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Welcome to the Tuesday, April 21, Brew. Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day: Coronavirus update:
- Register for our April 23 briefing on the political effects of COVID-19
- Maryland and Ohio to hold elections April 28
- Illinois Supreme Court rules fantasy sports “a game of skill”
Updates on stories related to the coronavirus outbreak are current through Monday afternoon. Click here for the latest news.
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Coronavirus update: Register for our April 23 briefing on the political effects of COVID-19
As we’ve been covering here in the Brew since mid-March, the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is significantly affecting America's political and civic life.
We've been monitoring the federal, state, and local responses to this situation—including stay-at-home orders, school and court closures, and changes to election dates and procedures.
It has been a lot to process and we hope we can help you understand where things stand. Please join us April 23 for a briefing on the key changes and policy responses that have occurred since the outbreak began. We’ll provide an overview of where things stand now and what may be ahead—including the growing national debate over how and when to emerge from this crisis. The briefing will begin at 11 a.m. CT and you can register by clicking the link below. If you can’t attend the live webinar, we’ll send you a link to the recording when it’s available.
We also provide email news alerts throughout each business day on our coverage of the coronavirus pandemic and a daily news summary email of the major effects in the world of politics, government, and elections. Click here to read previous editions of our daily summary and to subscribe.
Here are some other notable coronavirus-related updates since Monday's Brew:
- Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf announced the U.S. would extend travel restrictions placed on Canada and Mexico an additional 30 days to combat the spread of COVID-19.
- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) closed schools for the remainder of the year. Previously, schools had been closed through May 1. Florida is the 32nd state to close its schools for the remainder of the year.
- Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) issued an executive order postponing the state’s presidential preference primary to August 11. It was originally scheduled to take place on April 28 and was initially postponed to June 2.
- A U.S. district court in Michigan cut in half the number of signatures required for primary candidates to get on the ballot. The court also extended the filing deadline from April 21 to May 8 and directed election officials to develop procedures allowing for the collection and submission of electronic petition signatures.
- State legislative offices were exempt from the order because these candidates can file for office by paying a filing fee instead of filing petition signatures. No such alternative exists for congressional and state executive candidates.
- The Georgia Supreme Court held oral arguments Monday via video conferencing. It was the first time in the court’s 175 year history that arguments weren’t held in person.
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Maryland and Ohio to hold elections April 28
Ballotpedia isn’t covering any elections this week, but our team is eager to get back to reporting on results with some races next week. Twenty states have changed their statewide primaries, presidential primaries, or special elections. Twenty-two states have announced changes to absentee/mail-in voting procedures due to the coronavirus outbreak. With all of these changes, I wanted to highlight two interesting elections happening next Tuesday—April 28.
Kim Klacik (R) and Kweisi Mfume (D) are running in the special election in Maryland’s 7th Congressional District. The former incumbent, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D), died in October 2019. The Maryland Board of Elections authorized the sending of mail-in ballots to all voters. Although election officials encouraged voters to cast their ballots by mail, there will be three, in-person voting centers open for anyone unable to cast a mail ballot (such as residents without mailing addresses or voters requiring special assistance at the polls). Major independent observers rate the election as solid Democratic or safe Democratic.
Special elections to Congress occur when a member resigns, dies, or is removed from office. State laws governing vacancies determine when special elections are held. This is the fourth special election held during the 116th U.S. Congress—the current meeting of the Senate and House of Representatives. Three such elections were held in 2019 and five are scheduled during the rest of this year.
Voters decided 136 congressional special elections between 1985 and 2012—19 in the Senate and 117 in the House of Representatives. In those elections, nine seats changed partisan hands, with Republicans gaining six seats and Democrats gaining three.
Ohio will conclude its presidential and statewide primary elections, including races for all 16 U.S. House districts, six seats on the state board of education, 16 of 33 state Senate seats, all 100 state House districts, and various municipal offices, judges, and ballot measures.
Ohio’s primary was originally scheduled for March 17. Governor Mike DeWine (R) announced on that day polls would be closed for in-person voting by the order of the state health director. DeWine signed legislation March 27 extending absentee voting in the primary to April 27 and restricting in-person voting to individuals with disabilities and those without home mailing addresses on April 28.
Ohio has one U.S. House primary classified as a battleground election—the Democratic primary for Ohio’s 3rd Congressional District. Ohio is currently a state government trifecta, as Republicans hold the governor’s office and both chambers of the state legislature. The state’s U.S. House delegation has 12 Republicans and four Democrats.
All votes cast via early or absentee ballot before the March 17 primary will be counted. Absentee ballots postmarked by April 27 will be counted if they are received by May 8.
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Illinois Supreme Court rules fantasy sports “a game of skill”
Like many Brew readers, I’ve played my share of fantasy sports, which is why I wanted to share this story from Illinois.
On April 16, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled 5-1 that fantasy sports are a “game of skill” as opposed to a “game of chance.” The rulings mean that venues like FanDuel do not fall under the umbrella of illegal online gambling venues, and wagers placed on fantasy sports match-ups do not qualify as “online gambling.”
In April 2016, two Illinois residents—Colin Dew-Becker and Andrew Wu—competed in a head-to-head fantasy sports contest hosted by FanDuel. After losing the contest, Dew-Becker invoked an 1819 state law known as The Loss Recovery Act in order to recover his bet. That law provides a way for the losing party of an illegal wager to recover the funds lost. Dew-Becker contended that because fantasy sports contests are gambling, they are also illegal.
In the majority opinion, Chief Justice Anne Burke wrote “Because the outcomes of head-to-head DFS (daily fantasy sports) contests are predominately skill-based, we conclude that (Dew-Becker) was not engaged in 'gambling' with (Wu) as required... We determine here only that the DFS contest at issue in this case does not fall under the current legal definition of gambling."
In his dissent, Justice Lloyd Karmeier wrote, "Throughout the history of antigambling laws, courts have recognized the effort and ingenuity man has exerted to circumvent the law by disguising activities as legal or contests of skill although the intended appeal is to chance… The ingenuity exerted in head-to-head DFS contests duped the majority into believing it is a game of skill when truly it is a game of chance." He also stated that "The majority opinion risks legalizing traditional concepts of gambling anytime a study concludes that it involves skill more than chance."
Although it upheld the legality of fantasy sports betting hosted by companies such as FanDuel, the court also said lawmakers could revise statutes or regulations regarding how daily fantasy sports contests are classified.
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