The Tap: Tuesday, May 17, 2016
The Tap covered election news, public policy, and other noteworthy events from February 2016 to February 2022.
Review of the day
The excerpts below were compiled from issue #17 of The Tap, which was published on May 21, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.
Federal
- Hillary Clinton narrowly defeated Bernie Sanders in the Kentucky Democratic primary election on Tuesday. With 100 percent of precincts reporting, she led by half a percentage point (or about 1,900 votes). Clinton carried Jefferson County, home to Louisville, 57 to 40 percent and Fayette County, home to Lexington, 53 to 45 percent. Sanders, meanwhile, dominated in the more rural eastern and western parts of the state. More than 5 percent of the Democratic electorate in Kentucky cast uncommitted ballots. Clinton’s narrow win on Tuesday marked a sharp departure from her performance in the state eight years ago, when she bested Barack Obama there, 65 to 30 percent. Republicans held a caucus in Kentucky on March 5. Donald Trump won with 36 percent of the vote.
- Oregon held Democratic and Republican primary elections for president on May 17. With John Kasich and Ted Cruz out of the race, Donald Trump took home more than 65 percent of the vote. On the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders beat Hillary Clinton by 12 points and carried all but two counties in the state, including Oregon's most populous county, Multnomah, where the city of Portland is located. Sanders has proven popular with Democrats in the western half of the country throughout the Democratic nominating process. He won Washington, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, and Colorado, while Clinton, so far, has only won Nevada and Arizona. California, New Mexico, and Montana will hold Democratic primaries on June 7, 2016.
- Tuesday’s presidential primary contests brought both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump closer to securing the nominations of their respective parties. Clinton has a total of 2,295 delegates (1,774 pledged and 521 superdelegates). She needs only 88 more pledged delegates to clinch the nomination. Caucuses in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico on June 4-5 could bring her very close to this number, though Clinton likely won’t officially nail down the 2,383 number until the June 7 primaries. Trump is in a similar position. With 1,175 delegates, he needs just 62 more. He could see that number drop to the mid-to-low 20s after the Washington state primary on May 24 (see below) but, like Clinton, he will have to wait until the June 7 primaries to seal the deal.
- According to a Federal Election Commission (FEC) report filed by Donald Trump, his income for 2015 exceeded $557 million. In a statement, Trump said, "The newly filed PFD shows a tremendous cash flow, and a revenue increase of approximately $190 million dollars (which does not include dividends, interest, capital gains, rents and royalties).”
- See also: Donald Trump's tax returns and net worth
- Hillary Clinton’s personal financial disclosure form revealed that she “received more than $5 million in royalties from a 2014 memoir and raked in about $1.5 million from speeches she delivered a few months before she entered the presidential race,” according to the Los Angeles Times. She received $225,500 to speak at Watermark's Silicon Valley Conference for Women in February 2015 and $315,000 from eBay in March 2015. The report also showed that Bill Clinton has received about $2.4 million in paid speeches since April 2015. It is unclear how the Clinton’s decide which speaking fees go into their personal account and which are directed to the Clinton Foundation.
- In an interview that focused less on policy and more on Donald Trump’s personal life and his feud with Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, Trump and Kelly patched up their relationship after months of Trump complaining about a question that Kelly asked him during the first Republican debate. During the interview, Trump said, “I like our relationship right now.” He added, “I think that first debate meant something, because I felt very, very comfortable with the subject and I felt very comfortable with the people I was competing against.” He also told Kelly, “I will consider it to be a total and complete waste of time, energy and money [if I don’t win the election].”
- Idaho, Kentucky, and Oregon held congressional primaries.
- As expected, primary night was uneventful. Nearly all incumbents are seeking re-election in 2016, and all incumbents who faced primary challengers easily won their contests.
- In Kentucky’s 1st District, former Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture James Comer Jr. won the Republican nomination in the only open-seat primary of the night. Comer will face Democrat Sam Gaskins in the general election. The district is rated safely Republican. Comer was narrowly defeated in the 2015 Republican gubernatorial primary by Matt Bevin, who went on to win the general election.
- Donald Trump’s presidential campaign hired pollster Tony Fabrizio, who had previously worked as a strategist and pollster for Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) and Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R). Previously in the 2016 cycle, Fabrizio polled for Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul’s presidential campaign. The hire signals a change in Trump’s attitude toward polling. Last August, he told NBC, “I don't have pollsters. I don't want to waste money on pollsters. I don't want to be unreal. I want to be me. I have to be me. You know, we have enough of that in Washington with pollsters telling everybody what to say and everybody being controlled by the special interests, and the lobbyists, et cetera, and the donors.”
Bills & Amendments
- Key vote: The Senate passed S 2040 - the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act by voice vote. The legislation proposes allowing victims of terror attacks that occur in the United States to sue countries that support terrorism. Family members would also be allowed to bring lawsuits against state sponsors of terror. The legislation would specifically allow the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks to sue Saudi Arabia for sponsoring terrorism. President Barack Obama has threatened to veto the legislation.
- Key vote: The House rejected HR 897 - the Zika Vector Control Act by a vote of 262-159. The legislation, previously known as the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2015, required a two-thirds majority for passage. The bill proposes amending the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Clean Water Act to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from requiring a permit to spray pesticides into water. Republicans argued that the bill will protect people from being infected by the Zika virus. However, Democrats argued that the bill will do nothing to prevent the spread of Zika, and they said that the bill is another attempt by the GOP to rein in the EPA, according to The Hill.
State
- Federal District Court Judge Charles Lovell struck down several provisions of Montana's campaign finance law, including individual and committee contribution limits to candidates for state office. Lovell wrote the following in his ruling: "Defendants have not proven that the campaign contribution limits ... further the important state interest of combating quid pro quo corruption or its appearance." In the aftermath of Lovell's ruling, there was some uncertainty as to whether any contribution limits could be enforced in Montana. Rick Hasen, an election law scholar at the University of California, Irvine, said, "Right now there are no individual contribution limits in Montana, and the judge invites the state to enact new limits the next time the legislature is in session." However, Montana Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl announced that contribution limits would revert to pre-1995 levels (the specific limits voided by Lovell's decision were enacted in 1995).
- Arizona ballot measures
- Arizona voters approved the Public Retirement Benefits Amendment, Proposition 124. The measure amended Article 29, section 1 of the Arizona Constitution to reform the pension system for government and state agency employees.
- Voters also approved the Arizona Education Finance Amendment, Proposition 123. The measure was designed to increase education funding by $3.5 billion over the course of 10 years by allocating money from the general fund and increasing annual distributions of the state land trust permanent funds to education.
- Across the country, these Arizona measures were the fourth and fifth statewide measures to be decided in 2016.
- Arizona voters will also decide a constitutional amendment concerning the allocation of state trust land revenue in November, as well as any citizen initiatives that qualify for the ballot. Several petitions for initiatives designed to legalize marijuana were filed and are circulating in Arizona.
- Williams Partners—the company behind the Constitution pipeline, a 124-mile long pipeline that would transport natural gas from Pennsylvania to New York—filed a lawsuit after New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) rejected a permit application for the pipeline. After delaying a decision about the pipeline for almost two years, the Cuomo administration rejected the company's water quality permits because the application did not "provide sufficient information to demonstrate compliance with New York State water quality standards." The company is suing the state's Department of Environmental Conservation, arguing that the state is usurping the federal government's authority by rejecting the pipeline.
- Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Michael Bzdyra and Deputy Secretary of State James Spallone signed an agreement under which eligible citizens will be automatically registered to vote when they visit the DMV for a driver's license or state-issued identification card. DMV customers will be registered to vote unless they specifically choose to opt out. This replaces the previous system, in which customers were required to opt in to register. According to Bzdyra and Secretary of State Denise Merrill, this agreement accomplishes what a failed bill introduced into the legislature earlier in 2016 proposed. Connecticut is one of five states that have implemented automatic voter registration systems. It is the first state to implement such a system via an agreement rather than legislative action. According to Merrill, this agreement is expected to add 400,000 people to the voter rolls.
ELECTION NIGHT REVIEW
A Republican oncologist will face incumbent Kate Brown (D) for Oregon governor; Idaho Supreme Court candidates advance to November runoff.
- Primary election: Kentucky
- State judiciary: One seat on the Kentucky Supreme Court is up for election in 2016. The only two candidates, Kentucky Court of Appeals Chief Judge Glenn Acree and Kentucky Court of Appeals Judge Laurance VanMeter, automatically advanced through the May 17 primary and will face each other in the November 8 general election. Kentucky state court elections are nonpartisan.
- State legislature: There are 19 state Senate seats and 100 state House seats up for election. Eighteen incumbents, eight Democrats, and 10 Republicans faced primary competition. Ballotpedia has identified the House as one of 20 partisan battleground chambers in 2016. The Republican State Leadership Committee has noted the chamber as being one of six chambers most likely to flip to a GOP majority. Kentucky is one of 20 states that are under divided government. Democratic incumbent Tom Riner and Republican incumbent Ron Crimm were defeated in the primary election.
- Primary election: Oregon
- State judiciary: Five Oregon state court seats were up for election on May 17. Three more will be elected in November because the incumbents are interim appointments. In all eight seats, the incumbents are unopposed. Two seats on the state supreme court and three on the state court of appeals were won by incumbent Justices Rives Kistler and Jack Landau and incumbent Judges Rebecca Duncan, Meagan Flynn, and Darleen Ortega. Oregon’s state court elections are nonpartisan.
- State executives: Four offices are up for election, all of which are held by Democrats. Both the Democratic and Republican candidates for attorney general and treasurer were unopposed in their parties' primaries. Incumbent Governor Kate Brown (D) won the Democratic primary for governor by a decisive 75 percent margin, while physician Bud Pierce edged out three other competitors for the Republican nomination to challenge Brown in November. Commissioner of Labor and Industries Brad Avakian defeated state Sen. Richard Devlin and state Rep. Val Hoyle in what was a highly competitive Democratic primary for secretary of state. Former state Rep. Dennis Richardson secured the Republican nomination and will face Avakian in the general election. Oregon is one of seven Democratic trifectas; Democrats are likely to retain control of all four seats after the general election in November, though the secretary of state race may be particularly close.
- State legislature: There are 15 state Senate seats and 60 state House seats up for election. Just six incumbents, two Democrats and four Republicans, faced primary competition. All six of those incumbents advanced past the primary. 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.
- Primary election: Idaho
- State judiciary: Four candidates vied for the Idaho Supreme Court seat of retiring Chief Justice Jim Jones. Because no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two—attorney Robyn Brody and state Senator Curt McKenzie—will advance to a runoff election to be held during the November 8 general election. Idaho State Supreme Court elections are nonpartisan. The last time an Idaho supreme court seat was decided by a runoff rather than during the state primary was 1998.
- State legislature: There are 35 state Senate seats and 70 state House seats up for election. Thirty-one incumbents—one Democrat and 30 Republicans—faced primary competition. Seven of those incumbents, all Republicans, were defeated. Both chambers are controlled by Republicans, and Idaho is one of 23 states with a GOP state government trifecta.
Special elections
- South Carolina state legislative special elections:
- In Senate District 29, Michael Gambrell (R) was unopposed in the special election. Gambrell defeated Rockey Burgess in the runoff election on April 5 to advance to the special election. The two candidates will face off again in the June 14 Republican primary for a full term. The seat was previously held by William O'Dell (R), who died on January 7, 2016.
Local
- Thirteen of the 26 seats on the Louisville Metro Council in Kentucky were up for primary election. Only six of the 13 seats were on the partisan primary ballot, since those races featured more than one candidate from the same political party competing for the same council seat. District 2, District 4, District 6, and District 8 all held Democratic primary elections, while District 14 and District 16 both held Republican primary elections. The winners of the Democratic primaries automatically won 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, Shane Ranschaert and Scott W. Reed, will each face a Democratic opponent in November. Seven incumbents—four Democrats and three Republicans—filed for re-election and will run unopposed in the general election. 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 were up for general election. This was 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 occurred at the same time as the public vote on each district’s annual budget.
- In 2016, Ballotpedia is covering 642 school board elections across America's 1,000 largest school districts by student enrollment.
- Kentucky held primary elections for three local judgeships across the state. Two family court elections, one in the 30th Circuit and the other in the 41st Circuit, each featured three competing candidates. A district court election in the 43rd Circuit had six candidates in the primary election. The 30th Circuit family court election was 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.
- In 2016, Ballotpedia is covering local judicial elections in 39 states across the United States.
- Oregon held primary elections for 57 circuit court judgeships across the state. In 71 percent of the races, the sitting judge ran unopposed for re-election. Only five seats did not feature an incumbent in the race. Although it is called a primary, this was functionally a general election. A candidate who received more than 50 percent of the votes cast in his or her race won the position outright. Any election without a primary winner advanced to a runoff election, called the general election, on November 8, 2016. Runoffs were 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 rejected a local ballot measure 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 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 lost their recall election. A fourth trustee, Julie Madsen, was also targeted for recall but immediately resigned. Although Joki had 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, 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. Idaho Gov. Butch Otter (R) also supported the recall effort. 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 Zone 2 Trustee Mike Vuittonet, who advocated for the recall of the other board members, but they 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 2015, Ballotpedia covered 180 recall efforts organized against 275 officials. Of the 61 officials whose recalls made it to the ballot, 40 were ousted and 21 were retained.
- In Massachusetts, Barre Town Selectman Richard Jankauskas lost his recall election with more than 67 percent of voters supporting the recall. 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 served 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.”
Preview of the day
The excerpts below were compiled from issue #16 of The Tap, which was published on May 14, 2016. READ THE FULL VERSION HERE.
Federal
- Presidential primary elections will take place in Kentucky and Oregon on May 17. In Kentucky, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders will compete for 55 pledged delegates. Clinton won the state in 2008 over Barack Obama, 65 to 30 percent. Polling in the Bluegrass State has been sparse. A PPP poll from June 2015 had Clinton up by 44 points. Republicans held a caucus in Kentucky on March 16. Donald Trump won with 36 percent of the vote. Oregon will feature Democratic and Republican contests. On the Democratic side, 61 pledged delegates are at stake. For the Republicans, 28 pledged delegates are up for grabs.
- 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.
- 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.
State
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: Kentucky
- State Legislature: There are 19 state Senate seats and 100 state House seats up for election. Eighteen incumbents—eight Democrats and 10 Republicans—are facing primary competition. Ballotpedia has identified the House as one of 20 partisan battleground chambers in 2016. The Republican State Leadership Committee has noted the chamber as being one of six chambers most likely to flip to a GOP majority. Kentucky is one of 20 states that are under divided government.
- State judiciary: One Kentucky Supreme Court seat is up for election. The seat is held by retiring Justice Mary Noble heading into the election. Kentucky conducts nonpartisan judicial elections. Because there are only two candidates—Judge Glenn Acree and Judge Laurance VanMeter, both of the Kentucky Court of Appeals—they will both advance through this primary to face each other in the general election of November 8.
- 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.
- Special election: Arizona
- Voters will decide on two ballot measures: Prop. 123 and Prop. 124. If approved, the Arizona Education Finance Amendment (Prop. 123) would increase education funding by $3.5 billion over the course of 10 years by allocating money from the general fund and increasing annual distributions of the state land trust permanent funds to education. The Arizona Public Retirement Benefits Amendment (Prop. 124) would reform the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (PSPRS) by replacing the current benefit system with a new, compounding cost-of-living adjustment. Both measures are legislatively referred amendments, requiring a simple majority of voters for passage.
Special elections
Local
- 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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