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The Tap: Republicans and their declared positions on Trump

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May 14, 2016Issue No. 16

The Tap Graphic-750x191px.png

The week in review: May 7 - May 13
What's on Tap next week: May 14 - May 20

Navigate The Tap by clicking the tabs below:

Federal

What's on tap?

Republicans continue to weigh in on Donald Trump’s candidacy. Ballotpedia is tracking endorsements as well as statements of support and opposition by Republican elected officials. Find this week’s updates here: Republicans and their declared positions on Donald Trump.

 

Federal

The Week in Review

Saturday, May 7

  • Hillary Clinton won the Guam Democratic caucus on May 7, defeating Bernie Sanders 60 to 40 percent. Clinton picked up four of Guam’s seven pledged delegates, plus the territory’s five superdelegates. She lost the territory to Barack Obama in 2008. An estimated 1,300 Democrats participated in the event, down from about 4,500 in 2008, according to Pacific Daily News. Neither candidate campaigned in the territory in person. Republicans held a territorial convention in Guam back in March. Five of the territory’s six delegates were elected as unpledged delegates, while a sixth pledged to support Ted Cruz.

Sunday, May 8

  • Former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) wrote an op-ed explaining why he now supports Donald Trump even though he was an early critic of his candidacy. “I think electing Donald Trump would be the second-worst thing we could do this November, better only than electing Hillary Clinton to serve as the third term for the Obama administration’s radical policies. I am not pretending that Mr. Trump has suddenly become a conservative champion or even a reliable Republican: He is completely unpredictable. The problem is that Hillary is predictably liberal,” he wrote.
  • Former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) said that she would be "willing to serve” as Trump’s vice president or "in any capacity” to help him. Brewer served as governor from 2009 to 2015.
  • Some donors on Wall Street who previously supported Republican presidential candidates have now shifted their support to Hillary Clinton. "An analysis by the nonpartisan organization Crowdpac found that more than 500 donors, including many Wall Street executives, who gave more than $200 to a Republican who later dropped out, including Messrs. Bush and Rubio, have since given to Mrs. Clinton. More than one-third of the money that business interests have donated to presidential campaigns has gone to Mrs. Clinton’s coffers,” The Wall Street Journal reported.

Monday, May 9

  • Donald Trump announced that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) would chair his presidential transition team to identify candidates for cabinet-level positions and approximately 1,000 other openings in a potential future Trump administration.
  • U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) issued a statement expressing his disinterest in serving as Trump’s vice president. “While Republican voters have chosen Donald Trump as the presumptive GOP nominee, my previously stated reservations about his campaign and concerns with many of his policies remain unchanged. He will be best served by a running mate and by surrogates who fully embrace his campaign,” Rubio wrote.
  • President Barack Obama signed HR 2908 - the National Bison Legacy Act into law. The American bison is now the official mammal of the United States. He also signed HR 1493 - the Protect and Preserve International Cultural Property Act into law. The legislation requires the president to “protect and preserve international cultural property at risk due to political instability, armed conflict, or natural or other disasters.” The purpose of the legislation is to prevent the self-described Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, from profiting from the sale of looted Syrian archeological and ethnological material.
  • Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes attempted to clarify his comments from a recent New York Times article published last week in which he explained how the Obama administration sold the Iran nuclear deal to the press by using journalists who he said “literally know nothing.” Rhodes explained that in order to pass the nuclear deal, he “created an echo chamber. They [reporters] were saying things that validated what we had given them to say.” In an effort to smooth relations with the press, Rhodes wrote, “Every press corps that I interacted with vetted that deal as extensively as any other foreign policy initiative of the presidency.”
    • In response to the article, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) wrote in an op-ed, “When you get down to it, it’s hard to escape the conclusion that the Obama administration essentially misled the American people on the Iran deal—or at least misled itself.”
    • House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) wants Rhodes to testify about his role in selling the Iran nuclear deal to the press during a hearing next Tuesday, and he “has threatened to use a subpoena to demand his presence,” according to The Hill.
    • In response to the New York Times article, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) filed legislation on Wednesday to limit the size of the National Security Council, according to Reuters.

Tuesday, May 10

  • Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said it was a "stupid" idea for conservative Republicans to draft someone to challenge Donald Trump. When asked if he had spoken with conservative leaders about challenging Trump, Priebus said, "No, I have not talked to Mitt Romney or [Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska]. I don't believe it for a second. And you know what, in some ways, maybe I should talk to them about it, but on the other hand, ... I'm not gonna give any gas to that fire. … All it will do is ensure a liberal Supreme Court for generations. I think that people will understand pretty shortly that this isn't a game. This is about the future of the country and we need to make sure that we have the White House."
  • Nicopure Labs LLC filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging an FDA rule that allows the agency to regulate “all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, cigars, hookah tobacco and pipe tobacco, among others” under the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. Nicopure, which produces e-liquids but is not affiliated with any tobacco company, alleges in its filing that the FDA’s rulemaking process violated the Administrative Procedure Act and that the regulation itself violates the First Amendment.
  • Hillary Clinton proposed allowing Americans to buy into Medicare before the age of 65, the current age to receive healthcare coverage under the program. Clinton said, “I’m also in favor of what’s called the public option, so that people can buy into Medicare at a certain age.” She added that “people 55 or 50 and up” could pay to join the program voluntarily.
  • The White House announced that President Obama will visit Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on May 27, 2016. He will be the first sitting president to do so. According to the press release, Obama “will share his reflections on the significance of the site and the events that occurred there. He will not revisit the decision to use the atomic bomb at the end of World War II. Instead, he will offer a forward-looking vision focused on our shared future.”
  • The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Oklahoma, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Texas filed briefs supporting TransCanada's lawsuit against the Obama administration’s decision to reject the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline. On January 6, 2016, TransCanada Corp. filed a lawsuit in a Houston federal court accusing Obama of exceeding his authority by blocking the pipeline, and they filed an international petition under the North American Free Trade Agreement’s (NAFTA) investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provision, which is an international arbitration procedure included in bilateral investment treaties to resolve conflicts when one party believes that provisions of a treaty have been breached. TransCanada is seeking to recover “$15 billion in costs and damages related to the pipeline,” according to The Hill.
  • The U.S. Department of Education announced “a competition to award $65 million in grants to as many as 20 Charter Management Organizations (CMOs) across the country to create and expand charter schools that support students from underserved communities,” according to a press release. Applications are due by June 20, 2016, and can be found here.
  • The U.S. Department of Justice announced that it will not seek the death penalty against Ahmed Abu Khattala. He has been charged in the Benghazi massacre of September 11, 2012, in which Ambassador Christopher Stevens, IT expert Sean Smith, and former U.S. Navy SEALs Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods were killed. According to ABC News, “Assuming it doesn't resolve through a plea agreement, a trial of Abu Khattala would represent one of the most significant terrorism prosecutions in recent years and also an illustration of the Obama administration's commitment to prosecuting suspected militants captured overseas in U.S. civilian courts.”
  • Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) sent a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg asking him to explain how news articles are selected for its “trending” list after a report showed that staff members intentionally suppressed articles from conservative sources.
    • Debbie Frost, Facebook’s vice president for international and policy communications, responded to the inquiry in the following statement: “Trending Topics is designed to surface popular conversations — no matter where they fall on the political spectrum — and our guidelines require the review team members to allow all points of view.” She added that the company will address all of Sen. Thune’s questions.
  • The Washington Post reported that Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski was overseeing the team in charge of surveying and vetting potential vice presidential candidates. Armstrong Williams, business manager for former presidential candidate Ben Carson, told Talking Points Memo that Carson was no longer part of the vice presidential search for Donald Trump's campaign. Williams said, "He asked for his recommendations, he made them and now it's time to move on."
  • Roger Stone, an informal advisor to Donald Trump, criticized campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, saying Lewandowski "seems to be on a course of self-aggrandizement." Stone was referring to Lewandowski leading the team vetting and selecting a vice presidential candidate. Stone continued, "I've been in nine presidential campaigns I have some sense of how this works. I'd just like to see [Lewandowski] serve his candidate better."
  • Former Mexican President Vicente Fox criticized presidential candidates Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. According to CNN, Fox "cast both of the candidates as out of touch with economic reality and wrongly opposed to free trade." He went on to further critique Trump's proposal to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border, saying, "I'm not going to pay for that f---ing wall."

Wednesday, May 11

  • Ballotpedia’s Federal Desk Editor, Sarah Rosier, spoke with NPR’s Here & Now about the history of independent and third-party candidates, and the likelihood of a competitive third-party candidate this year.
  • House Republicans met with Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to discuss his planned meeting with Donald Trump. Several congressmen, including U.S. Reps. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho) and Mark Amodei (R-Nev.), called on Ryan to support Trump in order to bring unity to the party. Others expressed a desire for Paul to pin down Trump’s positions on budget issues, abortion, and entitlement reforms. Following the meeting, Ryan said, “To pretend we are unified without actually unifying means we go into the fall at half-strength. This election is too important to go into an election at half-strength."
  • In an interview with the Associated Press, Donald Trump said that he did not believe that he was obligated to release his tax returns before the general election. He added that there was “nothing to learn from them.” Trump later commented on the story, tweeting on Wednesday, “In interview I told @AP that my taxes are under routine audit and I would release my tax returns when audit is complete, not after election!"
    • Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney criticized Trump in a Facebook post for his unwillingness to release his tax returns now. “It is disqualifying for a modern-day presidential nominee to refuse to release tax returns to the voters, especially one who has not been subject to public scrutiny in either military or public service. Tax returns provide the public with its sole confirmation of the veracity of a candidate's representations regarding charities, priorities, wealth, tax conformance, and conflicts of interest. … There is only one logical explanation for Mr. Trump's refusal to release his returns: there is a bombshell in them. Given Mr. Trump's equanimity with other flaws in his history, we can only assume it's a bombshell of unusual size,” he wrote.
    • Hillary Clinton also criticized Trump. She said during a campaign event in New Jersey, “What about his taxes? We will get around to that too. Because when you run for president, especially when you become the nominee that is kind of expected. My husband and I have released 33 years of tax returns, we've got eight years on our website right now. So you have got to ask yourself, why does he not release them?"
    • CNN reported on Wednesday that Trump released tax returns under audit in 2006 as part of an effort to develop casinos in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
  • President Obama signed S1890 - the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 into law. The legislation “authorizes a trade secret owner to file a civil action in a U.S. district court seeking relief for trade secret misappropriation related to a product or service in interstate or foreign commerce. It establishes remedies, such as an injunction and damages.”

Thursday, May 12

  • Following their meeting on Capitol Hill, Donald Trump and U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) released a joint statement about the importance of party unity to Republican success in the general election. The statement read, in part, “The United States cannot afford another four years of the Obama White House, which is what Hillary Clinton represents. That is why it’s critical that Republicans unite around our shared principles, advance a conservative agenda, and do all we can to win this fall. With that focus, we had a great conversation this morning. While we were honest about our few differences, we recognize that there are also many important areas of common ground. We will be having additional discussions, but remain confident there’s a great opportunity to unify our party and win this fall, and we are totally committed to working together to achieve that goal.”
    • Ryan, who did not offer an endorsement of Trump, told reporters, "This is our first meeting, I was very encouraged with this meeting, but this is a process. It takes some time, you don't put it together in 45 minutes.”
  • Reimbursements to insurers under Section 1402 of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, were found to be unconstitutional by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. In U.S. House of Representatives v. Burwell, Judge Rosemary Collyer found that the Affordable Care Act did not “unambiguously appropriate” funds for the reimbursals and that payouts under Section 1402 require annual reauthorization. Since January 2014, these funds have not been reauthorized. Judge Collyer held accordingly that payouts made since January 2014 violate Congress’ sole authority under the Constitution to authorize and appropriate monies for federal expenditures. Judge Collyer stayed her ruling pending appeal.
  • The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released the final version of a rule intended to cut methane emissions released by the oil and gas industry. Under the new rule, methane emissions are expected to decrease by 40 percent to 45 percent below 2012 levels. The rule is expected to affect around 15,000 wells across the United States and will require oil and gas producers to limit emissions from wells, pumps, and compressors as well as along the routes used to transport oil and natural gas. Environmental groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), argued that the rules were a good first step but did not go far enough because they do not cover the entire system around extracting oil and natural gas. Industry groups, meanwhile, argued that "methane emissions from fracked natural gas wells have fallen nearly 79 percent since 2005" and thus the new rules were expensive and unnecessary.
  • The Missouri Voter ID Amendment was placed on the November 8, 2016, ballot by the Missouri Legislature. If passed, the measure would empower the state government to require the presentation of voter identification at public elections for the purpose of identifying individuals and proving national and state citizenship. An initiative designed to require voters to prove their identity was also proposed this year in Nevada, and a similar proposal was introduced in the Arkansas State Legislature.

Friday, May 13

  • The U.S. Departments of Education and Justice sent a letter to schools across the country explaining civil rights protections for transgender students and best practices for supporting transgender students. The letter explained, “As a condition of receiving Federal funds, a school agrees that it will not exclude, separate, deny benefits to, or otherwise treat differently on the basis of sex any person in its educational programs or activities unless expressly authorized to do so under Title IX or its implementing regulations. The Departments treat a student’s gender identity as the student’s sex for purposes of Title IX and its implementing regulations. This means that a school must not treat a transgender student differently from the way it treats other students of the same gender identity.”

Bills & Amendments

The Senate passed 15 pieces of legislation, and the House passed 25 pieces of legislation. See: Congressional legislation, May 9, 2016 – May 13, 2016, for details.

May 9, 2016:

  • For the third time, Senate Democrats voted to prevent the Senate from advancing on HR 2028 - the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016, because of Sen. Tom Cotton’s (R-Ark.) proposed amendment that would prevent the Obama administration from buying heavy water from Iran as part of the nuclear deal.
  • The following legislation was passed by unanimous consent in the Senate: S Res 457 - A resolution relative to the death of Conrad Ray Burns, former United States Senator for the State of Montana; S Res 458 - A resolution relative to the death of Robert F. Bennett, former Senator of the State of Utah; S 546 - the RESPONSE Act of 2016; HR 4238 - To amend the Department of Energy Organization Act and the Local Public Works Capital Development and Investment Act of 1976 to modernize terms relating to minorities; and S Res 436 - A resolution supporting the goals and ideals of World Malaria Day.

May 10, 2016:

  • The following legislation was passed by unanimous consent in the Senate: S 1352 - the Children of Fallen Heroes Scholarship Act; HR 4923 - the American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act of 2016; HR 4336 - An act to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the inurnment in Arlington National Cemetery of the cremated remains of certain persons whose service has been determined to be active service; and S Res 418 - A resolution recognizing Hafsat Abiola, Khanim Latif, Yoani Sanchez, and Akanksha Hazari for their selflessness and dedication to their respective causes, and for other purposes.
  • The House passed HR 5052 - the Opioid Program Evaluation Act or OPEN Act by a vote of 410-1. The legislation proposes directing federal agencies to evaluate the effectiveness of federal grant programs designed to alleviate “problems pertaining to opioid abuse.”
  • The House unanimously passed HR 4957 - To designate the Federal building located at 99 New York Avenue, N.E., in the District of Columbia as the "Ariel Rios Federal Building."
  • The following legislation was passed by voice vote in the House: S 2755 - the Fallen Heroes Flag Act of 2016; HR 4063 - To improve the use by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs of opioids in treating veterans, and for other purposes; HR 4985 - the Kingpin Designation Improvement Act of 2016; S 32 - the Transnational Drug Trafficking Act of 2015; HR 5048 - the Good Samaritan Assessment Act of 2016; S 125 - the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program Reauthorization Act of 2015; HR 2137 - the Federal Law Enforcement Self-Defense and Protection Act of 2015; and HR 3209 - the Recovering Missing Children Act.

May 11, 2016:

  • The Senate rejected Sen. Tom Cotton’s (R-Ark.) proposed amendment that would have prevented the Obama administration from buying heavy water from Iran as part of the nuclear deal by a vote of 57-42. The vote cleared the way for the Senate to vote on HR 2028 - the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016. It was the fourth time the Senate voted on the measure.
  • The House passed HR 4641 - To provide for the establishment of an inter-agency task force to review, modify, and update best practices for pain management and prescribing pain medication, and for other purposes by a vote of 412-4. The legislation proposes creating a task force to create national guidelines for doctors when prescribing opioid medications to patients in an effort to prevent opioid addiction.
  • The House unanimously passed HR 4843 - the Improving Safe Care for the Prevention of Infant Abuse and Neglect Act. The legislation proposes providing increased protections and services for infants born with an addiction to illegal substances
  • The following legislation was passed by voice vote in the House: HR 4976 - the Opioid Review Modernization Act of 2016; HR 3680 - the Co-Prescribing to Reduce Overdoses Act of 2015; HR 4978 - To require the Government Accountability Office to submit to Congress a report on neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) in the United States and its treatment under Medicaid, and for other purposes; HR 3691 - the Improving Treatment for Pregnant and Postpartum Women Act of 2015; HR 4969 - the John Thomas Decker Act of 2016; HR 4599 - the Reducing Unused Medications Act of 2016; HR 4982 - the Examining Opioid Treatment Infrastructure Act of 2016; and HR 4981 - the Opioid Use Disorder Treatment Expansion and Modernization Act.

May 12, 2016:

  • The Senate passed HR 2028 - the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016 by a vote of 90-8. The $37.5 billion package “provides FY2016 appropriations for energy and water development and related agencies.” It is the first 2017 appropriations measure approved this year. The White House has threatened to veto the bill, saying in a statement, "At this funding level, the number of research, development, and demonstration projects supported in cooperation with industry, universities, and the national labs would be reduced, limiting innovation and technological advancement.”
  • The following legislation was passed by unanimous consent in the Senate: S Res 442 - A resolution condemning the terrorist attacks in Brussels and honoring the memory of the United States citizens murdered in those attacks, and offering thoughts and prayers for all the victims, condolences to their families, resolve to support the Belgian people, and the pledge to defend democracy and stand in solidarity with the country of Belgium and all our allies in the face of continuing terrorist attacks on freedom and liberty; S Res 463 - A resolution honoring the memory and service of Omaha Police Officer Kerrie Orozco; S Res 464 - A resolution commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Alaska State Troopers; S 1523 - A bill to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to reauthorize the National Estuary Program, and for other purposes; and S Res 394 - A resolution recognizing the 195th anniversary of the independence of Greece and celebrating democracy in Greece and the United States.
  • The House passed HR 5046 - the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Reduction Act of 2016 by a vote of 413-5. The legislation proposes authorizing “the Department of Justice (DOJ) to award grants to state, local, and tribal governments to provide opioid abuse services.”
  • The House passed HR 1818 - the Veteran Emergency Medical Technician Support Act of 2015 by a vote of 415-1. The legislation proposes directing “the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a demonstration program for states with a shortage of emergency medical technicians (EMTs) to streamline state requirements and procedures to assist veterans who completed military EMT training to meet state EMT certification, licensure, and other requirements.”
  • The House passed HR 4586 - Lali's Law by a vote of 415-4. The legislation proposes offering grants to fund programs that help pharmacists provide citizens with “opioid overdose reversal medication without person-specific prescriptions.”

May 13, 2016:

  • The House passed S 524 - the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 by a vote of 400-5. The legislation proposes authorizing the U.S. attorney general to give federal grants to states that “expand educational efforts to prevent abuse of opioids, heroin, and other substances of abuse, understand addiction as a chronic disease, and promote treatment and recovery.” States that develop treatment programs for individuals using opioids and other illegal substances as an alternative to incarceration are also eligible to receive funding.
  • The House passed H Res 725 - Providing for consideration of the bill (S. 524) to authorize the Attorney General to award grants to address the national epidemics of prescription opioid abuse and heroin use by a vote of 240-165.

 

Congress is IN session SCOTUS is IN session
The U.S. Senate will be in session Monday-Friday next week. The U.S. House will be in session Monday-Thursday. The Supreme Court will hold a non-argument session on Monday, May 16.

What’s On Tap Next Week

Monday, May 16

Tuesday, May 17

  • Idaho, Kentucky, and Oregon will hold congressional primaries.
    • Each state has a U.S. Senate seat up for election in 2016. The incumbents running for re-election are expected to safely make it through the primary.
      • In Idaho, Mike Crapo (R) is seeking re-election to his seat. He will face Jerry Sturgill (D) in the general election. Neither candidate will face a primary challenger. The race is rated safely Republican in the general election.
      • In Kentucky, Rand Paul (R) is seeking re-election to his seat. He will face James Gould and Stephen Howard Slaughter in the Republican primary. Seven candidates will compete in the Democratic primary for the seat. The race is rated safely Republican in the general election.
      • In Oregon, Ron Wyden (D) is seeking re-election to his seat. He will face Kevin Stine and Paul Weaver in the Democratic primary. Four candidates will compete in the Republican primary. The race is rated safely Democratic in the general election.
    • Idaho has two congressional districts. Both seats are currently held by Republicans, and both incumbents are seeking re-election in 2016. Each incumbent will face at least one challenger in the primary. Both districts are rated safely Republican in the general election.
    • Kentucky has six congressional districts. Five of the six seats are currently held by Republicans, and one is held by a Democrat. Ed Whitfield (KY-1) is the only incumbent not seeking re-election to his seat in 2016. Four Republican candidates will compete in the primary to succeed him. Of the remaining five incumbents, only two will face a primary opponent. Each district race is rated safe for the party that currently holds the seat.
    • Oregon has five congressional districts. Four of the seats are currently held by Democrats, and one is held by a Republican. All five incumbents are seeking re-election in 2016, and four of the five will face a primary challenger. In the general election, each district race is rated safe for the party that currently holds the seat.

Wednesday, May 18

Friday, May 20

  • FILING DEADLINE: Washington’s congressional filing deadline
    • The U.S. Senate seat currently held by Patty Murray (D) will be up for re-election in 2016. Murray is seeking re-election in 2016. The seat is rated safely Democratic in the general election.
    • There are 10 U.S. House seats in Washington. Currently, six are held by Democrats and four are held by Republicans.
    • Democrat Jim McDermott (WA-7) is the only incumbent who has announced that he will not be seeking re-election in 2016.
    • There are no battlegrounds or races to watch in Washington in 2016. Each race is rated safe for the party that currently holds it.

 

Where was the president last week? Federal judiciary
President Barack Obama was in Washington, D.C., last week.  
  • 91 total federal judicial vacancies, including one Supreme Court vacancy
  • 66 pending nominations
  • 12 future vacancies

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

State and Local

Highlights

State

  • On Tuesday, May 10, State Supreme Court: Attorney Beth Walker won the general election for one seat on the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, defeating incumbent Justice Brent Benjamin, who finished fourth. Despite the five-way race, Walker won decisively, with at least 39 percent of the vote; her nearest challenger was former state Attorney General Darrell McGraw, with 23 percent. West Virginia high court elections are nonpartisan beginning this year, but Benjamin was previously elected as a Republican and Walker previously ran as a Republican, meaning the ideological balance of the court will not shift this year out of its 3-2 Democratic majority. Walker was supported by significant satellite spending, including an estimated $2.5 million spent by the Republican State Leadership Committee.
    • Find the results of the state legislative elections below.

Local

  • On Thursday, May 12, the Maryland State Board of Elections decertified the results of the Baltimore primary election, which means that the results are once again considered unofficial. An elections administrator noted that there were “hundreds more” ballots cast than voters who checked in at polling locations. The decertification of the vote totals will result in a precinct-level review by election officials, but it will not result in a recount. The state investigation is not expected to impact the mayoral election, however, in which State Sen. Catherine Pugh (D) won a crowded Democratic primary by more than 2,000 votes. Pugh is expected to win the general election in a heavily Democratic city to replace retiring Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (D). Baltimore is the largest city in Maryland and the 26th-largest city in the United States by population.
 

State

The Week in Review

Ballot measures update

Sunday, May 8

  • Signatures for five potential initiatives in Missouri were submitted by the deadline. The Medical Marijuana Legalization Initiative, Judicial Campaign Contribution Reform Amendment, Sales Tax Prohibition Amendment, 23 Cent Cigarette Tax Initiative, and 60 Cent Cigarette Tax Initiative will now await review by the secretary of state’s office, which has until August 9 to verify whether or not enough of the submitted signatures are valid to qualify the measures for the ballot on November 8, 2016. These five were among about 90 initiative petitions cleared for signature gathering at the time of the signature submission deadline.
    • A sales tax renewal measure is already certified for the ballot as Amendment 1. This measure was automatically put on the ballot by a law requiring voter approval of the 0.1 percent sales tax every 10 years to renew it.
    • In 2014, nine measures were on the ballot in Missouri; five were approved, and four were defeated. One of the 2014 measures was a citizen initiative. The other eight were put on the ballot by the legislature.
    • From 1996 through 2014, an average of 6.6 measures were decided by Missouri votes during each even-numbered year.
  • Filing deadline: Nine seats on the Illinois Appellate Court are up for election this year: four by partisan election and five by retention. The filing deadline for retention candidates was May 8; five judges will stand for retention. Two of them, Judges Daniel Pierce and Robert Spence, are actually circuit judges who have been assigned to duty on the appellate court and are standing for retention in their own circuits.

Monday, May 9

  • North Carolina Justice Robert H. Edmunds defended his record after a split Supreme Court of North Carolina upheld on May 6 the ruling of a lower North Carolina court that the state’s 2015 retention law for state supreme court justices is unconstitutional. This means that rather than standing for retention in 2016, Edmunds will run in a contested election against three other candidates who filed for the election. Justice Edmunds took no part in the deciding of the case, which was an even tie, 3-3, between the remaining justices. The tie means that the lower court’s ruling will stand, but it also means that this decision gives no precedent for future similar cases. The court did not reveal how the justices voted; while it is possible that it was a 3-3 split between conservative-leaning justices and liberal-leaning justices, this was not necessarily the case.
  • Indiana Governor Mike Pence (R) appointed Indianapolis attorney Geoffrey Slaughter as the 109th justice on the Indiana Supreme Court. Slaughter succeeds Justice Brent Dickson, who retired in April before reaching his mandatory retirement age of 75. He will be sworn in and take the bench later this year. This is Pence’s first appointment to the state’s high court. Indiana justices are chosen by appointment and then stand in retention elections thereafter. There are five justices on the court; of the four current justices, three were appointed by former Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) and one was appointed by former Gov. Frank O’Bannon (D). Slaughter is a partner at the firm of Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP in Indianapolis and has served as special counsel to the Indiana attorney general’s office. He will serve two years on the bench before standing in the retention election of 2018 for a full 10-year term if he wishes to remain on the bench.
  • California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) made permanent several rules aimed at conserving water during California’s most recent drought. The rules, which were implemented temporarily in 2014, restrict watering lawns, washing cars and pavement, and using ornamental fountains. Though areas of the state saw more rain in 2015 than in previous years, Brown said that water conservation should “be a part of our everyday life.” California’s most recent drought was one of the most severe droughts in the past several decades.

Tuesday, May 10

  • Primary election: Nebraska
    • State Legislature: Twenty-five of the 49 seats in the state Senate are up for election in 2016. All 11 incumbents not running for re-election in 2016 were barred by term limits. Just under three-fourths of incumbents, 10 of 14 incumbents, advanced past the primary without opposition. One incumbent, Nicole Fox of District 7, was defeated by a former state senator as well as a member of the Omaha Board of Education. Fox was appointed in August 2015.
    • State executives: Incumbents Gerald L. Vap (R) and Rod Johnson (R) were both defending their seats on the Public Service Commission against Republican challengers. While Johnson easily won the nomination, Vap was edged out by challenger Mary Ridder by a shockingly narrow margin of 57 votes. No Democrats filed to run; barring any independent or third-party filings, Ridder and Johnson will run unopposed in the November general election.
  • Two days after being violently attacked at a cookout, Richard Ojeda defeated incumbent Sen. Art Kirkendoll in the Democratic primary for District 7 of the West Virginia State Senate by a 55-to-45 margin. Jonathan Porter allegedly lured Ojeda away from the cookout to place bumper stickers on his car and then proceeded to attack the candidate. Ojeda ended up in the hospital with eight bone fractures and multiple lacerations to his face. The police have not revealed a motive for the attack, but Ojeda has alleged that it is politically motivated. From his hospital bed, Ojeda told the Daily News, “I would honestly bet everything that I own that somebody put this boy [Porter] up to this.” Incumbent Kirkendoll insists that he had nothing to do with the attack.
  • Pennsylvania State Senator Larry Farnese (D) was indicted in a $6,000 vote-buying scheme. Farnese and Ellen Chapman were charged with conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, and violations of the Travel Act. Prosecutors allege that Farnese offered Chapman a bribe to gain her support in the 2011 election for Democratic ward leader of Philadelphia’s eighth ward. The scheme involved Farnese paying $6,000 toward a study-abroad program for Chapman’s daughter; in exchange, Chapman, who was a member of the eighth ward Democratic committee at the time, agreed to use her position to support Farnese’s candidacy for Democratic ward leader of the eighth ward. According to prosecutors, Chapman initially supported another candidate but switched her vote to Farnese. Mark B. Sheppard, Farnese’s attorney, said that his client is “100 percent innocent.”
  • Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker approved a rule revising the state's voter identification process. Beginning May 13, voters who are attempting to obtain the required identification but who are unable to produce the requisite documentation can petition for an exception to the requirement. The voter will then be issued a receipt, which will be considered a valid form of identification at the polls. The rule change comes as a federal trial concerning the law is scheduled to begin on May 16. The law's challengers allege that the requirement makes it too difficult for individuals to obtain the proper identification. Upon announcing the rule change, Walker said, "The more we can do to improve the [voter identification] process, the more likely it is that it will be upheld in a federal court." Currently, 33 states enforced voter ID requirements; in 19 of those states, voters are required to present photo IDs.
  • The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) settled with a Wyoming farmer who constructed a pond on his property. The farmer, Andy Johnson, who was represented by the conservative Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), sued the EPA in 2015 after the agency imposed nearly $16 million in fines on Johnson for constructing a pond on his property without an EPA permit. The agency argued that the pond’s construction was subject to regulation under the Clean Water Act. Under the settlement, Johnson is not required to pay the fines but is required to protect the ground from erosion and install a fence. The case is seen by property rights groups, such as the PLF, as the most recent example of the EPA’s encroachment on private property rights. Though the case was handled under existing federal regulations, it could have implications for the EPA’s Waters of the United States rule, which targets previously unregulated bodies of water.

Wednesday, May 11

  • The Delaware Department of State released new proposed regulations for the prescribing of opioids. According to the press release, the regulations have three major provisions. First, when treating a patient for an acute injury or procedure, physicians would be limited to prescribing an initial supply of opioids to last a maximum of seven days. Second, after the initial prescription, the physician would be required to use the state’s prescription drug monitoring program to look up the patient’s prior use of prescription drugs and obtain informed consent of abuse risk from the patient before extending the prescription. Third, patients taking opioids for chronic pain would be required to undergo drug screenings twice per year and sign a treatment agreement. Physicians would also have to discuss alternative treatment options with and conduct risk assessments on such patients. The proposal has received a mixed response from medical providers in the state.

Thursday, May 12

  • Dean Skelos (R), the former majority leader of the New York State Senate, was sentenced to five years in prison on federal corruption charges. He was found guilty on December 11, 2015, of eight counts of extortion, bribery, and conspiracy. Skelos was convicted of using his position in the Senate to benefit three companies—a real estate developer, an environmental technology company, and a medical malpractice insurer—in exchange for the companies’ agreement to give his son a no-show job. Prosecutors said that the three businesses provided Adam Skelos with about $300,000 and other benefits. Todd Kaminsky (D) was elected in a special election on April 19, 2016, to fill the seat left vacant by Skelos. The Senate’s partisan balance currently stands at 32 Democrats and 31 Republicans. Even though Democrats now hold a numerical advantage, a coalition between Republicans and the five members of the Independent Democratic Conference (IDC) will keep Republicans in control of the chamber. In addition, Sen. Simcha Felder (D) has caucused with Republicans since he was first elected in 2013. The state Senate has been included in Ballotpedia’s 20 battleground chambers to watch in 2016. Last week, former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D) received 12 years in prison for his kickback scheme.
  • Former Kaiser executive Donna Lynne was sworn in as Colorado's 49th lieutenant governor. Lynne replaces outgoing Lt. Gov. Joe Garcia (D), who announced back in November 2015 that he would resign in order to assume a position as president of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. Lynne, nominated by Governor John Hickenlooper (D), was unanimously confirmed by the state Senate last week and has stated she will not run for re-election in 2018.
  • Alaska Governor Bill Walker (I) appointed Alaska attorney Susan Carney to the Alaska Supreme Court. Carney will be sworn in later this year after the May 31 retirement of Justice Dana Fabe, the first woman to serve on the Alaska Supreme Court. This is Gov. Walker’s first state supreme court appointment. Justices in Alaska are chosen by appointment and stand in retention elections thereafter. There are five justices on the court. Justice Fabe was appointed by Gov. Tony Knowles (D); of the remaining four justices, one was appointed by Gov. Sarah Palin (R) and three were appointed by Gov. Sean Parnell (R). Carney has worked for 18 years as an attorney at Alaska’s Office of Public Advocacy; for 10 years before that, she served as a public defender. She will serve until 2020 and then must stand in a retention election for a 10-year term if she wishes to remain on the bench.

Friday, May 13

  • The Democrat-controlled Connecticut General Assembly passed a contentious budget bill in special session. The budget, which aims to remedy the state’s projected $960 million deficit, will be the first since 1973 to decrease spending levels from the previous year. Though Democrats enjoy trifecta control of state government in Connecticut, Gov. Dan Malloy (D) has been at odds with Democratic leadership in the legislature over elements of the budget; Democratic leaders skipped one budget meeting with the governor last month, leaving Malloy to meet only with Republicans.

 

What’s On Tap Next Week

Tuesday, May 17

Three state primaries feature races for seats in a battleground Kentucky House and a special election prompted by former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber’s 2015 resignation.

  • Primary election: Idaho
    • State Legislature: There are 35 state Senate seats and 70 state House seats up for election. Thirty-one incumbents, one Democrat and 30 Republicans, are facing primary competition. Both chambers are controlled by Republicans, and Idaho is one of 23 states with a GOP state government trifecta.
    • State judiciary: Three seats on Idaho’s state courts are up for election: two on the state supreme court and one on the state court of appeals. One supreme court seat, held by retiring Chief Justice Jim Jones, will be contested by four candidates. In the other seat, incumbent Justice Roger Burdick is running unopposed. Idaho conducts nonpartisan judicial elections. This will be the general election, not the primary, for these seats, unless no candidate for the contested seat should receive more than 50 percent of the vote. In that case, the top two finishers would face each other in a runoff during the November 8 general election.
  • Primary election: Oregon
    • State Legislature: There are 15 state Senate seats and 60 state House seats up for election. Just six incumbents, two Democrats and four Republicans, are facing primary competition. Both chambers are controlled by Democrats, and Oregon is one of seven states with a Democratic state government trifecta. The election in November will determine whether Democrats will have a supermajority with three-fifths control of each chamber.
    • State judiciary: Eight seats on Oregon’s state courts are up for election: three seats on the state supreme court and five on the state court of appeals. All five judges on both courts are running unopposed. Oregon conducts nonpartisan judicial elections. This will be the general election, not the primary, for these seats. If any of the seats were contested, then the leading candidate on primary night would have had to receive more than 50 percent of the vote to avoid a November runoff.
    • State executives: Four offices are up for election, including the governor’s office, for which the state is holding a special election following the 2015 resignation of former Governor John Kitzhaber (D). Incumbent Governor and former Secretary of State Kate Brown (D), who succeeded Kitzhaber, is seeking election to the remainder of the four-year term, which expires in 2019. Five candidates will challenge her for the Democratic nomination while four will compete in the Republican primary. Three Democrats and two Republicans are vying to replace Brown as secretary in what looks to be the most competitive state executive election this year. Incumbent A.G. Ellen Rosenblum will defend her seat against Republican challenger Daniel Crowe, both unopposed in their parties' primaries, in a race ranked “Safe Democratic.” Major party candidates for treasurer are also unopposed. They will be joined in the general election by former Republican State Sen. Chris Telfer, who is running as an independent.

Wednesday, May 18

  • The Utah State Legislature will begin a special session. The special session will address education funding and anti-monument legislation. Gov. Gary Herbert (R) wants the legislature to restore funding for $4.8 million in education initiatives. He also wants the legislature to consider a resolution that would oppose the establishment of a 1.9 million-acre national monument in southeastern Utah. Gov. Herbert said that it would be "absolutely irresponsible" of the Obama administration to consider a new national monument without the approval of the state’s citizens.
  • The Alaska State Legislature is projected to adjourn its regular extended session. The session was originally scheduled to adjourn on April 17, but legislators extended the session to address the state’s $4 billion deficit. Alaska is one of 20 states under divided government. Republicans control the Senate by eight seats and the House by seven seats. Governor Bill Walker is an independent.

Friday, May 20

  • Filing deadline: Washington
    • State executives: Nine offices are up for election, including governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and secretary of state, only one of which is held by a Republican (Secretary of State Kim Wyman). Incumbent Gov. Jay Inslee (D) is seeking re-election to a second term and faces stiff competition from Seattle Port Commissioner Bill Bryant (R). Perhaps the most pressing question leading up to the filing deadline will be whether embattled Auditor Troy Kelley (D) will appear on the candidate list. Kelley was indicted on federal charges that included perjury and false declaration in April 2015. A jury acquitted him of the perjury charge last month but deadlocked on the remaining 14 charges; federal prosecutors have yet to announce whether they will seek to re-try the case. Though he had previously filed his intent to run with the Public Disclosure Commission, his lawyers told the jury during his trial that he would not seek re-election. Gov. Inslee, who has called for Kelley’s resignation and has been exchanging acrimonious memoranda with the auditor, is surely hoping Kelley will stay true to his word despite the arguably favorable verdict. Washington currently has a divided government.
    • State judiciary: Seats on both the Washington Supreme Court and the Washington Court of Appeals will be up for nonpartisan election this year.
  • Filing deadline: Signatures for Montana citizen initiatives must be submitted to county clerks
    • The deadline for submission of signatures to the secretary of state for initiatives in Montana is June 17, 2016. Signatures must be submitted to county clerks four weeks earlier, however, giving a deadline of May 20, 2016.
    • Proponents of approximately nine initiatives could still submit signatures to qualify their measures for a spot on the ballot in November.
    • The Montana Crime Victims Rights Initiative was certified for the November ballot on May 6. The measure, which would add a section to the Montana Constitution to give crime victims specific rights to ensure that their interests are respected and protected under the law, is the only measure to qualify for the ballot in Montana so far this year. It is modeled after a voter-approved 2008 California measure, Marsy’s Law. Illinois voters also approved a similar version of the amendment in 2014. In late December 2015, a similar measure modeled after Marsy's Law was certified for the 2016 ballot in South Dakota.

 

State government in session

Sixteen states are in regular session; California and Connecticut are in special session.

  • AK, CA, DE, IL, LA, MA, MI, MN, NC, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC.

One state is in recess:

  • NH until 5/19/2016

Adjourned regular sessions:

  • AL, AR, AZ, CO, CT, FL, GA, HI, IA, ID, IN, KS, KY, MD, ME, MO, MS, NE, NM, OR, SD, TN, UT, VA, VT, 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, 37 seats have been filled through legislative special elections in 2016. Seven 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 three from Democratic to Republican (Texas, HD 118; Minnesota, HD 50B; and New York, SD 9). Another 8 (not including runoff elections) have been scheduled in 19 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).

Last week

May 7

May 10

May 11

Next week

May 14

May 17

Local

The Week in Review

Saturday, May 7

  • Four of the nine seats on the Arlington City Council in Texas were up for general election. In District 1, incumbent Charlie Parker defeated a tea party-aligned challenger, Kelly Canon. A pair of newcomers competed in District 7, which was the only open seat since Councilman Jimmy Bennett did not file for re-election. The incumbents in District 2 and District 6 both ran unopposed to retain their seats. Arlington is the seventh-largest city in Texas and the 50th-largest city in the United States by population.
    • In 2016, Ballotpedia is covering 43 municipal elections across America's 100 largest cities by population.
  • The mayor’s office and four of the seven seats on the Lubbock City Council in Texas were up for general election. Since Mayor Glen Robertson (R) filed to run for a U.S. House seat instead of running for re-election, the mayoral seat was open to a newcomer. Business owner Dan Pope (R) won the seat. Winners in three of the city council elections received full four-year terms, but the District 1 race was a special election for a two-year term. Only two of the four city council races featured an incumbent running for re-election. Lubbock is the 11th-largest city in Texas and the 84th-largest city in the United States by population.
  • Four of the nine seats on the Garland City Council in Texas were scheduled to be up for general election, but the election was canceled. All four seats were won automatically by candidates who ran unopposed for the city council seats. Two of the seats, District 2 and District 4, were retained by incumbents. The other two seats, District 1 and District 5, were won by newcomers. Garland is the 12th-largest city in Texas and the 86th-largest city in the United States by population.
  • In Texas, 145 school board seats across 54 of the state’s largest school districts were up for general election. This included the second-largest school district in the state, the Dallas Independent School District, which served 159,713 students during the 2013-2014 school year. In Dallas, four of the board’s nine seats were up for election. Only one incumbent, Lew Blackburn in District 5, ran for re-election. Blackburn retained his seat and will be joined on the board by newcomers Dustin Marshall, Jaime Resendez, and Audrey Pinkerton.
  • In Texas, recall elections were held in Crystal City, Denton, Electra, and Keller:
    • Crystal City: Mayor Ricardo Lopez, Mayor Pro-Tem Rogelio Mata, and Councilman Marco Rodriguez were all recalled by more than 76 percent of the vote. The recall effort began due to the arrests of all three men. Lopez and Mata were arrested on federal bribery charges on February 4, 2016, while Rodriguez was arrested in January 2016 for illegally transporting migrants into the country. Recall petitions also alleged that the city government lacked public confidence and that Lopez and Mata were involved with a scheme to bribe City Manager James Jonas in order to gain his support for an illegal gambling operation run by Ngoc Tri Nguyen. The federal indictment included charges that Lopez and Jonas helped Nguyen by waiving tax payments and denying a license for a legal gambling operation. Crystal City Councilman Joel Barajas was the only member of the council not to face charges.
    • Denton: City Councilman Joey Hawkins survived a recall with more than 71 percent of the vote. The recall effort began due to his support for a repeal of the city’s fracking ban. In November 2014, Denton voters approved an initiative banning all hydraulic fracturing in the city limits of Denton while still allowing other oil drilling methods under existing city regulations. Hawkins voted in June 2015 in favor of repealing the ban. The recall petition also claimed that he voted to relax local drilling ordinances and that he lacks both transparency and availability to his constituents. Hawkins denied the allegations and claimed that the recall originated as “part of a larger strategy.” Recall organizers originally targeted City Councilman Kevin Roden as well, but they were unable to gather enough signatures to put him on the recall ballot.
    • Electra: Mayor Pam Ward and City Commissioners Kevin Byrd and Ricky Kelley were all recalled by more than 53 percent of the vote. The recall effort began due to the officials’ support for the firing of the city’s police chief, Michael Hopkins. The recall petitions accused the three city officials of incompetence and of abusing their powers.
    • Keller: Mayor Mark Mathews survived a recall with more than 53 percent of the vote. The recall effort began due to conflict-of-interest allegations. The recall petition cited Mathews' support for issuing a city contract to his wife's architecture firm. The group suggested that Mathews should have recused himself from the vote and disclosed his wife's involvement with Sage Group. A local newspaper, The Star-Telegram, criticized the recall effort and stated, “Mathews is not accused of violating any law.” The newspaper editorial stated that the recall organizers included some of Mathews’ supporters from the mayoral election in 2014. In his response to the recall effort, Mathews claimed that the allegations against him were erroneous because state officials had not recognized the situation as a conflict of interest. He also published a video rebuttal to the recall on YouTube.
    • 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.

Tuesday, May 10

  • The San Jose City Council is on the verge of repealing Measure B, a local pension reform measure that was overwhelmingly approved by voters in 2012. The city council voted 10-1 to repeal the measure, claiming it should be overturned because city leaders didn’t fully negotiate with union leaders in an attempt to reach a compromise before putting the measure on the ballot. Supporters of the measure, including former city council member Pete Constant, are fighting the repeal in court. They believe any changes to Measure B should go before the voters who approved it. On May 11, an appellate court temporarily halted the city council’s repeal attempts and gave both sides until May 23 to submit their respective arguments. Mayor Sam Liccardo, a one-time supporter of Measure B, has sided with the city council in its attempt to repeal the measure, an about-face from his previous position on the measure.
  • In Texas, the Corpus Christi City Council voted to reject an ordinance to allow Uber and Lyft ridesharing service drivers to operate without fingerprinting and background checks. In response, the group that proposed the ordinance, Citizens of Corpus Christi, announced its intention to put a referendum on the public ballot on November 8, 2016. Petition signatures for such a referendum must be submitted by August 2, 2016, in order to make the November ballot. The city council’s approval of regulations on the ridesharing services resulted in both companies withdrawing from the city. Beginning May 16, 2016, ridesharing service drivers must complete fingerprinting and background checks in order to receive a permit to operate within the city. Mayor Nelda Martinez (D) supported the regulations and stated, "This to me is about reducing risk.” Corpus Christi is the eighth-largest city in Texas and the 60th-largest city in the United States by population.
    • The Corpus Christi City Council vote was preceded by the defeat of Proposition 1 in Austin, Texas, on May 7, 2016. The referendum, which was rejected by 56 percent of voters, would have overturned a city law requiring ridesharing drivers to undergo fingerprinting and background checks. Proposition 1 would have also allowed traffic lane pickups, required ridesharing drivers to add a visual symbol to their car for identification, and instituted an annual transportation tax for ridesharing drivers. Uber and Lyft spent a combined total of more than $8 million to promote the referendum. After its failure, both ceased their operations in the city. Austin is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 11th-largest city in the United States by population.
  • West Virginia held general elections for 277 county judgeships across the state. Incumbents sought re-election for 79.7 percent of the seats, and 55.5 percent of all seats were won by unopposed candidates. Incumbents in contested races had a 74.2 percent success rate. This election was the first nonpartisan election for the state's judicial seats since it received statehood status in 1863. West Virginia circuit court judges are elected to eight-year terms, family court judges are elected to six-year terms for their initial term and then eight-year terms after that, and magistrate court judges are elected to four-year terms.
  • Some of the largest school districts in Delaware, Nebraska, and West Virginia held elections for school board positions:
    • Delaware: All six of the state’s largest school districts were scheduled to hold general elections for a total of nine school board seats, but only one district actually held an election. Elections for eight of the seats were canceled after only one candidate filed to run for each seat. In seven of the eight cases, incumbents ran unopposed to retain their seats. The only contested election was in District F of the Christina School District, which featured incumbent Elizabeth Paige defeating challenger Desiree Brady by a narrow margin of 21 out of 837 votes.
    • Nebraska: Five districts held primary elections for a total of 18 seats. This included the state’s largest school district, Omaha Public Schools, which served 51,069 students during the 2013-2014 school year and had five of its nine board seats up for election. The general election for Nebraska school districts will be on November 8, 2016.
    • West Virginia: All nine of the state’s largest school districts held general elections for a total of 18 school board seats. Incumbents had an 80 percent success rate, which was similar to the 81.37 percent success rate they experienced in 2014. The state’s largest school district, Kanawha County Schools, had two of five seats up for election and served 28,378 students during the 2013-2014 school year. In the district’s at-large election, incumbent Jim Crawford Sr. faced three challengers for the two seats. Although Mercer County Schools held its regular general election for two of five board seats, the district will also hold a special election for one seat on November 8, 2016.

Thursday, May 12

  • The Maryland State Board of Elections decertified the results of the Baltimore primary election, which means that the results are once again considered unofficial. An elections administrator noted that there were “hundreds more” ballots cast than voters who checked in at polling locations. The decertification of the vote totals will result in a precinct-level review by election officials, but it will not result in a recount. The state investigation is not expected to impact the mayoral election, however, in which State Sen. Catherine Pugh (D) won a crowded Democratic primary by more than 2,000 votes. Pugh is expected to win the general election in a heavily Democratic city to replace retiring Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (D). Baltimore is the largest city in Maryland and the 26th-largest city in the United States by population.

 

What’s On Tap Next Week

Tuesday, May 17

  • The mayor’s office and two of the five seats on the Portland City Commission in Oregon will be up for primary election. Fifteen candidates filed for the race to replace outgoing Mayor Charlie Hales (D), including Oregon Treasurer Ted Wheeler (D) and Multnomah County Commissioner Jules Kopel Bailey (D). Both Wheeler and Bailey had raised significantly more money than their competitors as of the pre-primary reporting deadline on April 14, 2016, with Wheeler receiving $327,701 and Bailey receiving $111,033 in contributions. According to a poll conducted at the end of March 2016, Wheeler is the front-runner with 38 percent support, compared to Bailey in second place with 8 percent support. Unless a candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote in the mayoral or city commission elections, a general election will be held with the top two vote recipients on November 8, 2016. Portland is the largest city in Oregon and the 28th-largest city in the United States by population.
  • Thirteen of the 26 seats on the Louisville Metro Council in Kentucky will be up for primary election. Only six of the 13 seats will be on the partisan primary ballot, since those races feature more than one candidate from the same political party competing for the same council seat. District 2, District 4, District 6, and District 8 will all hold Democratic primary elections, while District 14 and District 16 will both hold Republican primary elections. The winners of the Democratic primaries will automatically win their seats in the general election on November 8, 2016, since no Republican candidates filed. The Republican primary winners in both District 14 and District 16 will face a Democratic opponent in November. Seven incumbents—four Democrats and three Republicans—filed for re-election and will run unopposed in both the primary and the general elections. Louisville is the largest city in Kentucky and the 27th-largest city in the United States by population.
  • Twelve of the 15 seats on the Lexington City Council in Kentucky were scheduled to be up for primary election, but the election was canceled. In nine of the 12 district races, incumbents are running unopposed for re-election. In District 2, District 4, and District 12, incumbents only face a single challenger each for their re-election bids. Since none of the seats feature more than two candidates, the primary election was canceled. The general election will be held on November 8, 2016. Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 62nd-largest city in the United States by population.
  • In New York, 31 school board seats across 12 of the state’s largest school districts will be up for general election. This will be the second school board election date in the state this year following the Buffalo Public Schools election on May 3, 2016. The 12 school districts served a combined total of 137,655 students during the 2013-2014 school year. The school board elections occur at the same time as the public vote on each district’s annual budget.
  • Kentucky will hold primary elections for three judgeships across the state. Two family court elections, one in the 30th circuit and the other in the 41st circuit, each feature three competing candidates. A district court election in the 43rd circuit will have six candidates in the primary election. The 30th circuit family court election is the only one without an incumbent running for re-election. The general election for those three judgeships as well as an additional three judgeships will be on November 8, 2016. Kentucky family court judges are elected to eight-year terms, and district court judges are elected to four-year terms.
  • Oregon will hold primary elections for 57 circuit court judgeships across the state. In 71 percent of the races, the sitting judge is running unopposed for re-election. Only five seats do not feature an incumbent in the race. Although it is called a primary, it is functionally a general election. A candidate who receives more than 50 percent of the votes cast in his or her race will win the position outright. Any election without a primary winner will advance to a runoff election, called the general election, on November 8, 2016. Runoffs are only possible for three of the seats up for election in 2016. Oregon circuit court judges are elected to six-year terms.
  • In Klamath County, Oregon, voters will decide on a local ballot measure regarding whether or not to overturn the county's existing ban of marijuana production and sales. The Klamath County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on September 22, 2015, to institute the county's ban. Since 56 percent of county voters had rejected Measure 91—the statewide marijuana legalization measure—in 2014, this was permissible by state law. The ballot measure’s advocates also attempted to recall Tom Mallams, the chair of the county board of commissioners, in September 2015, but the recall effort was unsuccessful and did not get on the ballot.
    • In 2016, Ballotpedia is covering all local ballot measures in California and notable measures across the United States.
  • In Idaho, West Ada School District Board of Trustees members Tina Dean, Carol Sayles, and Russell Joki will face a recall election. A fourth trustee, Julie Madsen, was also targeted for recall but immediately resigned. Although Joki has also resigned from the board, he did so after ballots had been printed and sent to absentee voters. The recall effort began after the school board voted 4-1 to void a contract extension for Superintendent Linda Clark on September 29, 2015. Clark later resigned from the board on October 23, 2015. A former West Ada superintendent, Christine Donnell, and a former district board member, Reid Olsen, have both supported the recall effort. Donnell publicly criticized the board for its lack of transparency and fiscal responsibility and claimed that board members had micromanaged the district. Other recall supporters include Zone 2 trustee Mike Vuittonet and the Meridian Chamber of Commerce. The Idaho-Press Tribune’s editorial board came out against the recall and called it “misguided.” Supporters of the board majority launched an effort to recall Vuittonet, but were unsuccessful. Before her resignation, Madsen criticized the recall effort and stated that the targeted board members had been wrongly “vilified” for voiding a contract that violated state law.
  • In Massachusetts, Barre Town Selectman Richard Jankauskas is facing a recall election. The recall effort began due to the Barre Board of Selectmen's vote not to renew contracts for the town's fire chief and police chief. The affidavit included with the recall petition accused Jankauskas of "undermining public safety and trust, deliberately disrupting the activities and morale of town departments and failing to carry out the duties he was sworn to uphold as selectman for which position he was duly elected." Jankauskas, who serves as chair of the board, refused to resign in response to the recall and stated, “I have tried to do what is in the best interests of the town.”

 

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