Weekly Brew: September 24, 2021

A weekly shot of this week's most viewed stories from Ballotpedia's Daily Brew

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2021 statewide ballot measures written at second-year graduate school reading level The ballot language for the 39 ballot measures appearing on nine statewide ballots in 2021 is written at an average reading grade level of 18, which is equivalent to the second year of graduate school. That’s up three grade levels from 15 in 2019. KEEP READING

U.S. Supreme Court releases December argument calendar The Supreme Court scheduled nine cases for argument between Nov. 29 and Dec. 8. Justices use these arguments to speak directly to attorneys and ask them questions about their cases. KEEP READING

U.S. Senate confirms two federal judicial nominees The U.S. Senate confirmed two of President Joe Biden’s (D) federal judicial nominees on Sept. 14: David Estudillo to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington and Angel Kelley to the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. To date, 11 of Biden’s appointees have been confirmed. KEEP READING

Previewing this year’s battleground elections Ballotpedia designates elections that we expect will have a meaningful effect on the balance of political power as battlegrounds. This year, we’ve designated 25 elections as battlegrounds. Three of those elections are for a trifecta office: Virginia Governor, Virginia House of Delegates, and New Jersey Governor. KEEP READING

Eight state legislative incumbents lost in primaries in 2021 Eight state legislative incumbents—five Democrats and three Republicans—lost in primaries in 2021, representing 3.9% of all incumbents who filed for re-election and 20% of all incumbents who faced contested primaries. When looking at legislative chambers, these defeats marked decade highs. KEEP READING

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