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Welcome to the Wednesday, March 11, Brew. Here’s what's in store for you as you start your day:
- Virginians will vote on a constitutional amendment that determines the state’s redistricting procedures
- Early results in six states that held presidential primary events
- Filing deadline roundup
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Virginians will vote on a constitutional amendment that determines the state’s redistricting procedures
In November, Virginians will decide who and how the state will redraw its congressional and legislative districts. A proposed constitutional amendment would transfer the power to draw legislative districts from the General Assembly to a 16-member redistricting commission composed of eight state legislators and eight citizens. Here are three basic questions that I asked our team to better understand the situation.
How would the commission work if approved by voters?
- Maps drawn by the new redistricting commission would require affirmative votes by 12 of 16 commissioners, including six of eight legislators and six of eight citizens.
- After the commission’s approval, the Virginia General Assembly would vote to pass or reject the maps, but it would be prohibited from amending the plans.
How did this get to the ballot?
Constitutional amendments require approval by both legislative chambers during two consecutive sessions of the General Assembly. This means that an odd-year legislative election must happen between the sessions. Once the General Assembly approves a measure, it's placed on the general election ballot. A simple majority of voters is necessary to adopt the amendment.
In early 2019, the Republican-controlled General Assembly approved the redistricting amendment with the support of Senate Democrats and 35 of 39 House Democrats. As a result of the November 2019 elections, Democrats gained a trifecta in Virginia. During the 2020 legislative session, Democrats controlled both General Assembly chambers. The constitutional amendment from 2019 was approved 38-2 in the Senate. In the House, most (46 of 55) Democrats opposed the proposal. Nine Democrats joined with the chamber’s 45 Republicans to pass it.
In the state House, 14 of 15 democratic members of the Legislative Black Caucus opposed the amendment, with members stating that it would negatively impact African American representation. House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn (D-41), who voted for the constitutional amendment in 2019 but against it in 2020, said, "I could not ignore the fact that the amendment, as written, fails to prevent politicization of map-drawing and does not sufficiently ensure inclusion of communities of color in the redistricting process.
How does the Virginia proposal compare to other states?
Should Virginia voters decide to enact this constitutional amendment, the resulting redistricting commission would combine elements of independent and politician redistricting commissions, creating a hybrid redistricting commission. The members of an independent redistricting commission are neither elected officials nor political appointees. The members of a politician redistricting commission, by contrast, are elected officials or political appointees. However, in the majority of states, legislatures are responsible for redistricting.
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Early results in six states with presidential primary events
Six states and the Democrats Abroad held events for the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations. Here’s what we know as of midnight ET.
- Joe Biden was the projected winner in Michigan, Mississippi, and Missouri. With 41% of precincts reporting in Idaho, Biden is leading by 7%. Across all six primaries, he is expected to win at least 146 pledged delegates.
- With 18% of precincts reporting in North Dakota, Bernie Sanders is leading Biden by 12%. Sanders is expected to win at least 84 delegates.
- Washington is too close to call with 67% of precincts reporting. Sanders and Biden are separated by less than a percentage point.
- The Democrats Abroad, which concluded its global primary on Tuesday, are expected to release their results on March 23.
- President Donald Trump won all Republican primaries. He will finish the night with at least 152 more delegates. No other Republican presidential candidate won any delegates.
The map below shows the projected winners of the Democratic primaries held yesterday.
The following chart shows the Democratic delegate scoreboard at the end of the night.
Arizona, Florida, Illinois, and Ohio are holding primaries next week with 577 Democratic pledged delegates at stake. A debate between Biden and Sanders is scheduled to take place Sunday, March 15 in Phoenix, Arizona.
For more results, sign up for Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing.
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Filing deadline roundup
This is a busy week of filing deadlines, so buckle up! By the time you read this, three more state filing deadlines will have passed. Montana’s statewide filing deadline was March 9 and New Mexico’s and Oregon’s deadlines were March 10. Later this week, filing periods end in Nebraska (March 12), Idaho (March 13), Iowa (March 13), and Nevada (March 13).
Voters in these seven states will elect 28 members of Congress - six U.S senators and 22 U.S. House members. Eight of those congressional seats are open races: one in the Senate and seven in the House.
Thus far, Ballotpedia has identified the U.S. Senate elections in New Mexico and Iowa and eight of the U.S. House elections in these states as battleground races. Battlegrounds are elections that we expect to have a meaningful effect on the balance of power in governments or to be particularly competitive or compelling.
Last week, we detailed the offices on the ballot for states with filing deadlines through March 10. Offices on the ballot in states with filing deadlines on March 12 and March 13 include:
Nebraska (Republican trifecta)
- One U.S. Senate seat
- Three U.S. House seats
- Four state Board of Education seats
- Public Service Commissioner
- 24 of 49 state Senate seats
- Two state Supreme Court seats
- Two Appellate Court seats
Idaho (Republican trifecta)
- One U.S. Senate seat
- Two U.S. House seats
- All 35 state Senate seats
- All 70 state House seats
- Two state Supreme Court seats
- One state Appellate Court seat
Iowa (Republican trifecta)
- One U.S. Senate seat
- Four U.S. House seats
- 25 of 50 state Senate seats
- All 100 state House seats
- Five state Supreme Court seats
- Three state Appellate Court seats
Nevada (Democratic trifecta)
- Four U.S. House seats
- Four Board of Regents seats
- 10 of 21 state Senate seats
- All 42 state House seats
- Two state Supreme Court seats
- One state Appellate Court seat
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