced that it would no longer acknowledge foreign parent stock that came about as a result of an inversion, among other changes. In a press release on the regulations, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said, “Treasury has taken action twice to make it harder for companies to invert. These actions took away some of the economic benefits of inverting and helped slow the pace of these transactions, but we know companies will continue to seek new and creative ways to relocate their tax residence to avoid paying taxes here at home.”
  • The U.S. Senate unanimously approved a bill that gives companies the ability to sue in federal court for theft of intellectual property and trade secrets. The bill, which was supported by the White House and Senate Republicans, “would give companies the right to sue in federal court to recover damages, enforce injunctions and prevent the further dissemination of stolen trade secrets,” according to Reuters.
  • FILING DEADLINE update: California’s official candidate list was released. Although the filing deadline was nearly a month ago, the California Secretary of State released its official primary candidate list on Monday.
    • The U.S. Senate seat currently held by Barbara Boxer (D) will be up for election in 2016. Boxer is retiring at the end of the current term. A total of 34 candidates filed to run in the race to replace Boxer, and among those were seven Democrats and 12 Republicans. The front-runners in the race include Attorney General Kamala Harris (D), Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D), former state Republican Party Chair Tom Del Beccaro (R), former state Sen. Phil Wyman (R), and former state Republican Party Chair Duf Sundheim (R). Due to California’s top-two primary system and the large number of Republican candidates running, the race could easily come down to two Democrats in November. The race is rated safely Democratic.
    • California has 53 U.S. House seats up for election in 2016. Of those 53, 39 are currently held by Democrats and the remaining 14 are held by Republicans. California has two races currently labeled as battlegrounds: CA-7, which is held by Ami Bera (D), and CA-25, which is held by Stephen Knight (R). Additionally, two seats are currently designated as races to watch: CA-10 and CA-52.
    • In the House, 49 of the 53 incumbents are seeking re-election. Of those 49, 13 will not face a contested primary. Due to California’s top-two primary system, this means that two or fewer total candidates across all political parties filed to run in the race. Only one incumbent, Democrat Jackie Speier (CA-14), is completely unopposed.
  • District Court Judge Carl Barbier approved an $18.7 billion settlement between the BP oil company, the federal government, and five Gulf Coast states over BP's role in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. On April 20, 2010, an explosion caused by a surge of natural gas at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig off the coast of Louisiana resulted in the largest marine oil spill in history. The explosion and subsequent sinking of the oil rig resulted in 11 deaths, 17 injured, and between 2.45 million barrels (BP's estimate) and 4.19 million barrels (the federal government's estimate) of crude oil spilled in the ocean. Under an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, the company pleaded guilty to 11 counts of felony manslaughter, violating the Clean Water Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and additional criminal charges. The company has spent billions of dollars in the aftermath of the spill: $20 billion for a compensation fund for those affected, $4.5 billion in fines for the criminal charges, and the above-mentioned settlement.
  • TransCanada, the operator of the Keystone pipeline, announced that a section of the pipeline in South Dakota had to be shut down after crude oil was spilled. It was originally reported that 187 gallons of crude oil had spilled, but this figure was later updated to an estimated 16,800 gallons. This portion of the Keystone pipeline transports oil from Canada to Cushing, Oklahoma. In 2008, TransCanada proposed expanding this pipeline. This expansion, known as the Keystone XL pipeline, became a microcosm for the larger debate about consuming fossil fuels, and the expansion of the pipeline was rejected by President Obama in November 2015. Depending on the measure used, many studies argue that pipelines are the safest means for transporting oil.

Tuesday, April 5

  • Presidential primary in Wisconsin
    • Bernie Sanders extended his winning streak to six states in a row on Tuesday, defeating Hillary Clinton in Wisconsin 56 to 43 percent. Sanders won contests in Washington, Hawaii, Alaska, Utah, and Idaho in late March. The Vermont senator carried 71 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties. He lost Milwaukee County by four points. Despite his win in Wisconsin, Sanders still trails Clinton in the delegate count. By CNN’s estimate, Clinton had 1,297 pledged delegates to Sanders’ 1,068 as of April 6. With superdelegates included, Clinton leads 1,780 to 1,099.
    • Ted Cruz won the Wisconsin Republican primary with 48 percent of the vote. Republican front-runner Donald Trump came in second with 35 percent, followed by John Kasich in third with 14 percent. Ballotpedia Senior Writer Jim Barnes noted that a critical component of Cruz’s victory was his ability to stitch together “a new coalition of primary voters,” including voters who described themselves as “conservative” and “somewhat conservative.” Barnes’ full analysis of the Wisconsin primary can be read here. Similar to Sanders’ situation on the Democratic side, Cruz still trails Trump in the delegate count, despite his win in Wisconsin. As of April 6, Cruz had 510 pledged delegates to Trump’s 746, based on CNN estimates. Kasich, who did not win any delegates in Wisconsin on Tuesday night, had 145.
  • Justice Elena Kagan reflected on the possibility of tie votes in the Supreme Court due to the vacancy created by the passing of Justice Antonin Scalia: “I will say there is a reason that courts do not typically have an even number of members … And we are going to try as hard as we can to make it have as little difference as possible.” The last time there was a tie was in 2011, when Justice Kagan recused herself from an equal protection challenge to immigration law. What happens in the event of a tie? Read about it here.
  • Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio made remarks that were reported by The Columbus Dispatch. Brown described the unwillingness of Senate Republicans to take up Merrick Garland’s Supreme Court nomination as "reprehensible ... Never in history has a person been nominated Supreme Court Justice and the Senate just absolutely refused to do its job."
  • The Washington Post published a Trump campaign memo detailing how he would force Mexico to pay for a border wall. According to the memo, Trump would consider a number of scenarios, including “a small increase in visa fees” or changing existing rules to leverage payment from Mexico, such as redefining regulations on financial transactions between the countries to include “a requirement that no alien may wire money outside of the United States unless the alien first provides a document establishing his lawful presence in the United States.”
  • FILING DEADLINE: Colorado’s congressional filing deadline.
  • FILING DEADLINE: New Jersey’s congressional filing deadline.
    • New Jersey has 12 U.S. House seats up for election in 2016. The delegation is divided evenly, with six seats held by Republicans and six seats held by Democrats. New Jersey has no districts currently designated as battlegrounds, but two districts (NJ-3 and NJ-5) are considered races to watch. Both seats are currently held by Republican incumbents. The remaining 10 seats are considered safe for the party that currently holds the seat.
    • All 12 congressional incumbents are seeking re-election in 2016. Three of those 12 will not face a primary challenger in June. However, in all 12 districts at least one member of each party filed to run.
  • The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service announced new federal protections for green sea turtles, which have been federally protected since 1978 under the Endangered Species Act. The turtles will be separated into 11 distinct population segments in 11 regions. Three of the turtle populations will be considered endangered species, which receive stronger federal protections and are considered more at risk for extinction. Endangered green sea turtle populations are found primarily in Florida. The other eight turtle populations will be considered threatened species, which are considered less vulnerable but still receive some federal protection. Two of the 11 turtle populations will have their status changed from “endangered” to “threatened” due to conservation efforts, including a prohibition on the direct harvest of turtles.

Wednesday, April 6

  • Former CIA and NSA director Michael Hayden endorsed John Kasich for president. Hayden cited Kasich’s foreign policy stances for his endorsement, saying: “Governor Kasich has serious proposals to strengthen our military, defeat ISIS and stand up for freedom around the world—proposals that rise far above bumper-stickers and amateur rhetoric.”
  • The Department of Labor announced new rules that required brokers recommending retirement investments to act as “fiduciaries.” According to ABC News, this rule means that investment advisors must now act as “trustees legally obligated to put their clients' best interests above all.”
  • National Nurses United, the nation’s largest registered nurse union, endorsed Donna Edwards for U.S. Senate. The group cited Edwards’ positions on healthcare as a factor in its endorsement, saying, “Rep. Edwards has been a champion of a single-payer, Medicare-for-All health care system to guarantee everyone in this country safe, therapeutic care.” Edwards is one of 10 Democrats running in the primary election, and the endorsement comes as she and U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen are polling within a few points of each other.
  • “U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, along with the governors of Oregon and California, signed an agreement to tear down four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River. According to ABC News, the dams “are blamed for killing fish and blocking their migration.” The agreement also contains a provision designed to help farmers and ranchers by protecting them from increases to water and power prices, with the goal of ending “long-running water wars in the Klamath basin over dividing scarce water between farms and fish.”
  • The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will add five hazardous waste sites—commonly known as Superfund sites—to its national list of contaminated sites that can pose health and environmental risks. The sites are located in Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, New Jersey, and New Mexico. The sites include a former dry cleaner in Iowa, a former pesticides manufacturer in New Jersey, and a groundwater plume in New Mexico, among others. Other sites the EPA is reviewing for the national list are found in California, Colorado, Indiana, New York, Ohio, Puerto Rico, Texas, and West Virginia. Federal funds from the Superfund Trust Fund go toward the cleanup of Superfund sites or legal action against liable site owners and operators. The EPA has argued that the Superfund Trust would bring jobs and more tax revenue for localities by cleaning up formerly contaminated Superfund sites.

Thursday, April 7

  • FILING DEADLINE: Tennessee’s congressional filing deadline.
    • Tennessee has nine U.S. House seats up for election in 2016. Seven of those nine are held by Republicans, while the remaining two are held by Democrats.
    • Eight of the nine incumbents are seeking re-election in 2016. Republican Stephen Lee Fincher (TN-8) is retiring at the end of the current term. Twenty-two candidates filed in the race to replace Fincher.
    • Of the eight incumbents seeking re-election, three will face no primary opposition.
    • There are no battlegrounds in Tennessee in 2016. All nine seats are rated safe for the party that currently holds the seat.
  • Secretary of State John Kerry met with a number of Gulf state ministers to discuss the Iran Nuclear Deal and the ongoing conflict in Syria. According to CNN, “The secretary of state is paving the way for a summit between President Barack Obama and Gulf leaders in Saudi Arabia later this month. The U.S. wants to see the Gulf countries do more to take on ISIS, which it views as the paramount concern in the region.”

Friday, April 8

  • Secretary of State John Kerry made an unannounced visit to Iraq to discuss the ongoing war against the Islamic State and to show support for Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. State Department spokesperson John Kirby said that the visit aimed to “underscore our strong support for the Iraqi government as it addresses significant security, economic, and political challenges.”

 

Congress is IN session SCOTUS is NOT in session
The U.S. Senate will be in session Monday-Friday next week. The U.S. House will be in session Tuesday-Friday. The U.S. Supreme Court stands in recess. The justices will hold their weekly conference on Friday. The court’s final two-week argument session for the October 2015 term begins on Monday, April 18, when the court will hear oral arguments in United States v. Texas.

This week

Monday, April 11

Thursday, April 14

  • The ninth Democratic debate
    • A ninth debate between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders will take place in Brooklyn on April 14, just days before the New York primary election on April 19. The debate was announced on April 4, following weeks of negotiations between the Clinton and Sanders campaigns over the date and venue of a ninth debate.

Friday, April 15

  • FILING DEADLINE: Oklahoma congressional filing deadline
    • There are five U.S. House seats in Oklahoma. Currently, all are held by Republicans.
    • The U.S. Senate seat currently held by James Lankford (R) will be up for election in 2016.
    • All six congressional seats up for election in Oklahoma are rated safely Republican.

 

Where was the president last week? Federal judiciary
President Barack Obama was in Washington, D.C., for most of the week.  
    • 85 total federal judicial vacancies including one Supreme Court vacancy
    • 49 pending nominations
    • 15 future vacancies

Back to top

State and Local

What's on tap?

What do beer, colonoscopies, and Nebraska’s death penalty have in common? All are topics Nebraska Sen. Ernie Chambers covered on Wednesday as he held the floor on his third day of filibusters. Find out more below.

 

Highlights

State

Local

  • On Tuesday, April 5, two of America’s largest cities held elections for city official positions:
    • Anchorage, Alaska: Five of the 11 seats on the Anchorage Assembly were up for general election. Anchorage is the largest city in Alaska and the 63rd-largest city in the United States.
    • Milwaukee, Wisconsin: The mayor's office and all 15 seats on the Milwaukee Common Council were up for general election. In the mayoral race, incumbent and two-time former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett defeated District 8 Common Councilman Robert G. Donovan. Mayor Barrett received 70.21 percent of the vote. Donovan did narrowly win re-election to his District 8 seat with 51.81 percent of the vote in the closest of the 15 council races. Milwaukee is the largest city in Wisconsin and the 30th-largest city in the United States.
    • In 2016, Ballotpedia is covering 43 municipal elections across America's 100 largest cities by population.
 

State

Last week

Monday, April 4

  • Virginia Sen. John Miller (D) passed away from an apparent heart attack. Before going into politics, Miller spent nearly two decades at Norfolk TV station WVEC as a journalist and news director. He also served as press secretary to then-U.S. Rep. Paul Trible (R), then worked at Christopher Newport University and Orion Air Group. Miller was initially elected to District 1 of the state Senate in 2007. Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) said in a statement, “A loyal friend to public schools, he took a leadership role in reforming and modernizing the Standards of Learning tests. He had a clear vision of the challenges facing Virginia, and he put forward clear goals for reaching solutions on issues ranging from climate change to redistricting reform.” Miller was 68. The partisan balance of the Virginia State Senate stands at 18 Democrats, 21 Republicans, and the vacancy left by Miller.
  • Three Democratic state representatives in Tennessee filed a formal complaint of workplace harassment after a Republican colleague sent a copy of the film “America’s Mosques Exposed!” to each member of the state legislature. John Ray Clemmons, along with Barbara Cooper and Johnnie Turner, alleges that Susan Lynn “distributed this without any regard for the safety of Muslim employees of the state of Tennessee who did or may have come in contact with this DVD.” Lynn said that she made sure she followed protocol in delivering the DVDs, which she said the film’s producer, “constituent” Louie E. Johnson Jr., would have delivered himself were he able to.
  • The Tennessee General Assembly passed legislation that would recognize the Bible as the state’s official book. Sponsored by Deputy Speaker Sen. Steve Southerland (R) and Assistant Majority Floor Leader Rep. Jerry Sexton (R), the measure passed the Senate by a vote of 19 to 8, and the House passed the bill last April by a vote of 55 to 38. The measure will now go before Gov. Bill Haslam (R) for his signature. If signed by the governor, Tennessee would become the first state to adopt the Bible as their official book. Last year, Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery (R) issued an opinion on the constitutionality of legislation that would make the Bible the official state book. Slatery said that if passed, the legislation would violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
  • Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s (R) administration posted a summary online of proposed changes to the state’s Medicaid program. The plan would require all enrollees in the state to contribute 2 percent of their monthly income to a health savings account (HSA), but would cap total annual contributions at $99. Enrollees who fall behind on their payments for more than two months would lose their coverage. After public comment, the state plans to submit the proposal to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for approval. CMS has not approved plans submitted by other states that propose revoking enrollees’ coverage for failing to contribute to an HSA.
  • FILING DEADLINE: Colorado
  • FILING DEADLINE: Tennessee

Tuesday, April 5

  • Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) vetoed three pieces of school choice legislation. One bill would have created a school voucher program, in which parents could have used 90 percent of the state’s per-student funding figure for their children to attend a private school or be homeschooled. Another bill would have had the Virginia Board of Education identify 12 failing schools in the state and allow students at those schools to transfer to another district. The third bill would have created a statewide virtual school that could enroll up to 5,000 students. McAuliffe said the first two bills would have undermined local school districts and remarked that the school voucher bill was potentially unconstitutional for the possibility of public funds going to religious schools. Though the virtual school bill was vetoed, McAuliffe did request the creation of “a working group to study virtual learning.”
  • Ballotpedia released a study about the impact of fracking on property values and sales in Colorado in 2015. The study found that "across seven counties in Colorado there was no definitive evidence that fracking negatively or positively impacted 2015 home values and previous home sales … Additionally, we do not find any definitive evidence that fracking negatively or positively impacts home prices for those using private water wells." This study coincides with several proposed ballot measures being prepared for the November 2017 ballot that attempt to regulate where and how fracking occurs on the local level in Colorado. Supporters of this and similar measures have said that the measures were proposed on the premise that home values are negatively impacted by oil and gas development. This study also comes a day after a bill that would have given cities more control over oil and gas drilling failed in the Colorado House of Representatives. The full study is available here.
  • Louisiana had its credit rating downgraded to AA- by Fitch Ratings. This is the second ratings drop for the state in 2016; Moody’s also downgraded Louisiana in February 2016. State government has been wrestling with a $750 million budget gap. New Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards (D) passed tax increases during the most recent legislative session, working with the Republican legislature. Many of those increases are set to expire in 2018, which the Fitch rating report indicated was a contributing factor in the new rating. State credit ratings, among other things, impact insurance rates on bonds.

Wednesday, April 6

  • Nebraska Sen. Ernie Chambers (I) continued a string of filibusters into a third day as the nonpartisan unicameral legislature faces the end of its session. Chambers began holding the floor on Monday in response to a vote to change the state’s allocation of electoral votes to a winner-take-all system. During Monday’s filibuster, Chambers discussed colonoscopies, how to pour beer, and the state’s death penalty. On Tuesday, Chambers’ filibuster held up votes on the confirmation of nominees to state boards. On Wednesday, Chambers halted debate on a Republican property tax plan and criticized the previous night’s vote to reject legalization of medical marijuana. The previous day, Sen. Laura Ebke unsuccessfully moved to end the session early as a “semi-serious” gesture. Chambers, who said he is “having so much fun, it should be a sin,” says he will offer amendments for every bill until the session is up. Chambers is expected to continue to filibuster because he is upset that his fellow lawmakers killed bills that dealt with “people who are marginalized, and discriminated against.” Chambers, 78, is the longest-serving Nebraska legislator, serving since 1971 with the exception of 2009 to 2013, when he was barred by term limits. As of this publication, the legislature has three working days left: the 12th, 13th, and 20th. It may extend the session by a four-fifths vote, though this has only happened once, in 1976. Even though Nebraska senators are elected in nonpartisan elections, all members of the legislature are affiliated with a political party. The Senate’s partisan balance stands at 11 Democrats, 37 Republicans, and one independent. Chambers is the only independent in the legislature.
  • New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other members of the state government received criticism after passing the state’s fiscal year 2017 budget. Critics were concerned that the budget did not receive adequate review by the public and that meetings to discuss the budget were conducted in secret among government leaders. In addition the actual passage of the budget, Cuomo signed additional legislation into law that would gradually increase the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour and give employees an opportunity for up to 12 weeks of paid family leave per year. While proponents of this legislation discuss the implementation and benefits of the new laws, critics say these were passed at this time to divert scrutiny from the state’s budget.

Friday, April 8

  • The Arkansas General Assembly adjourned its three-day special session. Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) called a special session for legislators to vote on his Medicaid expansion plan. Both chambers of the legislature passed legislation that would modify the state’s current Medicaid expansion program that is covering more than 250,000 people and rename it Arkansas Works. The expansion plan would continue to use federal funds to purchase private insurance for people below the federal poverty line, but would charge premiums to participants that are above the poverty line. The legislation would also refer unemployed participants to voluntary work training programs. The House passed the legislation by a vote of 70-30, while the Senate voted 25-10 to approve the legislation. Gov. Hutchinson signed the legislation into law after the special session adjourned on Friday. Lawmakers will need a three-fourths majority in both chambers to fund the Medicaid expansion plan. The Arkansas Legislature will begin its 2016 regular session on April 13.

 

This week

Monday, April 11

  • The Maryland General Assembly is expected to adjourn its regular session. The general assembly meets in regular session for 90 days every year. Maryland is one of 20 states under divided government. Democrats control the Senate by 19 and the House by 41 seats, while Republicans control the governor’s office. All three offices will not be up for election again until November 6, 2018.
  • FILING DEADLINE: North Dakota
    • North Dakota is one of 23 states with a Republican trifecta.
    • State legislatures: North Dakota has 23 state Senate and 46 state House seats up for election in 2016. There are sizable Republican majorities in both chambers.
    • State executives: Seven seats are up for election in 2016 including a joint-ticket, open election for governor and lieutenant governor. Top contender Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem (R) won the Republican nomination at the convention last weekend; however, wealthy businessman Doug Burgum (R), who lags significantly in polls, plans to run in the June 14 primary contest regardless. (In North Dakota, the winner of the nomination receives the endorsement of the party but may still face challengers on the primary ballot.) The winner will compete in November with state Rep. Marvin Nelson (D), the only Democrat to declare; Nelson secured the Democratic nomination at the convention on April 1. If Stenehjem wins the general election, one of his first acts as governor will be appointing his own replacement for attorney general. The race is currently rated “Likely Republican.”
    • State courts: Two seats on North Dakota's Supreme Court are up for nonpartisan election in November. Incumbents Dale Sandstrom and Lisa Fair McEvers are running for re-election to serve 10-year terms.

Tuesday, April 12

  • The Kentucky General Assembly is expected to adjourn its regular session. Sessions in even-numbered years can last no more than 60 legislative days and must be concluded by April 15. Kentucky is one of 20 states under divided government. Republicans control the governor’s office and the Senate by 16 seats, while Democrats control the House by six seats. The state House is the only state legislative chamber in the South currently controlled by the Democratic Party. The Kentucky House has been identified by Ballotpedia as one of 20 top legislature battlegrounds in 2016.
  • Incarcerated Michigan Sen. Virgil Smith (D) has resigned from the Michigan State Senate. He tendered his resignation on March 31, but it did not become official until the Senate returned from its spring break on April 12. Smith is serving 10 months in jail and five years probation thereafter for shooting his ex-wife’s car last year. Smith’s former seat will be filled through a special election, the date of which has yet to be announced by Gov. Rick Snyder (R).

Wednesday, April 13

Friday, April 15

  • FILING DEADLINE: Oklahoma
    • State legislatures: There are 25 state Senate and 101 state House seats up for election. Both chambers are firmly held by Republicans. Oklahoma has a Republican governor, making it one of 23 states with a Republican trifecta.
    • State executives: One seat is up for election on the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, the state’s public utilities regulatory board. Incumbent Dana Murphy (R) is seeking re-election to her third term.

 

State government in session

Twenty-seven states are in regular session; California is in special session. AK, AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, HI, IA, IL, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, TN, VT. Convening this week:

  • AR on 4/13/2016

Four states are in recess:

  • SC House and NE until 4/12/2016
  • NJ and NH until 4/14/2016
  • KS until 4/27/2016

Adjourned regular sessions:

  • FL, GA, ID, IN, NM, OR, SD, UT, VA, WA, WI, WV, WY.

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, 26 seats have been filled through legislative special elections in 2016. Six involved party changes: four from Republican to Democratic (Oklahoma, SD 34; Massachusetts, HD Twelfth Essex; Kentucky, HD 62; and New Hampshire, HD Rockingham 21), and two from Democratic to Republican (Texas, HD 118; and Minnesota, HD 50B). Another 16 (not including runoff elections) have been scheduled in 18 states. An average of 37 special elections were held in each of the past three even years (2010, 2012 and 2014).

Last week:

Next week:

Local

Last week

Monday, April 4

  • In Kansas, a recall effort against Thomas County Sheriff Rod Taylor did not make it to the ballot. Recall organizers were unable to gather enough petition signatures before the submission deadline. The recall petition stated that Taylor "willfully engaged in misconduct while in office and willfully neglected to perform duties." The original recall petition provided eight examples of Taylor’s misconduct, including calling a staff member "Ms. Cleavage" and telling her to "hike up her skirt and go back and serve these papers,” as well as negligent handling of inmates and individuals in custody, taking nearly two hours to respond to a 911 call regarding a case of battery, and cutting the seat belt in his work vehicle "because he didn’t like to wear it and it kept ‘dinging.'”

Tuesday, April 5

  • Some of the largest school districts in Alaska, Missouri, and Wisconsin held general elections for school board positions:
    • Alaska: The state’s largest public school system, the Anchorage School District, held a general election for two of seven seats on the board. Although the race was nonpartisan, candidate partisan affiliations were common knowledge. The Seat A race featured Democratic incumbent Bettye Davis against challenger Brent Hughes, who did not have a known political party affiliation. The Seat B race pitted Republicans David Nees and Kay Schuster and Democrat Starr Marsett against one another. Davis won the Seat A race, but the winner of the Seat B race was still too close to call between Schuster and Marsett as of April 9, 2016.
    • Missouri: A total of 40 school board seats across 19 of the state’s largest school districts were up for general election. This included the St. Joseph School District, which had two of its seven board seats up for election following a multi-year administrative scandal in the district that resulted in investigations conducted by the FBI, U.S. Department of Education, Internal Revenue Service and Missouri state auditor. Newcomers Bryan Green and Tami Pasley defeated the other eight candidates to win the two seats. Click here to read Ballotpedia’s coverage of the St. Joseph story.
    • Wisconsin: Of the state’s 50 largest public school systems, 49 districts held a general election for 141 school board seats. The state’s largest school district, Milwaukee Public Schools, did not hold elections in 2016. The Racine Unified School District, which is the state’s fifth-largest school system, held a general election for all nine board seats following a switch in the district's election system away from at-large elections. AFL-CIO-endorsed candidates won seven of the nine seats. Click here to read Ballotpedia’s review of Wisconsin’s school board elections in 2016.
    • In 2016, Ballotpedia is covering 642 school board elections across America's 1,000 largest school districts by student enrollment.
  • Wisconsin held its general election for 40 Wisconsin county circuit court judgeships. A quarter of the seats featured a contested election, but the remaining 30 seats were won by unopposed candidates. Of the 30 unopposed candidates, 25 were incumbents running for re-election. The state held its primary election on February 16, 2016. In 2016, Ballotpedia is covering local judicial elections across the United States.
  • In Alaska, North Slope Borough Mayor Charlotte Brower lost her recall election. More than 61 percent of voters supported the recall. The recall organizers alleged in their petition application that Brower had spent thousands of dollars in public money on clothing for her daughter and basketball camp for her grandchildren. They also noted that she was fined $34,970 by the Alaska Public Offices Commission in September 2015 for her failure to file 2014 campaign disclosure reports. The mayor's supporters highlighted her advocacy for revised ethics rules, removal of purchasing rights for some staff members, and her request for an investigation into allegations of misused public funds. In 2015, Ballotpedia covered 180 recall efforts organized against 275 officials. Of the 61 officials whose recalls made it to the ballot, 40 were ousted and 21 were retained.
  • In Colorado, Parachute Mayor Roy McClung and town trustees Tim Olk and Tom Rugaard survived a recall election. Trustee John Loschke was also targeted for a recall, but the effort against him was dropped since he was up for re-election in a regular election at the same time. Loschke also won re-election. A citizen group called Let the People Vote filed the recall petition because the targeted officials voted to repeal a town ban on shops and other businesses selling marijuana. The group also filed a lawsuit against the town for failure to adhere to zoning laws when approving licenses for two marijuana businesses.
  • In Oregon, Cannon Beach Rural Fire Protection District board members Sharon Clyde, Garry Smith, and Linda Beck-Sweeney survived a recall election. All three received at least 57 percent of the vote. The recall effort originated after the fire district protection’s board terminated fire chief Mike Balzer. A letter signed by seven volunteer firefighters and emergency medical technicians stated that Balzer was fired in a "disrespectful, cold and calculating" manner, which involved being locked out of his office, forced to collect his belongings with a police escort on hand, and sent to walk home in the rain. In response to these allegations, the board members stated that the termination was "strictly business, not personal," and said Balzer lacked the necessary clerical and administrative skills for the position. After his termination, Balzer filed a lawsuit against the Cannon Beach Rural Fire Protection District, seeking more than $677,000, the reinstatement of his employment benefits, and relief from "further retaliation or harassment." Balzer accused the board of firing him for "personal animus" because of comments his wife made on social media. Those comments included criticisms of the fire district protection board and staff that were deemed “inappropriate” in the board’s 2014-2015 performance evaluation of Balzer.

Thursday, April 7

  • Maryland State Sen. Catherine Pugh took the lead with 31 percent support in the Democratic primary election for mayor of Baltimore scheduled for April 26, 2016, according to a poll conducted by The Baltimore Sun and the University of Baltimore. Former Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon, who led the polls in January 2016, fell to second with 25 percent support. Local lawyer Elizabeth Embry came in third with 9 percent support. The primary election will be on April 26, 2016, and the general election will be on November 8, 2016. Click here to read Ballotpedia’s coverage of the Baltimore city election.
    • Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (D) did not file to run for re-election and stated, "The last thing I want is for every one of the decisions that I make moving forward — at a time when the city needs me the most — to be questioned in the context of a political campaign." She made the statement following large-scale protests due to the death of Freddie Gray in police custody.
  • FILING DEADLINE: Deadline passed to run for 69 school board seats across 18 of Tennessee’s largest school districts. The general election for these districts will be on August 4, 2016. The state’s largest school district, Shelby County Schools—which served 149,832 students during the 2013–2014 school year—has four of its nine seats up for election this year.

 

This week

Saturday, April 9

  • In Washington, Louisiana, police chief Ronelle Broussard faces a recall election. The Concerned Citizens Committee of Washington criticized Broussard's job performance and claimed that he had failed to fulfill the duties of his office. The police chief’s critics also took issue with him setting bail bond prices, which are typically set by the mayor's court. In a public letter responding to the recall effort, Broussard stated, “As you are probably aware, I have been on medical leave as a result of an on-duty accident in my office, dated back in February 2015. [...] Any attempt to remove me from office at a time when I am experiencing medical issues can only be described as an act of cowardice, not to mention that it violates my rights as a public servant.”

Monday, April 11

  • FILING DEADLINE: Deadline to run for six school board seats across North Dakota’s two largest school districts. The general election for these districts will be on June 14, 2016. The state’s largest school district, Bismarck Public Schools, has two of its five seats up for election this year and served 12,012 students during the 2013–2014 school year.

Tuesday, April 12

  • Four of the nine seats on the Long Beach City Council in California are up for general election. The District 2 race features an open seat with three candidates competing to replace incumbent Suja Lowenthal. Long Beach is the seventh-largest city in California and the 36th-largest city in the United States.
  • Four of America’s 1,000 largest school districts will hold elections for school board positions:
    • Jefferson County Schools, Alabama: The Place 1 seat will be up for primary runoff election between challengers Ronnie Dixon and Donna Pike because no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote in the Republican primary election held on March 1, 2016. Since no Democratic or independent candidates filed, the winner of the primary will run unopposed in the general election on November 8, 2016.
    • Montgomery Public Schools, Alabama: The District 7 seat will be up for primary runoff election between incumbent Roberta Collins and challenger Arica Watkins-Smith because no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary election held on March 1, 2016. Since no Republican or independent candidates filed, the winner of the primary will run unopposed in the general election on November 8, 2016.
    • Long Beach Unified School District, California: Two of the five seats on the board will be up for general election. Both incumbents are running for re-election and were endorsed by the Teachers Association of Long Beach.
    • Sioux Falls School District, South Dakota: Two of the five seats on the board will be up for general election. Sioux Falls is the largest school district in South Dakota and served 23,384 students during the 2013–2014 school year.
  • Eight local measures will be on the ballot in two California counties. Los Angeles and Riverside counties both have four local measures on the ballot. Three of the Los Angeles County measures are related to taxes, while the fourth would enact term limits for city council members in the city of Walnut. All four Riverside County measures are connected to the Coachella Valley Link, a pathway designed for foot travel, bicycles, low speed electric vehicles, and disability mobile devices.

 

Back to top

Verbatim

Fact Check by Ballotpedia

 

Find out.


Back to top

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 Monday morning (see the "Signup" tab).

Signup

Back to top


Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Tap:_Beer_pouring,_colonoscopies,_%26_Nebraska’s_death_penalty&oldid=7440299"