Everything you need to know about ranked-choice voting in one spot. Click to learn more!

The Tap: The Clinton Foundation

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search


August 27, 2016Issue No. 31

The Tap Graphic-750x191px.png

The week in review: August 20 - August 26
What's on Tap next week: August 27 - September 2

Navigate The Tap by clicking the tabs below:

Federal

What's on tap?

More than half of the non-government individuals who met with Hillary Clinton during her tenure as secretary of state made financial donations to the Clinton Foundation, a recent report from The Associated Press says. “At least 85 of 154 people from private interests who met or had phone conversations scheduled with Clinton while she led the State Department donated to her family charity or pledged commitments to its international programs. … Combined, the 85 donors contributed as much as $156 million. At least 40 donated more than $100,000 each, and 20 gave more than $1 million.”

  • Brian Fallon, a spokesperson for the Clinton campaign, criticized the report, saying, “It is outrageous to misrepresent Secretary Clinton's basis for meeting with these individuals.” He called the report "a distorted portrayal of how often she crossed paths with individuals connected to charitable donations to the Clinton Foundation."
  • Donald Trump said in a statement, “It is now clear that the Clinton Foundation is the most corrupt enterprise in political history. We've now learned that a majority of the non-government people she met with as secretary of state gave money to the corrupt Clinton Foundation. ... It was wrong then, and it is wrong now -- and the foundation must be shut down immediately."
  • Mike Pence said that the foundation “must be immediately shut down” and called for “an independent special prosecutor” to investigate “if access to Hillary Clinton was for sale.”

See also: Clinton Foundation

 

Federal

The Week in Review

Saturday, August 20

  • After Donald Trump met with his newly formed Hispanic advisory council, there were some reports that Trump was open to a pathway to legal status for immigrants residing in the U.S. without documentation. “He said people who are here is the toughest part of the immigration debate, that it must be something that respects border security but deals with this in a humane and efficient manner,” said Jacob Monty. Former Romney advisor Jose Fuentes, who also attended the meeting, said, “The idea is we’re not getting someone in front of the line, we’re doing it in a legal way, but he wants to hear ideas of how we deal with 11 million people that are here with no documents.” In an interview on Sunday, Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said it was “to be determined” whether Trump would continue to support forced deportation.

Sunday, August 21

  • According to The Washington Post, more than half of the Clinton Foundation’s donors would be unable to contribute to the nonprofit if Hillary Clinton were elected president and the organization were to establish a ban on corporate and foreign donors, as promised last week. Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said in an interview on CNN that the change would not come sooner for practical reasons. “The foundation is doing an enormous amount of work, and it takes time when you're in a number of countries around the world to retool, refocus the mission, and adapt,” he said.
  • Jill Stein and her running mate, Ajamu Baraka, wrote an open letter to Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump calling on them to support a presidential debate that includes third-party candidates. “It is public knowledge that the debates are now controlled by a corporation calling itself the Commission on Presidential Debates in order to sound like an official body, when actually it is controlled by your two parties. … As the de facto leaders of the Republican and Democratic parties, you have the power to end this charade. You can stand with the people and be champions of open debates. We urge you to end the monopoly of the elitist corporation that prevents voters from hearing a full debate on the issues facing the nation. We urge you to demand four-way debates in 2016,” they wrote on Sunday.
  • U.S. District Court Judge Reed O’Connor found that the Obama administration failed to follow the Administrative Procedures Act before issuing directives that would have required schools to provide transgender students with access to facilities, including bathrooms and locker rooms, consistent with their gender identity. Thirteen states sued to block the directive.

Monday, August 22

  • The FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server from her tenure as secretary of state resulted in the discovery of 14,900 emails that were not previously disclosed. U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg ordered the State Department to submit a new schedule for their release by September 23, expediting a previously planned rolling production set to begin mid-October. “We’re pleased the court accelerated the State Department’s timing. We’re trying to work with the State Department here, but let’s be clear: They have slow-walked and stonewalled the release of these records,” said Tom Fitton, the president of Judicial Watch, one of the plaintiffs in the case. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said, “State has not yet had the opportunity to complete a review of the documents to determine whether they are agency records or if they are duplicative of documents State has already produced through the Freedom of Information Act.”
  • A separate set of Hillary Clinton’s emails was released that illustrated “the way the Clintons’ international network of friends and donors was able to get access to Hillary Clinton and her inner circle during her tenure running the State Department,” The Washington Post reported. Most of these communications were directed to Clinton’s former deputy chief of staff, Huma Abedin, who worked for both the State Department and the Clinton Foundation.
  • U.S. House Science, Space, and Technology Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) and U.S. Senate Homeland Security Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) issued a subpoena to three firms that worked on Hillary Clinton’s private email server—Platte River Networks, Datto Inc., and SECNAP Network Security Corp.—to testify on whether record-keeping and security standards were met in the server’s maintenance.
  • The Clinton campaign announced a new $80 million ad buy for the end of August through October in Florida, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio, North Carolina, and Omaha, Nebraska. Absent from the list were battleground states Virginia and Colorado, CNN noted. It also released a new ad called “Just One,” which suggests that Donald Trump’s temperament could lead to war. “In times of crisis, America depends on steady leadership, clear thinking, and calm judgment. Because all it takes is one wrong move,” the narrator says before the sound of a bomb dropping is heard.
  • Donald Trump released a statement calling for the Clinton Foundation to be closed. “Hillary Clinton is the defender of the corrupt and rigged status quo. The Clintons have spent decades as insiders lining their own pockets and taking care of donors instead of the American people. It is now clear that the Clinton Foundation is the most corrupt enterprise in political history. What they were doing during Crooked Hillary’s time as Secretary of State was wrong then, and it is wrong now. It must be shut down immediately,” he said.
  • During an interview on Fox News, Donald Trump was asked to clarify his position on addressing illegal immigration. “We have to be very firm. We have to be very, very strong when people come in illegally. We have a lot of people that want to come in through the legal process and it's not fair for them. And we're working with a lot of people in the Hispanic community to try and come up with an answer,” he said. When asked if he was flip-flopping from previous calls for deportation, he responded, “No, I'm not flip-flopping. We want to come up with one a really fair, but firm answer. That's — it has to be very firm. But we want to come up with something fair.”
    • In a pre-recorded interview with Fox News that aired later, Trump backed deportation, at the least, for violent criminals. “We’re going to obey the existing laws. Now, the existing laws are very strong. The existing laws, the first thing we’re gonna do, if and when I win, is we’re gonna get rid of all of the bad ones. We’ve got gang members, we have killers, we have a lot of bad people that have to get out of this country.” He also said he would not use detention centers.
  • The Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC that aims to “support candidates who promote the values of the center right majority,” announced that it was launching a $10 million effort to support Republican candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives. According to Politico, “The spending includes $7.4 million for TV ads in nine districts. About $3.4 million of the $10 million total will go toward efforts to pick up seats currently held by Democrats, and $1.5 million will be used to initiate GOP ground games in California and New York.” Candidates who are slated for support include Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), John Katko (R-N.Y.), Will Hurd (R-Texas), Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), David Young (R-Iowa), Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), Chris Gibson (R-N.Y.), and Steve Knight (R-Calif.).
  • Americans for Responsible Solutions, a nonprofit group that advocates for stricter gun laws and aims to support what its website calls "commonsense protections from gun violence," endorsed Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) for U.S. Senate. In an opinion piece for CNN announcing the endorsements, founders of the group Gabrielle Giffords and Mark Kelly wrote, "In a stark reversal of common political practice, candidates are scrambling to communicate their support for gun safety. Why? Because voters are demanding it. And because we're holding lawmakers in the gun lobby's grip accountable." The two cited Kirk’s and Toomey’s votes after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting as the reason for the endorsement, writing, “In the wake of the tragedy at Sandy Hook, Republican Sens. Pat Toomey and Mark Kirk broke from the gun lobby and supported a bill to help prevent felons, domestic abusers and the dangerously mentally ill from obtaining firearms at gun shows and online. This week, they are earning our organization's endorsement.”
  • James Glassman, a former undersecretary of state under George W. Bush and founding director of the George W. Bush Institute, endorsed Hillary Clinton for president. He said, “She has the experience. She’s got the character. She has the values. She is the kind of candidate I support and that, as I say, millions of Republicans are supporting.”
  • The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) filed a notice of intent to sue the two federal agencies responsible for regulating offshore drilling. The lawsuit accuses the federal agencies of violating the Endangered Species Act after the agencies ruled in May 2016 that fracking off the coast of California posed no significant environmental effects. The lawsuit came after a January 2016 legal settlement between the CBD and the U.S. Department of the Interior placed a moratorium against fracking off the California coast. As part of the settlement, two federal agencies—the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement—performed an environmental review of fracking's impacts and ruled that fracking would not have significant impacts on the environment. This May 2016 ruling also lifted the offshore fracking moratorium. The CBD stated that they hoped the August 2016 lawsuit would push the regulatory agencies to perform another environmental review of fracking's impacts on the land- and sea-dwelling species in California as the CBD found the first environmental review by the federal agencies to be inadequate.

Tuesday, August 23

  • Five key staffers quit Bernie Sanders’ new political organization, Our Revolution, including digital director Kenneth Pennington. Sanders’ former presidential campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, was asked to run the organization as its president. According to Politico, the staff departures were caused, at least in part, by “still-raw tensions left over from the presidential campaign which by the end had become a war between the older aides who felt that their experience and planning explained Sanders’ ability to translate his message into votes, and younger aides who felt dismissed by older aides whom they felt didn’t appreciate how much of what Sanders achieved was because of their digital and organizing prowess, which turned the senator into a sensation.”
  • Hillary Clinton proposed a small business plan and cautioned about “what a Trump economy would mean” in a conference call with small business owners. She proposed a new standard tax deduction for small businesses and additional deductions for start-ups. “I believe when you succeed, families thrive and our nation prospers. But I also know that in lots of ways the odds are stacked against too many of you too many times. It’s clear that big corporations get a lot of the breaks. It’s much harder for you to get a loan, to file taxes, to offer health care to your workers,” Clinton told listeners on the call.
  • In the same conference call, Clinton commented on how financial regulations affect community banks and credit unions, saying that regulations enacted by the Obama administration were “primarily aimed at the big banks on Wall Street” and that smaller financial institutions “face complex regulations that don’t really make sense for their size or their mission.” Clinton has expressed support for the legislation that helped create the regulations she mentioned in the conference call.
  • Fundraisers for Clinton have been reaching out to donors to Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign, Politico reports. The efforts have focused on Republicans opposed to Donald Trump’s candidacy and are intended to build on Clinton’s previous successes in courting high-profile Republicans earlier in the month. The donors are being asked to join the Together for America Finance Council.
  • At a town hall event in Austin, Texas, Donald Trump said that he is open to “a softening” on some of his immigration policies. “There certainly can be a softening because we're not looking to hurt people. We want people — we have some great people in this country. We are going to follow the laws of this country.” Trump added that he still plans to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, saying, “It's going to happen, 100 percent.”
  • Melania Trump has threatened to sue 10 news outlets, including The Daily Mail and Politico, for defamation. Her lawyers have put the outlets “on notice... for making false and defamatory statements about her supposedly having been an 'escort' in the 1990s.” Politico is also being threatened with a lawsuit for its reporting on Melania Trump’s immigration history.
  • Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein offered praise for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and his organization in an op-ed for The Hill. Calling Assange “a hero,” she said, “What WikiLeaks actually does — to political parties, the military, and other powerful entities — is pull back the curtain of censorship, spin, and deception to show the public what’s really going on. Unlike pundits in the mainstream media, WikiLeaks doesn’t tell us what to think. They invite us to read the emails, watch the footage, and decide for ourselves.”
  • When asked by The New York Times if he considered Donald Trump a fascist, Gary Johnson responded in the affirmative. “It walks like a duck, quacks like a duck. Where’s the Constitution in all this?” said Johnson, adding that Trump is “saying horrible things.” Johnson also criticized Hillary Clinton over potential conflicts of interest with the Clinton Foundation during her tenure as secretary of state.
  • Oklahoma’s 5th Congressional District held a Democratic primary runoff between Al McAffrey and Tom Guild. The race remains uncalled at this time. With 100 percent of precincts reporting, McAffrey leads Guild 8,025 to 7,985. The winner will face incumbent Steve Russell (R) in the general election for this safely red district.
  • Politico revealed that a convicted con-man named Steven Wessel—who is currently in federal prison in North Carolina—was behind a “catfishing” scheme aimed at anti-Donald Trump Republican operatives Rick Wilson, Liz Mair, and Cheri Jacobus. The site reported, “Assuming a variety of fake online identities, including that of a female solicitor in England, Wessel gushed in emails, phone calls and Twitter messages about (made-up) extramarital affairs with the likes of the late Lee Atwater, showered marks with gift cards to the swanky Mandarin Oriental, and invited them to go pheasant-hunting in Scotland — all in an apparent attempt to glean more about the operatives and their intentions regarding Trump.”
  • The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that graduate teaching and research assistants at private universities may unionize as employees. Private universities will now have to recognize unions formed by graduate assistants. Graduate students at Columbia University had petitioned the NLRB to include graduate assistant unions under the National Labor Relations Act, arguing that “unionizing would allow them to negotiate stable livable stipends” and that they could function as both students and employees. Private universities, including all those in the Ivy League, had argued that recognizing graduate assistants as employees would disrupt the mentor relationship students have with their professors. The 3-1 ruling overturned a 2004 decision that found private universities were not required to recognize graduate assistant unions. Columbia said it is reviewing the ruling.
  • Hillary Clinton and the American Medical Association separately released statements calling on the manufacturer of EpiPen to lower its prices. The current price for two EpiPens, which are used to counter severe allergic reactions, is $600, six times higher than in 2004. The statements were issued on the same day the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging sent a letter to the manufacturer, Mylan Laboratories, asking it to explain its pricing decisions and requesting a face-to-face briefing. Mylan last raised the price of EpiPen by 15 percent in May, but attention is just now being focused on the manufacturer as parents sending children with severe allergies back to school ran into the higher prices. According to an article in STAT, the company said the increases in price “reflect the multiple, important product features and the value the product provides.” The scrutiny is part of a larger narrative of nationwide concern over prescription drug prices, which has become an issue in the 2016 presidential race.
    • “The AMA has long urged the pharmaceutical industry to exercise reasonable restraint in drug pricing, and, with lives on the line, we urge the manufacturer to do all it can to rein in these exorbitant costs,” said the AMA’s statement.
    • “When an allergic reaction leads to anaphylactic shock, a shot of epinephrine can literally be the difference between life and death. But now, just as parents are about to send kids with severe food and insect allergies back to school, the EpiPen’s manufacturer is hiking its price to an all-time high. … That’s outrageous — and it’s just the latest troubling example of a company taking advantage of its consumers,” said Clinton’s statement.
  • The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) said it would sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to compel the agency to review 417 species for placement on the federal list of endangered and threatened species. The agency found that the petition submitted by the CBD presented sufficient evidence to list the species as endangered or threatened, but the agency failed to complete more rigorous reviews of the species to determine officially whether the species would be placed on the list or placed on the list of candidate species. The CBD argued that the agency violated the federal Endangered Species Act by not completing the required status reviews for the proposed species. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said it was disappointed that the group pursued litigation, while the Congressional Western Caucus—a group of 54 U.S. House Republicans—said the proposed lawsuit represented another attempt by the group to set endangered species policy by submitting numerous petitions and suing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for not meeting the deadlines to review them.
  • NATO officials announced that an improvised explosive device (IED) killed a U.S. service member near Lashkar Gah in Afghanistan’s Helmand province. Another U.S. service member and six Afghan soldiers were also wounded. The IED went off while the service members were on patrol as part of NATO's Resolute Support mission to train and assist Afghan forces. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said in a statement, “I was deeply saddened to learn one of our service members was killed today and another wounded while engaged in our mission to train, advise and assist Afghan forces. Six Afghan soldiers were also wounded in the IED blast. My thoughts and prayers are with the loved ones of the service member killed and all those injured. This tragic event in Helmand province reminds us that Afghanistan remains a dangerous place, and there is difficult work ahead even as Afghan forces continue to make progress in securing their own country. We will continue to work closely with the government of Afghanistan and our NATO partners to bolster the capabilities of the [Afghan national defense and security forces] so they can provide the people of Afghanistan the peace they deserve.” According to The Hill, “There have been 11 combat-related deaths of U.S. service members in Afghanistan since the end of 2014.”
  • In a letter to Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) said that the Confederate flag will not be permitted to fly on any flagpole in national cemeteries, but small Confederate flags can be placed on individual graves on Memorial Day and Confederate Memorial Day. The VA's interim undersecretary for memorial affairs, Ronald Walters, wrote, “We are aware of the concerns of those who wish to see Confederate flags removed from public venues because they are perceived by many as a symbol of racial intolerance. We are also aware that the national cemeteries originated during the Civil War and that they are the final resting places of those who served on both sides of that conflict and, as such, flags of the Confederacy are also viewed by some merely as historical symbols.” On May 19, 2016, the House passed an amendment introduced by Huffman that would have prohibited the VA from displaying the Confederate flag, but the amendment was left out of the final VA appropriations legislation.
  • A U.S. defense official told Reuters that two of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) vessels came within 300 yards of the USS Nitze in an "unsafe and unprofessional" manner. The incident included two other Iranian vessels and occurred near the Strait of Hormuz. According to the official, Iran conducted “a high speed intercept and closing within a short distance of Nitze, despite repeated warnings. … The Iranian high rate of closure ... created a dangerous, harassing situation that could have led to further escalation, including additional defensive measures by Nitze.” Video of the incident “shows American sailors firing flares and sounding the warship's horn as the Iranian boats approached. A sailor can be heard saying that the weapons on the Iranian boats were ‘uncovered, manned,’” according to USA Today. Cmdr. Bill Urban, a spokesman for the Navy’s 5th Fleet in Bahrain, commented on the incident, saying, “There is certainly a pattern of poor seamanship or intentional interaction going on.”

Wednesday, August 24

  • In part two of a town hall event that aired on Fox News Wednesday night, Donald Trump indicated an openness to altering his stance on illegal immigration. Responding to a question about whether he would allow undocumented immigrants who have not committed crimes to stay in the country, Trump said, “No citizenship. Let me go a step further -- they'll pay back-taxes, they have to pay taxes, there's no amnesty, as such, there's no amnesty, but we work with them. Now, everybody agrees we get the bad ones out. But when I go through and I meet thousands and thousands of people on this subject, and I've had very strong people come up to me, really great, great people come up to me, and they've said, ‘Mr. Trump, I love you, but to take a person who's been here for 15 or 20 years and throw them and their family out, it's so tough, Mr. Trump.' I have it all the time! It's a very, very hard thing." During the Republican primaries, Trump had called for the deportation of all 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the country.
  • Though Bill Clinton has stated that he would resign from the Clinton Foundation if Hillary Clinton wins the election in November, Chelsea Clinton will remain on the foundation’s board. A spokesperson for Chelsea Clinton said that she “is committed to ensuring that those benefiting from the foundation’s work will be able to continue receiving that often-life-changing help.” The announcement comes the day after The Associated Press reported on potential conflicts of interest between the Clinton Foundation and the State Department during Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state.
  • At a rally in Florida, Donald Trump made an appeal to black and Hispanic voters, saying, “To the Hispanic parent, you have a right to walk outside without being shot” and “To African-American parents, you have a right to walk down your street without having you or your child shot.” Trump also criticized the track record of Democratic leaders in U.S. cities, saying, “The Democratic Party has run nearly every inner city in this country for 50 or 60 years, or in some cases over 100 years. Over 100 years. They've produced only more poverty, only more crime, only more joblessness and broken homes all over the place, at record levels.” The Trump campaign announced plans to increase its outreach to Hispanic and African American voters by visiting churches, local businesses owned by Hispanics and African Americans, and schools in urban areas.
    • At the beginning of 2016, 67 of America’s 100 largest cities had a Democratic-affiliated mayor. Only three of the nation’s 25 largest cities had a Republican-affiliated mayor. Click here for more information about mayoral partisanship in the United States.
  • Nigel Farage, a British politician who supported Britain’s departure from the European Union in June, appeared at a rally for Donald Trump in Mississippi. Farage drew parallels between Trump’s campaign and the Brexit vote, saying, “You have a fantastic opportunity here. You can go out, you can beat the pollsters, you can beat the commentators, you can beat Washington, and you’ll do it by doing what we did for Brexit in Britain.” Farage also criticized Hillary Clinton, saying, “I could not possibly tell you how you should vote in this election. ... I will say this. If I was an American citizen, I wouldn't vote for Hillary Clinton if you paid me. In fact, I wouldn't vote for Hillary Clinton if she paid me.”
  • The Washington Post reports that Jill Stein is the only 2016 presidential candidate appearing on several state ballots to use the federal public matching funds program. The FEC has, so far, approved $456,035 in matching funds for Stein’s campaign in 2016.
  • Purple PAC, a group supporting Gary Johnson, is spending $1 million on a national ad buy for Johnson. The ad begins with clips of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton as a narrator says, “One candidate offends everyone … the other will say anything to get elected.” The group’s president, Ed Crane, stated that he hopes the ad will help Johnson reach the 15 percent polling threshold to get on the presidential debate stage. “If he’s in the debate there’s no telling what might happen,” Crane told CNN.
  • Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted announced that Gary Johnson and Bill Weld will appear on the general election ballot in Ohio. Johnson’s inclusion on the Ohio ballot had been in question ever since two weeks ago when the Libertarian Party of Ohio submitted petitions for the ballot with a placeholder’s name on them. Johnson will be listed as an independent candidate on the ballot because “Libertarians no longer are recognized as a party in Ohio,” according to Cleveland.com.
  • Lauren LePage, daughter of Maine Governor Paul LePage, was named Maine coalitions director for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. According to the Portland Press Herald, LePage—a third-year law student at the University of Maine—will direct outreach for the campaign to groups supporting the Trump-Pence ticket throughout the state. She will work underneath Trump’s Maine state director, Christie Lee-McNally.
  • Bernie Sanders launched Our Revolution, a 501(c)(4) organization that aims to promote the policy agenda Sanders developed during his presidential campaign. At the launch, Sanders told supporters that the group would support “over a hundred candidates" and "seven key ballot initiatives" throughout the country. According to The Washington Post, “Toward the end of his speech, Sanders name-checked a series of candidates that had won his support, from a school board hopeful in Nebraska to a congressional candidate in upstate New York. He did not mention Tim Canova, whose race to topple Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) in south Florida has galvanized many of his supporters.”
  • After one of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) vessels ignored several radio calls and warning flares, the USS Squall fired three warning shots from its .50-caliber gun in the direction of the IRGC boat, which came within 200 yards of the USS Tempest in the North Arabian Gulf. The Iranians turned away after the shots were fired. U.S. Navy Cmdr. Bill Urban said, "This situation presented a drastically increased risk of collision, and the Iranian vessel refused to safely maneuver in accordance with internationally recognized maritime rules of the road.” It was one of three encounters that U.S. ships had with IRGC boats in the Persian Gulf, just one day after Tuesday’s incident. According to USA Today, “Iran's defense minister said Thursday that his naval forces will warn or confront any foreign ship entering the country's territorial waters.”
  • New details emerged about the $1.7 billion settlement that the Obama administration reached with Iran to resolve a dispute over the $400 million that Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi paid to the U.S. in 1979 for military parts that were never delivered. State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau said that the Obama administration paid $1.3 billion in interest to Iran on January 19, 2016, two days after the administration sent $400 million in cash to Tehran in an unmarked cargo plane. The Associated Press wrote that Trudeau “couldn’t say more about the Jan. 19 payments because of diplomatic sensitivities. They involved 13 separate payments of $99,999,999.99 and final payment of about $10 million. There was no explanation for the Treasury Department keeping the individual transactions under $100 million.” The initial $400 million cash payment was used as leverage to ensure that Iran released four Americans who were being held there as prisoners. The payment also occurred the same weekend that the nuclear deal with Iran was formally implemented.

Thursday, August 25

  • Judge William Dimitrouleas of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida ordered the State Department to determine whether the 14,900 emails uncovered by the FBI during its investigation of Hillary Clinton’s private email server include communications between Clinton and the White House in the days before and after the 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi. It has until September 13 to locate and release any emails it finds as part of a FOIA-related lawsuit brought by Judicial Watch.
  • During a campaign rally in Reno, Nevada, Hillary Clinton accused Donald Trump of embracing an “emerging racist ideology known as the alt-right” and “taking hate groups mainstream and helping a radical fringe take over the Republican Party.” She continued, “A man with a long history of racial discrimination, who traffics in dark conspiracy theories drawn from the pages of supermarket tabloids and the far reaches of the Internet, should never run our government or command our military.”
    • Before her speech, Trump said during a rally in New Hampshire, “Hillary Clinton is going to try to accuse this campaign, and the millions of decent Americans who support this campaign, of being racists. It’s the oldest play in the Democratic playbook: say ‘You’re racist, you’re racist, you’re racist.’ It’s a tired, disgusting argument. It’s the last refuge of the discredited Democratic politician.”
    • The Clinton campaign also released a web video with video clips of Ku Klux Klan members and white supremacists praising Trump. “If Trump wins, they could be running the country,” the clip ends. Pastor Mark Burks, a Trump surrogate, said in a statement, "This type of rhetoric and repulsive advertising is revolting and completely beyond the pale. I call on Hillary Clinton to disavow this video and her campaign for this sickening act that has no place in our world.”
  • Donald Trump nearly failed to appear on the ballot in Minnesota when it was discovered that he was not listed on the secretary of state’s website. The state requires each party to certify both electors and alternate electors for a presidential candidate to get on the ballot; the state Republican Party had failed to do the latter. They have since appointed alternate electors to resolve the problem, but The Washington Post noted that this could lead to a legal challenge since state party rules may require electors to be elected rather than appointed.
  • Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said that the Senate will not vote on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal before President Barack Obama leaves office, but he added that the TPP could pass after the new administration is in place and some changes have been made to the deal. He said, "The current agreement, the Trans-Pacific [Partnership], which has some serious flaws, will not be acted upon this year. … It will still be around. It can be massaged, changed, worked on during the next administration.” The Obama administration is expected to push Congress to vote for TPP during the lame-duck session, despite a lack of support for the deal in both parties.

 

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

What’s On Tap Next Week

Tuesday, August 30

  • Arizona will hold congressional primaries.
    • The U.S. Senate seat currently held by John McCain (R) is up for election in 2016. McCain will face state Sen. Kelli Ward and Clair Van Steenwyk in the Republican primary. The primary between McCain and Ward has received national attention, but McCain is the favorite. McCain has a large fundraising advantage and a sizeable lead according to recent polling. The winner of the Republican primary will face Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D) in the general election. Arizona’s Senate race is rated as a race to watch in the general election.
    • Arizona has nine U.S. House districts. The Republican Party currently holds five seats to the Democratic Party’s four seats. Seven of the state’s nine incumbent representatives are seeking re-election in 2016. Of those seven, three will face a primary challenger.
    • Arizona’s has two battleground districts in 2016: Districts 1 and 2. District 1 is an open seat due to incumbent Ann Kirkpatrick’s Senate run. Tom O'Halleran and Miguel Olivas will compete in the Democratic primary, while Gary Kiehne, Ken Bennett, Paul Babeu, Wendy Rogers, and Shawn Redd will compete for the Republican nomination. In District 2, state Rep. Victoria Steele will face former state Rep. Matt Heinz in the Democratic primary. The winner will face incumbent Martha McSally (R) in the general election.
  • Florida will hold congressional primaries.
    • The U.S. Senate seat currently held by Marco Rubio (R) is up for election in 2016. Although he initially announced that he would not seek re-election, Rubio joined the race just days before the state’s filing deadline. Rubio will face Carlos Beruff, Ernie Rivera, and Dwight Young in the Republican primary. On the Democratic side, Rep. Patrick Murphy, Rep. Alan Grayson, Pam Keith, Roque De La Fuente, and Reginald Luster will compete for the nomination. Heading into the primary, Rubio and Murphy are the front-runners for each party. Florida’s Senate race is one of nine Senate battleground races in November.
    • Florida has 27 U.S. House districts. The Republican Party currently holds 17 seats to the 10 seats of the Democratic Party. Court-ordered redistricting left the majority of the state’s House districts with at least minor changes, and several districts saw radical shifts.
    • Twenty of the state’s 27 House incumbents are seeking re-election in some capacity in 2016. Due to redistricting, not all incumbents seeking re-election are doing so in their former districts. Nine of those 20 incumbents seeking re-election will face at least one primary challenger on Tuesday.
    • There are two House battleground districts in Florida in 2016: Districts 18 and 26. District 18 was left open due to incumbent Patrick Murphy’s (D) U.S. Senate run. Six Republicans and three Democrats will compete to replace Murphy in the primaries. In Florida’s 26th District, Joe Garcia and Annette Taddeo will compete in the Democratic primary. The winner will face incumbent Carlos Curbelo (R) in the general election.
    • There are three primary races to watch in Florida in 2016.
      • District 5 Democratic primary: Incumbent Corrine Brown will face L.J. Holloway and Al Lawson. Brown was indicted earlier in the year on "charges of mail and wire fraud, conspiracy, obstruction and filing of false tax returns." Additionally, due to redistricting, Brown currently represents only about 38 percent of the newly drawn 5th District. Florida’s 5th District is rated safely Democratic in the general election.
      • District 11 Republican primary: District 10 incumbent Daniel Webster and Justin Grabelle—the former chief of staff to the retiring incumbent of District 11, Rich Nugent—will compete for the nomination. Florida's 11th District is another example of a race in which redistricting plays a major role in making an incumbent vulnerable. Due to redistricting, Webster's old district became a safe Democratic district, prompting him to run in the open 11th. However, Webster currently represents only 18 percent of the newly created 11th District.
      • District 23 Democratic primary: Incumbent Debbie Wasserman Schultz will face Tim Canova. Heading into the primary, Wasserman Schultz has the endorsement of President Barack Obama and a lead in overall fundraising, while Canova has the backing of Sen. Bernie Sanders. The race received national attention in July 2016, when DNC emails were made public suggesting that the DNC, of which Wasserman Schultz was chair at the time, was favoring Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

 

Where was the president last week? Federal judiciary
President Barack Obama traveled to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Tuesday, to visit the flood-damaged region.  
  • 95 total federal judicial vacancies
  • 60 pending nominations
  • 16 future vacancies

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

State and Local

What's on tap?

Seventy-three of the 153 state ballot measures certified this year are citizen initiatives. That is more than double the 35 citizen initiatives certified in 2014; in fact, this year features more citizen initiatives on the ballot than in any year since 2006! To learn why, and to find more fun statistics, read our Ballot Measures Update section below.

 

Highlights

Local:

The status of California’s Los Banos Unified Board of Education member John Mueller was too close to call after the recall election on Tuesday, August 23. Unofficial election night results showed Mueller losing by a margin of six votes. Because some ballots were still pending, however, the race could not be determined.

The district’s school board had split into warring factions, and Mueller was a member of the minority faction. A total of 166 voters cast ballots to recall him and 160 voted to retain him. He won the Trustee Area 7 seat in 2010 and later won re-election four years later by defeating challenger Ruben Santos by 22 votes. Ray Martinez ran to replace Mueller in the recall election.

  • The recall effort began due to six separate reasons, according to supporters. These included poor communication with his constituents, low student test scores, nepotism, disruptive behavior at board meetings, approving the construction of a new junior high school, and opposing the use of local contractors to build it. The district used a “lease-leaseback” method to pay for the new school, a method that avoids the bidding process and puts the cost of the construction on a contractor chosen by the district. The district can then pay back that cost in increments.
  • In response to the recall, Mueller indicated that he was available to constituents “at all times” and that the recall’s proponents had met with him but disagreed with his positions. He denied condoning nepotism and said he “simply believes in hiring those best qualified for the job.” Mueller stated that the new school's construction was a unanimous board decision and that the building contractor was chosen due to relevant experience with the school's design. He also argued that student test scores had risen since he took office and that he was passionate—not disruptive—in board meetings.

State:

On Monday, August 22, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe (D) announced that he had restored voting rights to 13,000 convicted felons. McAuliffe also said that he would ultimately restore voting rights to a total of 200,000 convicted felons. In July 2016, the Virginia Supreme Court found that McAuliffe had overstepped his authority by issuing a blanket order in April 2016 that restored voting rights to some 200,000 convicted felons. The court did not, however, prohibit the governor from restoring voting rights on an individual basis. Some have applauded McAuliffe's efforts, arguing that the re-enfranchisement of felons is a necessary remedy against systemic racism and discrimination (many of the felons covered by the governor's executive order were black). Others, including Republican lawmakers, have argued that McAuliffe's efforts are a partisan attempt to boost the prospects of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who has enjoyed broad-based support from the black community.

 

State

The Week in Review

Ballot measures update:

  • So far in 2016, 153 statewide ballot measures across 35 states have been certified for the ballot, and most of those will be decided during the November election. Additionally, five initiative petitions are awaiting the results of signature verification and might still be placed on the ballot.
    • Seventy-three of the 153 measures certified this year are citizen initiatives. That is more than double the 35 citizen initiatives certified in 2014; in fact, this year features more citizen initiatives on the ballot than in any year since 2006. Low turnout in the 2014 elections has likely contributed to more citizen initiatives being proposed and certified, as fewer total votes cast in 2014 led to a reduced signature burden in 2016 in many states.
    • Oklahoma’s final deadline to submit initiative signatures is September 7, making the state’s initiative signature deadline the latest in the country. Arkansas features a supplementary signature-gathering phase that extends through the end of August.
    • By this time in 2014, a total of 155 measures—including legislative referrals—had been certified for the ballot.
    • Five new measures were certified for the ballot this week.
  • Seven statewide ballot measures have been decided so far in 2016. Six were approved.
  • The next ballot measure election is in Florida on August 30. State voters will be deciding Amendment 4, a measure designed to provide property tax exemptions for solar power equipment.
  • Ballotpedia has coverage of ballot measures going back to 1777.

Monday, August 22

This measure joins six other measures on the 2016 ballot in Colorado. They cover healthcare, the minimum wage, civil rights, assisted death, taxes, and direct democracy. Supporters of two other potential measures await decisions from the Colorado secretary of state’s office on whether enough signatures were submitted to qualify the measures to appear on the ballot. These measures are (1) a proposal to establish local control over the oil and gas industry, (2) a measure to establish setback regulations for oil and gas developments, making large portions of the state off-limits to drilling and fracking.

  • The Arizona Minimum Wage and Paid Time Off Initiative, Proposition 206, was certified for the November ballot. It would raise the minimum wage to $10 in 2017 and then incrementally to $12 by 2020. Proposition 206 would also guarantee 40 hours of annual paid sick time to employees of large businesses and 24 hours to those of small businesses.
    • The legal challenges, however, are still ongoing. After Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Joshua Rogers ruled on the invalid signatures, he also ruled that the Arizona Restaurant Association's lawsuit occurred too late in the measure certification process. The Association appealed to the Arizona Supreme Court in an attempt to overrule Rogers' findings and remove Proposition 206 from the ballot.

This measure joins two other measures on the November ballot in Arizona. One measure would use a portion of revenue from state trust lands toward managing those lands, and the other would legalize marijuana for individuals older than 21.

  • Supporters of California’s Proposition 56 alleged that the Sacramento firm Redwood Pacific Public Affairs engaged in cyberfraud with its purchase and use of the website YesOnProposition56.org. The Yes on 56 campaign claimed that the firm intentionally confused voters by using website language that suggested it was an access point for the Proposition 56 support campaign but redirecting visitors to a website for the opposition campaign. The Yes on 56 campaign filed a complaint with the California secretary of state and the California attorney general, as well as a cease and desist order against Redwood Pacific Public Affairs. Rick Claussen, a partner and spokesperson for the firm, apologized for the website domain error, saying: “I was not aware that it was taking place and it should never have happened. I apologize for it. This is not the way we do business.”
    • Campaigns in support and opposition of California ballot measures have amassed over $313 million in campaign contributions so far. These funds have been used for advertising, voter outreach, and legal battles over things like domain names and ballot measure arguments. Read more about campaign finance for 2016 ballot measures here, and read about campaign finance specific to California ballot measures here.
  • Oklahoma held its primary runoff election for the state House and state Senate. Seven elections were held in the Senate and six in the House. Although none of the runoffs involved incumbents, all but one were held in districts where the incumbent declined to run for re-election. Republicans hold the Senate with a 30-seat majority and the House with a 41-seat majority. Oklahoma is one of 23 Republican state government trifectas.
  • The California Supreme Court upheld the state’s teacher tenure law in a 4-3 vote. The law had been challenged by a group called Students Matter, which argued that the difficulty of firing bad teachers under the law disproportionately harms poor and minority students. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Rolf Treu had ruled in favor of Students Matter two years prior, but that decision was overturned by a three-judge panel of the Second District Court of Appeal in April. The state supreme court denied a petition to hear the case from Students Matter. In California, teachers are tenured after two years of experience, after which they can only be fired for “good cause.” The law also protects teacher seniority by firing the least experienced teachers first in the event of layoffs.
  • The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) filed a notice of intent to sue the two federal agencies responsible for regulating offshore drilling. The lawsuit accuses the federal agencies of violating the Endangered Species Act after the agencies ruled in May 2016 that fracking off the coast of California posed no significant environmental effects. The lawsuit came after a January 2016 legal settlement between the CBD and the U.S. Department of the Interior placed a moratorium against fracking off the California coast. As part of the settlement, two federal agencies—the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement—performed an environmental review of fracking's impacts and ruled that fracking would not have significant impacts on the environment. This May 2016 ruling also lifted the offshore fracking moratorium. The CBD stated that they hoped the August 2016 lawsuit would push the regulatory agencies to perform another environmental review of fracking's impacts on the land- and sea-dwelling species in California, as the CBD found the first environmental review by the federal agencies to be inadequate.

Tuesday, August 23

  • Julie Mix McPeak, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, characterized the state’s health insurance exchange as "very near collapse." The statement came after McPeak approved premium rate increases of 44 percent to 62 percent for the three insurers in the state to prevent them from exiting the exchange. BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, the only insurer selling plans statewide, also stated that it was “keeping all of our options open” regarding its 2017 participation after estimating that its three-year losses would amount to $500 million by the end of 2016. Insurers have been losing money on the state’s exchange due to enrollees that have been sicker and filing more medical claims than expected.
  • The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that Ohio election administrators did not have to reinstate "Golden Week," a one-week period immediately preceding the general election in which voters may both register and cast early ballots on the same day. The Sixth Circuit, which overturned a lower court's order, found that "proper deference to state legislative authority requires that Ohio's election process be allowed to proceed unhindered by the federal courts." Golden Week was eliminated by the Republican-controlled state legislature in 2014. Democrats challenged this action, arguing that it discriminated against black and Hispanic voters. Republicans, meanwhile, argued that it was a necessary measure to combat voter fraud and maintain election integrity. Including Golden Week, Ohio's early voting period lasted for 35 days; without Golden Week, the early voting period lasts 28 days.
  • Proponents of an effort to put a marijuana legalization initiative before Michigan voters in November suffered a loss in a court battle over the state’s signature petition rules. They requested an appeal in the Michigan Supreme Court. Michigan Court of Claims Justice Stephen Borrello ruled against MILegalize, also known as the Michigan Comprehensive Cannabis Law Reform Committee, which challenged the 180-day time frame given by state law for gathering signatures. Justice Borrello found the 180-day window to be constitutional. Many of the signatures collected by MILegalize for the Michigan Marijuana Legalization and Regulation Initiative were rendered invalid by the law, as they had not been gathered within the designated 180 days. The group plans on requesting that the Michigan Supreme Court bypass the court of appeals and take their case so that the initiative could still potentially qualify for the November ballot. Borrello serves on both the court of claims and the court of appeals.

Wednesday, August 24

  • The California State Legislature passed legislation extending the state’s goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as part of its statewide climate change policy. The bill would require reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2030—a greater reduction than the state’s previous goal of reducing emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. The 2016 legislation builds upon Assembly Bill 32, one of California’s strongest environmental laws, which established a statewide cap-and-trade program requiring companies to purchase permits for emitting carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Supporters of the legislation, including Democrats and environmental groups, argued that the bill would help California reduce its emissions further and push the state’s economy into using fewer carbon-emitting energy sources. Opponents of the legislation, including Republicans and energy industry groups, argued that the bill would drive out jobs and raise energy costs.
  • The Colorado Unaffiliated Elector Initiative (I-98) and the Colorado Open Presidential Primary Election Initiative (I-140) were certified for the November 2016 ballot. Initiative 98 would allow unaffiliated electors to vote in the primary election of a major political party without declaring an affiliation with that political party. It would also permit a political party, in some circumstances, to select candidates by committee or convention rather than through a primary election. Initiative 140 would restore presidential primary elections held before the end of March and make them open in Colorado. Currently, Colorado utilizes a closed primary system in which only registered party members may participate in each party's primary. However, unaffiliated voters may choose to affiliate with a party on Election Day in order to vote in that party's primary.

Thursday, August 25

  • Maine Governor Paul LePage (R) sent an expletive-laden voicemail to State Representative Drew Gattine (D). LePage called the representative after a local news report claimed Gattine had called the governor a racist. In the message, LePage said “I've spent my life helping black people and you little (expletive), socialist (expletive). You—I need you to—just friggin’. I want you to record this and make it public because I am after you. Thank you.” The governor later apologized for the call, but claimed his reaction was justified. He went on to say that “I wish it were 1825” and that if it were, he would challenge Gattine to a duel. LePage emphasized that his statements were metaphorical in nature and were not meant to be interpreted as a threat.

 

What’s On Tap Next Week

Saturday, August 27

Tuesday, August 30

  • Primary election: Arizona
    • State legislature: All 90 seats (30 in the Senate, 60 in the House) in the state legislature are up for election. Republicans currently hold the majority in both chambers.
      • Eight incumbent senators—five Republicans and three Democrats—have declined to run for re-election. Only three incumbents will face primary competition: Frank Schmuck (R) is challenging the vulnerable Jeff Dial (R) in District 18; incumbent Catherine Miranda (D) will face challenger Maritza Saenz (D) in District 27; and Lydia Hernandez (D) will challenge incumbent Martin Quezada (D) in District 29 to a rematch (the two faced off in 2012). There are five other primary challenges set to occur, all in open districts.
      • Seventeen incumbent representatives—seven Democrats and 10 Republicans—have declined to run for re-election. Sixteen incumbents will face primary challenges, though, because Arizona has two seats per district, some of these challenges effectively become competitions for seats left open by retiring incumbents. There will also be Republican primaries in two open districts: District 14 and District 28. District 14 was previously represented by Republicans David Gowen and David Stevens, while District 28 was represented by Democrat Eric Meyer and Republican Kate McGee.

For more information on competitiveness in state legislatures, click here.

    • State executives: Three seats are up for election on the Arizona Corporation Commission, the state's regulatory body for non-municipal utilities. Elections for the commission are held at large, and the top three candidates in each party's primary advance to the general election, where the top three vote-getters win the seats. All five seats on the commission are held by Republicans—and only two Democrats filed to run for the office, ensuring Republican majority control of the commission after the November election. Five candidates will compete for the three Republican slots in the general election. Arizona is one of 23 Republican trifectas.

The regulation of the state's solar industry is a major issue in the election and has prompted acrimony between several of the commissioners. Commissioners Andy Tobin (R), who was appointed by Gov. Doug Ducey (R) in January 2016, and Robert Burns (R) are running for re-election in 2016; the third seat is open. Tobin has merged campaigns with Republican challengers state Rep. Rick Gray and former Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Boyd Dunn in an attempt to block Burns’ re-election efforts. The three candidates are running as a team and airing joint advertisements.

At stake are major rate decisions on the commission's 2017 docket that could have an impact on solar regulatory cases across the nation. Burns has repeatedly claimed that the state’s largest utility provider funded candidates unfriendly to solar interests in the 2014 elections, a claim the FBI is investigating. Burns himself is supported by national solar giant SolarCity, which has begun airing advertisements and running phone campaigns on his behalf.

  • Primary election: Florida
    • State legislature: All 160 seats (40 in the Senate, 120 in the House) in Florida’s Legislature are up for election in 2016. Republicans currently hold the majority in both chambers.
      • In the state Senate, 17 incumbents—nine Democrats and eight Republicans?—are not seeking re-election. Three incumbents are facing primary challenges: incumbent Lizbeth Benacquisto (R-27) will face challenger Jason Maughan (R); incumbent Jeff Clemens (D-31) will face two challengers, Emmanuel Morel and Irving Slosberg; and incumbent Dwight Bullard (D-40) faces three challengers. Additionally, there are 15 primary races in which no incumbent is running.
      • In the House, 43 incumbents—26 Republicans and 17 Democrats—have chosen not to seek re-election. There will be 58 primary contests, with 11 of those including incumbents.
        • For more information on competitiveness in state legislatures, click here.
      • Ballot measure: Florida voters will also decide whether to approve Amendment 4, a legislatively referred constitutional amendment that would provide tax exemptions for solar and other renewable energy devices that would fall under the tangible property tax bracket. Currently, Florida offers tax exemptions for the installation of renewable energy devices on residential properties. Across the nation, 35 states provide property tax exemptions for renewable energy devices.

A different solar-related measure, Amendment 1, will be on the ballot in November. Amendment 1 was sponsored largely by utility companies, which are pushing the measure as a pro-solar amendment that also protects consumers. Opponents say it could prevent incentives for solar power, such as net metering, and was designed by utility companies to protect their monopoly by inhibiting pro-solar programs and policies.

Wednesday, August 31

 

State government in session

One state—California—is in regular session; Ohio is in a skeleton (non-voting) session. Massachusetts is in an informal session. California and Alabama are in special session.

  • Skeleton session: In a typical skeleton session, a clerk, a presiding officer, and another legislative member are the only people present. The presiding officer will convene the session day and adjourn it minutes later. Lawmakers who live more than 50 miles from the statehouse can deduct lodging and meal expenses on their federal income tax forms for each day the legislature is in skeleton or regular session.
  • Informal session: In an informal session, no attendance is taken and only a few members attend the session. These sessions address day-to-day business and non-controversial bills. The bills do not require debate or a roll-call vote, and they must be passed unanimously. If one member objects, the measure is blocked.
  • CA
    • The state’s regular session is running concurrent with a special session on transportation. During the regular session, some session days are reserved to discuss transportation legislation. No transportation bills have been passed since the special session was called last year.

Three states are in recess:

  • MI until 9/6
  • NJ until 9/8
  • PA until 9/19

The following states have adjourned their regular sessions:

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

Four states have no regular sessions in 2016:

  • MT, ND, NV, TX

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

State government special elections

As of this week, 45 seats have been filled through legislative special elections in 2016. Nine involved party changes: four from Republican to Democratic (Oklahoma, SD 34; Massachusetts, HD Twelfth Essex; Kentucky, HD 62; and New Hampshire, HD Rockingham 21), three from Democratic to Republican (Texas, HD 118; Minnesota, HD 50B; and New York, SD 9), one from Democratic to independent (Texas, HD 120), and one from Republican to independent (Louisiana, HD 85). Another 11 (not including runoff elections) have been scheduled in seven 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:

Local

The Week in Review

2016 elections

  • In 2016, Ballotpedia is covering municipal elections across 46 of America's 100 largest cities by population, local judicial elections across all 39 states holding elections, school board elections across 643 of America's 1,000 largest school districts by student enrollment, all local ballot measures in California, and notable measures across the United States.
    • So far this year, Ballotpedia has covered 23 city elections, 26 states with local judicial elections, 221 school board elections, and 162 local ballot measure elections in California.
  • Most elections, including local elections, are held during spring and fall months. Summer and winter months contain relatively few elections and filing deadlines.

Monday, August 22

  • A group of cities officially objected to an agreement by area governors to allow the city of Waukesha, Wisconsin, access to water from Lake Michigan. The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, which has more than 100 members from both sides of the U.S.-Canada border, asked both President Obama (D) and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to intervene. The water use was unanimously approved by the Conference of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers in June. The Cities Initiative also protested prior to the June vote. The request for a hearing before the Conference is the first attempted legal challenge to the decision.
  • FILING DEADLINE: Deadline passed to file for municipal office in two Texas cities.
    • Corpus Christi: The mayor's office and all eight seats on the city council are up for general election on November 8, 2016. Mayor Nelda Martinez (D), who was first elected in 2012 and then re-elected in 2014, announced that her third two-year term would be her last if she is re-elected again.
    • Laredo: Four seats on the city council are up for general election on November 8, 2016. Districts 4, 5, 7, and 8 are up for election. In February 2016, the city held a special election for the District 2 seat after incumbent Esteban Rangel resigned in order to run for the Webb County Commission. This resulted in a special runoff election between Vidal Rodriguez and Jose Perez III in April; Rodriguez won.
  • FILING DEADLINE: Deadline passed to file in the general election for 99 school board seats across 29 of Texas’ largest school districts by enrollment. The election will be held on November 8, 2016. These districts served 754,042 students during the 2013-2014 school year, which was 14.9 percent of all Texas public school students.

Tuesday, August 23

  • Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell (D) approved a bill to regulate ride-hailing and ride-sharing services in the city, including Uber and Lyft. Though he cited logistical concerns with the bill’s targeted implementation date of January 15, 2017, Caldwell said he was in favor of the bill. The new law will require both standard taxis and ridesharing operators to pay to obtain a license to operate in the city. Drivers must also pass a background check every two years. Honolulu is the 54th-largest city by population in the United States and the largest in Hawaii.
  • In Alabama, two of five school board seats on the Huntsville City Board of Education were up for general election. Local business owners backed District 1 incumbent Laurie McCaulley and District 5 challenger Carlos Mathews, while former U.S. Rep. Parker Griffith backed board critics Michelle Watkins (District 1) and Pamela Hill (District 5). Both Watkins and Hill won election to the board seats. The school district has been working to lift a federal desegregation order from 1970 through a Department of Justice-backed plan initiated during the 2015-2016 school year. The district was the sixth-largest in Alabama and served 23,656 students during the 2013-2014 school year. Another 11 Alabama school districts will put 24 seats on the ballot in the general election on November 8, 2016.
  • In Ohio, Upper Arlington City Council members John C. Adams, David DeCapua, Kip Greenhill, and Debbie Johnson were retained in a recall election. The recall effort began due to allegations of fiscal mismanagement, a $14 million redevelopment of a local park, and a tax initiative from the November 2014 ballot. As of August 3, 2016, a political action committee (PAC) supporting the recall had raised $10,360 and a PAC opposing the recall had raised $31,483. Supporters of the recall collected more than 3,000 signatures for each targeted council member—more than the 2,273 required to move the effort forward.
  • FILING DEADLINE: Deadline passed to file in retention elections for local judgeships in Missouri. The election will be held on November 8, 2016. In these elections, judges do not compete against another candidate, but voters are given a “yes” or “no” choice on whether to keep the judge in office for another term. The judge must receive a majority of “yes” votes to remain in office.

Wednesday, August 24

  • Seattle Mayor Ed Murray (D) hired the city’s first cabinet-level position to address homelessness. George Scarola was selected by Murray to tackle homelessness across multiple city departments. Murray proclaimed a homelessness state of emergency in November 2015. In a press release announcing Scarola’s hire, the mayor said, “Homelessness is a national epidemic, leaving cities like Seattle stepping in to fill the large gaps left behind by state and federal agencies.” Seattle is the 21st-largest city by population in the United States and the largest in Washington.
  • St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman (D) sent a letter to the city council about addressing a $3 million budget shortfall. The gap comes after Gov. Mark Dayton (D) announced that there wouldn’t be a special session of the legislature to address unsigned legislation. Among that legislation was an omnibus tax bill that would have granted the additional funding to St. Paul if passed. Coleman asked the city council to consider raising the maximum tax levy by seven percent from its 2016 figure. The deadline to do so is September 21. St. Paul is the 66th-largest city by population in the United States and the second-largest in Minnesota.

Friday, August 26

  • FILING DEADLINE: Deadline passed to file in the general election for 79 school board seats across 24 of Indiana’s largest school districts by enrollment. The election will be held on November 8, 2016. These districts served 358,792 students during the 2013-2014 school year, which was 34.5 percent of all Indiana public school students.

 

What’s On Tap Next Week

Monday, August 29

  • FILING DEADLINE: Deadline to file in the general election for eight school board seats across two of Wyoming’s largest school districts by enrollment. The election will be held on November 8, 2016. These districts served 26,751 students during the 2013-2014 school year, which was 29.2 percent of all Wyoming public school students.

Tuesday, August 30

  • In Arizona, four of the state’s largest cities will hold primary elections for municipal offices. Any candidates who receive more than 50 percent of the vote will be automatically elected. Any remaining seats will be decided in the general election on November 8, 2016.
    • Chandler: Three at-large city council seats are up for primary election. Eight candidates, including incumbent Nora Ellen, are running for the three seats. Two other incumbents are retiring and not seeking re-election. Chandler is the 79th-largest city by population in the United States and the fourth-largest in Arizona.
    • Gilbert: The mayor’s office and two at-large city council seats are up for primary election. Councilwoman Jenn Daniels is running unopposed for mayor rather than seeking re-election to her seat. Seven candidates, including incumbent Jared Taylor, are running for the two seats. Gilbert is the 92nd-largest city by population in the United States and the sixth-largest in Arizona.
    • Glendale: The mayor’s office and three city council seats are up for primary election. City council members in Glendale serve individual districts rather than at-large. Mayor Jerry Weiers (R) faces a challenger, as does Yucca District representative Samuel Chavira. The other two city council members are running unopposed. Glendale is the 87th-largest city by population in the United States and the fifth-largest in Arizona.
    • Mesa: The mayor’s office and three city council seats are up for primary election. City council members in Glendale serve individual districts rather than serving at large. Mayor John Giles (R) is unopposed in his re-election bid. The other three races feature no incumbents since all three were term-limited and ineligible to run again. The District 1 and 2 races have three candidates, while the District 3 race has two. Mesa is the 38th-largest city by population in the United States and the third-largest in Arizona.
  • In Florida, 60 local judgeships are up for primary election. Any candidates who win a majority of votes in this election will be automatically elected to the position. In races where no candidate receives a majority, the top two vote recipients will advance to the general election on November 8, 2016. More than three-quarters of Florida’s 252 seats up for election will not be voted on in either a primary or general election this year, as only one candidate filed to run in each of those races.
  • In Florida, 94 school board seats across 38 of the state’s largest school districts by enrollment are up for primary election. These elections are referred to as primary elections in Florida but are functionally general elections; if no candidate wins a majority of votes cast at the primary election, a general election is held on November 8, 2016, effectively serving as a runoff. These districts served 2,590,841 students during the 2013-2014 school year, which was 96.2 percent of all Florida public school students.
  • In Idaho, Iona Mayor Brad Andersen will face a recall election. The recall effort began due to the city’s efforts to meter water usage rather than charge a flat fee to all residents. Supporters of the recall collected 228 verified signatures to bring the recall to a vote. Supporters will need at least 267 votes and a majority of votes to remove Andersen from office because he received that vote total during the 2013 election.
  • In Arizona, Superior Mayor Jayme Valenzuela will face a recall election. The recall effort began due to allegations that Valenzuela used public funds for personal use. Valenzuela was charged with felony theft by the Arizona Attorney General's Office in relation to this incident. Town Councilwoman Mila Besich Lira is seeking to replace Valenzuela in the election. Supporters of the recall collected 102 verified signatures to bring the recall to a vote.

Wednesday, August 31

  • FILING DEADLINE: Deadline to file in the retention election for Iowa local judges. The election will be held on November 8, 2016. In a retention election, voters are asked to decide whether a judge should remain in office. The judge is retained for a new term if a majority of voters answers with a "yes" vote. If the majority responds with a "no" vote, the judge is removed from the bench at the end of the term.

 

Back to top for Federal and fact checks updates

Fact Check

Fact Check by Ballotpedia

Federal fact checks

State and local fact checks

 

Read the latest fact checks.


Back to top for Federal, State and Local updates

About

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

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



Back to top

Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Tap:_The_Clinton_Foundation&oldid=8441467"