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Welcome to the Monday, March 30, Brew. Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- Coronavirus Update: Pandemic continues to shape the 2020 ballot
- Four presidential candidates raised a combined $80 million in February
- Longest-serving state legislator in U.S. history announces retirement
Updates on stories related to the coronavirus outbreak are current through Sunday afternoon. Click here for the latest news.
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Coronavirus Update: Pandemic continues to shape the 2020 ballot
The coronavirus outbreak is continuing to affect ballot measure signature drives and procedures. Ballotpedia has tracked 13 statewide initiative campaigns that have suspended or abandoned signature-gathering efforts and changes to the ballot measure procedures in three states. Below are some of the most notable recent updates to Ballotpedia's coverage of the pandemic's effect on 2020 measures:
- Three measures in Arizona suspended their signature drives, with the co-chair of one campaign calling on the state legislature to allow for signatures to be gathered online.
- The campaign sponsoring the Oregon Drug Decriminalization and Addiction Treatment Initiative announced it was suspending in-person signature-gathering efforts. Sponsors requested that supporters download the petition to sign and mail it to their campaign.
- The campaign seeking to place the Michigan Graduated Income Tax Initiative announced they were suspending efforts to place the initiative on the ballot for November 3, 2020. Instead, they will aim to place the measure on the ballot for 2022.
- The Oklahoma Secretary of State officially tolled the signature-gathering deadline for initiative petitions until the governor lifts the state's emergency declaration, which means the window for signature gathering for each initiative will get pushed forward instead of continuing to run during the state's response to the coronavirus pandemic. Petitioners in Oklahoma have 90 days to collect the required signatures.
Sixteen of the 26 states with a process for statewide citizen-initiated measures have signature deadlines between the end of April and early August. This makes the next several months an important time period for the circulation of 2020 initiative and referendum signature petitions.
Elections
One state—Arkansas—is holding primary runoffs in 12 counties tomorrow. Republican primary runoffs will be held for three state House seats, and both parties are holding runoffs for certain county and local offices. Election officials have encouraged voters to use absentee or mail-in ballots.
Additionally, here are some other notable coronavirus-related updates since Friday's Brew:
- President Donald Trump (R) signed the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The U.S. Senate passed the legislation by a 96-0 vote on March 25 and the U.S. House passed it March 27 by a voice vote.
- New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) announced the postponement of the state's presidential preference primary from April 28 to June 23.
- Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (R) signed HB 197 into law rescheduling the state's primary election from March 17 to April 28. The legislation included the following changes to how the election will be conducted:
- Every eligible voter will receive a postcard describing the process by which a voter can obtain an absentee ballot application. If a voter cannot print the application at home, he or she may call his or her county board of elections to request an application. A directory of county boards of election can be accessed here.
- Absentee ballots must be postmarked by April 27 in order to be counted
- In-person voting on April 28 will be limited to individuals with disabilities and those without home addresses.
- The state's February 18 voter registration deadline remains unchanged.
- Votes already cast—either by mail or in person—before March 17 will be counted as valid.
- Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf (D) signed legislation postponing the state's April 28 primary election to June 2.
- The Kentucky Supreme Court extended its original order limiting in-person court proceedings through April 24.
- New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) announced that schools would be closed for the remainder of the academic year. Prior to the announcement, schools were scheduled to reopen on April 6. New Mexico is the fourth state to suspend school for the rest of the school year.
- U.S. Reps. Joe Cunningham (D-S.C.) and Mike Kelly (R-Pa.) announced they had tested positive for coronavirus. They are the fourth and fifth members of Congress to test positive for the virus.
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Four presidential candidates raised a combined $80 million in February
The next financial reporting deadline for presidential candidates, political parties, and political action committees is April 20, which is when we’ll learn about campaign fundraising for March. In the meantime, Bernie Sanders led presidential candidates in fundraising in February 2020, according to financial reports filed earlier this month with the Federal Election Commission. Among Democratic candidates, Sanders raised $47.7 million last month and Joe Biden raised $18.1 million. These fundraising figures go through February 29, which was also the date that Biden won the South Carolina Democratic primary. Among Republican candidates, Donald Trump raised $14.2 million and Roque De La Fuente raised $50,000.
Since the start of the presidential election cycle, Biden and Sanders have raised a combined $270 million to Trump and De La Fuente's combined $246 million. The four candidates have raised a cumulative $516 million since January 1, 2017.
Trump's $232 million in fundraising this cycle is 20% more than the inflation-adjusted $190 million Barack Obama had raised at this point in his 2012 re-election campaign. According to Republican National Committee (RNC) finance reports filed Friday, Trump and the RNC have raised a combined $851 million. At this point in the 2012 election cycle, Obama and the Democratic National Committee had raised an inflation-adjusted $606 million.
Trump led the four presidential candidates in cash on hand as of February 29 with $94.4 million. Sanders reported $18.7 million, Biden had $12.1 million, and De La Fuente $4.8 million.
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Longest-serving state legislator in U.S. history announces retirement
Wisconsin State Senator Fred Risser (D) announced Thursday that he would not run for re-election in 2020. Risser has served 64 years in the Wisconsin legislature and is the longest-serving legislator at the state or national level in United States history. He is also the only remaining World War II veteran serving in a state or national legislature.
Risser was first elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1956. He has represented District 26 in the state Senate since his election to the chamber in 1962. During his career, Risser served as Senate Minority Leader and spent 25 years as Senate President. According to a press release from his office, he has worked alongside 13 governors—seven Democratic and six Republican—and has never missed a legislative roll call. He will be 93 years old when he retires at the end of his current term on January 3, 2021.
State legislative filing deadlines have passed so far in 21 states and five more states—Missouri, New York, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Tennessee—have filing deadlines this week.
In the 2018 general election, 1,181 state legislative incumbents did not seek re-election. Of those, 723 were Republicans and 427 were Democrats. With 6,073 seats up for election that year, that means 19.4% of the seats had no incumbent running for re-election. That was up from 17.6% in 2016.
After Risser, the next longest-serving state legislator is Rep. Tom Craddick (R), who has represented District 82 in the Texas House of Representatives since 1969. Craddick is seeking re-election after advancing from the state’s March 3 Republican primary.
There are no other state senators currently serving who were first elected in the 1960s. There are six state senators still in office who were first elected in the 1970s:
- Ray Holmberg (R-N.D.)
- Harris McDowell (D-Del.)
- Kenneth LaValle (R-N. Y.)
- Thomas Miller, Jr., (D-Md.)
- Dick Saslaw (D-Va.)
- Nikki Setzler (D-S. C.)
Of those, the longest-serving is Sen. Miller, who represents District 27 in the Maryland State Senate. Miller assumed office in 1975, meaning he has served in the chamber for 45 years.
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The Lucy Burns Institute, publisher of Ballotpedia, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All donations are tax deductible to the extent of the law. Donations to the Lucy Burns Institute or Ballotpedia do not support any candidates or campaigns.
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