Weekly Brew: February 11, 2022
Delaware and New Jersey governors lift statewide school mask requirements
On Feb. 7, governors or state agencies in four states announced end dates for their states' school mask requirements. Connecticut's will expire on Feb. 28, New Jersey's on March 7, and Delaware's and Oregon's on March 31.
Race spotlight: Texas' 15th Congressional District Republican primary
Texas will kick off the 2022 primary season on March 1. The 15th district is open for the first time since 2016. Nine candidates are running in the Republican primary and if no candidate receives a majority of the vote in the primary election, the top two vote-getters will compete in a runoff election on May 24.
Redistricting update: Alabama, New York, Ohio, and Tennessee
Here’s a roundup of the latest redistricting news out of Alabama, New York, Ohio, and Tennessee:
- On Feb. 7, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Alabama's new congressional district boundaries to be used for the 2022 elections.
- On Feb. 2, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed New York’s new congressional and legislative redistricting maps into law.
- On Feb. 7, the Ohio Supreme Court voted 4-3 to strike down the Ohio Redistricting Commission's revised state legislative maps. The court ruled the maps violated the Ohio Constitution and ordered the commission to submit a new set of maps by Feb. 17.
- Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) signed new congressional and legislative districts into law on Feb. 6. Both chambers of the legislature approved the state’s new district boundaries along party line votes in January.
A look at next week’s school board recall in San Francisco
Recall elections against three of the seven members of the San Francisco Unified School District Board of Education are scheduled for Feb. 15. Recall supporters said they are frustrated that schools in the district remained closed for nearly a year in response to the coronavirus pandemic. According to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Jill Tucker, opponents of the recall “question why the city is spending more than $3 million on a recall election when the three board members’ terms are up in January 2023.”
