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Keep reading for this week's highlights in state and local politics. For a full review of the week, plus a look ahead, click the button below and launch the full edition.

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State supreme courts in Montana, Texas block absentee and mail-in voting modifications

• The state supreme courts of both Montana and Texas blocked lower court decisions that had temporarily modified their respective states' absentee/mail-in voting procedures.   

  • The Montana Supreme Court voted 5-2 to halt a lower court order that had extended the absentee ballot receipt deadline for the June 2 primary election to June 8. Justice Beth Baker wrote the following in the court's majority opinion: "Election administrators have responded swiftly to ensure that ballots were timely mailed to voters across Montana. Because those ballots include express directive that they will not be counted unless received by the 8 p.m. election-day deadline, we conclude that there is good cause to maintain the election-day deadline for this primary election in order to avoid voter confusion and disruption of election administration."

  • The Texas Supreme Court ruled that a voter's lack of immunity to COVID-19 does not qualify as a disability under the state's election laws and, therefore, cannot be cited as an excuse for voting absentee. This ruling overturned two lower court rulings to the contrary. Chief Justice Nathan Hecht wrote the following in the court's unanimous opinion: "We agree with the State that a voter's lack of immunity to COVID-19, without more, is not a 'disability' as defined by the Election Code. But the State acknowledges that election officials have no responsibility to question or investigate a ballot application that is valid on its face. The decision to apply to vote by mail based on a disability is the voter's, subject to a correct understanding of the statutory definition of 'disability.'"

  • To date, 27 states have modified their absentee/mail-in voting procedures in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. For more information, see this article.

Seven states to hold statewide primaries June 2

• Seven states—Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota—are holding regularly-scheduled primaries for state-level offices. The deadline for election officials to receive ballots in Idaho’s all-mail primary is also June 2. One state—Massachusetts—is also holding special elections for two state legislative offices. 

• Across the seven states holding regular elections June 2, there are 212 state Senate seats and 713 state House seats up for election. A total of 23 state executive offices are also up for election, including four governors, in addition to six state supreme court seats and three state intermediate appellate courts seats.

• Ballotpedia identified three state-level primaries taking place Tuesday—all in Montana—as battleground primaries:

  • Democratic primary for governor: Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney (D) faces consultant Whitney Williams (D) in the Democratic primary for governor of Montana. Cooney’s supporters include Bullock, Sen. Jon Tester (D), and the state AFL-CIO. Williams’ include 2016 presidential nominee Hillary Clinton (D), former Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D), and EMILY’s List.

  • Republican primary for governor: State Attorney General Tim Fox (R), U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte (R), and state Sen. Al Olszewski (R) are contesting Republicans’ gubernatorial nomination. Fox’s backers include former Gov. Marc Racicot (R), former Secretary of State Bob Brown (R), and the National Association of Police Organizations. Gianforte, the nominee for governor in 2016, is supported by former Rep. Rick Hill (R), Donald Trump, Jr., and the Susan B. Anthony List. Olzsewski’s endorsers include Montanans for Limited Government and the Montana Daily Gazette.

  • Republican primary for Secretary of State: Six candidates are running for the Republican nomination to succeed Corey Stapleton (R), who is running for U.S. House, as secretary of state. The fundraising leaders are Christi Jacobsen, the current deputy secretary of state, and Scott Sales, a state senator. The winner will face Democratic nominee Bryce Bennett in the general election.

Los Angeles County releases criteria for reopening schools

• The Los Angeles County Office of Education released guidelines for reopening schools in the county. The 45-page guidelines include a maximum class size of 16 students, one-way hallways, a staggered school day, and masks required for students. The Office of Education provides services and oversight for the county’s 80 school systems, including Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).

• Schools in the county have been closed to in-person instruction since mid-March. LAUSD, the second-largest school district in the country behind New York City, has been closed to in-person instruction since March 13.

• Forty-eight states have closed schools to in-person instruction for the remainder of the academic year. Those states account for 99.4% of the 50.6 million public school students in the country. The two states to not close schools to in-person instruction for the remainder of the academic year are Montana and Wyoming. All 50 states issued some form of school closures.

Fagan wins Oregon’s Democratic secretary of state primary after Hass concedes

• Last week, we reported on Oregon’s statewide primary held May 19, 2020. At the end of the night, the Democratic primary for secretary of state remained too close to call.

  • Shemia Fagan, Mark Hass, and Jamie McLeod-Skinner competed in that primary. Fagan and Hass are both incumbent state Senators. McLeod-Skinner was a 2018 Democratic candidate for Oregon’s 2nd Congressional District. 

  • Due to Oregon’s vote-by-mail system, vote totals are generally reported over a longer period of time as results are counted across the state.

• On May 22, Hass conceded, making Fagan the presumptive Democratic nominee.

• As of May 28, Fagan received 36.5 percent of the vote to Hass’s 35.8 percent, a margin of 3,460 votes. McLeod-Skinner received 27.7 percent and 0.8 percent went to write-in candidates. Fagan will face state Sen. Kim Thatcher (R) in the general election.

Filing period to end for state executive, legislative, judicial candidates in five states

• The filing deadlines to run for state-level offices in Alaska, Kansas, Wisconsin, Hawaii, and Minnesota will pass next week. Alaska’s, Kansas’, and Wisconsin’s filing deadlines will pass on June 1. The filing deadlines in Hawaii and Minnesota will pass on June 2.

• In Alaska, prospective candidates may file for the following state offices:

  • State Senate (10 seats)
  • State House (40 seats)
  • Additionally, Alaska will hold retention elections for one supreme court justice and one court of appeals justice.

• In Kansas, prospective candidates may file for the following state offices:

  • State Board of Education (5 seats)
  • State Senate (40 seats)
  • State House (125 seats)
  • Additionally, Kansas will hold retention elections for one supreme court justice and six court of appeals justices.
  • Ballotpedia is also covering local elections in Sedgwick County, Kansas.

• In Wisconsin, prospective candidates may file for the following state offices:

  • State Senate (16 seats)
  • State House (99 seats)

• In Hawaii, prospective candidates may file for the following state offices:

  • Office of Hawaiian Affairs (4 seats)
  • State Senate (13 seats)
  • State House (51 seats)
  • Ballotpedia is also covering local elections in Honolulu, Hawaii.

• In Minnesota, prospective candidates may file for the following state offices:

  • State Senate (67 seats)
  • State House (134 seats)
  • Supreme Court (2 seats)
  • Court of Appeals (6 seats)
  • Ballotpedia is also covering local elections in the following areas:
    • Minneapolis Public Schools (4 seats)
    • Minneapolis, Minnesota
    • Hennepin County, Minnesota
    • Ramsey County, Minnesota

• Kansas’ primary is scheduled for August 4, and Hawaii’s primary is scheduled for August 8. Minnesota’s and Wisconsin’s primaries are scheduled for August 11. Alaska’s primary will be held on August 18. The general elections in all five states are scheduled for November 3, 2020.

• The next statewide filing deadline is on June 11 in Connecticut.

• Hawaii has a Democratic state government trifecta. A trifecta exists when one political party simultaneously holds the governor’s office and majorities in both state legislative chambers. Alaska, Kansas, Wisconsin, and Minnesota have divided governments where no party holds a trifecta.

Stay-at-home orders implemented in response to COVID-19 end in two states

• Stay-at-home orders in two states—Illinois (May 29) and Virginia (May 29)—ended this week. Across the country, stay-at-home orders have expired in 30 states. Eighteen of those states have Republican governors and 12 have Democratic governors (including Wisconsin, where the state Supreme Court invalidated the stay-at-home order). Of the 13 states with active stay-at-home orders, one has a Republican governor and 12 have Democratic governors.

Massachusetts, Tennessee, Texas extend suspensions of jury trials

• On May 26, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued an order extending restrictions that suspended several types of trials and closed courthouses to the public. The new order, which goes into effect June 1, keeps courthouses closed through July 1 and suspends criminal and civil jury trials through September 8. The order calls for all non-emergency matters to continue to be handled virtually.

•  As states reopen, some courts have begun lifting restrictions, while others have pushed back the date when normal operations can resume.  

  • On May 26, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued an order that allows municipal and circuit courts to reopen on a county-by-county basis. To reopen, courts must receive approval from the chief judge of each judicial administrative district on a plan to protect participants and observers before they can resume in-person hearings and jury trials. 

  • On May 26, the Supreme Court of Texas issued an order continuing the suspension of most jury trials until August 1. In order to evaluate best practices for keeping participants and court staff safe, the Court is allowing a select number of in-person or remote jury trials to occur over the summer with precautions in place. 

  • On May 27, the Tennessee Supreme Court extended the suspension of jury trials through July 3.

Delaware begins to lift business restrictions implemented in response to the coronavirus outbreak

• Delaware will begin the first phase of its reopening plan, becoming the 49th and final state to do so. This phase will lift the state’s short-term rental ban and out-of-state quarantine and allow restaurants and retail businesses to reopen at 30 percent capacity. Gov. John Carney (D) first issued a stay-at-home order on March 22 and later extended that order to May 31. Schools in the state have been closed to in-person instruction since March 16.

• The first states to begin their economic reopening plan were South Carolina and Vermont on April 20. The only state to not issue a stay-at-home order or any business closures and thus not require a reopening plan was South Dakota.

Iowa allows moratorium on evictions and foreclosures to expire

• The moratorium on most evictions and foreclosures issued by Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) expired. Reynolds suspended evictions and foreclosures on March 22 in response to the coronavirus pandemic.  

  • Iowa was one of 41 states that implemented policies related to evictions or foreclosures on the state or local level since March. As states reopen, moratoriums on evictions and foreclosures are beginning to expire.

  • In Wisconsin, the statewide ban on evictions issued by Gov. Tony Evers (D) expired on May 26.

Three states set to end, modify restrictions on out-of-state travelers

• Three states are set to end or modify quarantine requirements on out-of-state travelers on June 1.

  • The 14-day quarantine requirement for out-of-state travelers issued by Gov. Steve Bullock (D) that went into effect in late March was set to be lifted June 1.  

  • Gov. John Carney (D) announced on May 26 that he would end the automatic 14-day quarantine requirement for out-of-state travelers on June 1. The restrictions first went into effect on March 29.  

  • As part of New Mexico’s reopening plan, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) announced a new executive order effective June 1. The order modifies the quarantine requirement for out-of-state travelers to permit some businesses travel.

Filing period ends for state executive, legislative candidates in Vermont, Wyoming

• The filing deadlines to run for state-level offices in Vermont and Wyoming have passed. Vermont’s deadline was on May 28, and Wyoming’s deadline was on May 29.

• In Vermont, prospective candidates filed for the following state offices:

  • Governor
  • Lieutenant Governor
  • Secretary of State
  • Auditor
  • Attorney General
  • TreasurerVermont State Senate (30 seats)
  • Vermont House of Representatives (150 seats)

• In Wyoming, prospective candidates filed for the following state legislative offices:

  • Wyoming State Senate (15 seats)
  • Wyoming House of Representatives (60 seats)

• Wyoming is also holding retention elections for two state Supreme Court justices on November 3, 2020.

• Vermont’s primary is scheduled for August 11, and Wyoming’s primary is scheduled for August 18. The general elections in both states are scheduled for November 3, 2020.

• Vermont’s statewide filing deadline was the 39th and Wyoming’s deadline was the 40th to take place in the 2020 election cycle. The next statewide filing deadlines are on June 1 in Alaska, Kansas, and Wisconsin.

• Wyoming has a Republican state government trifecta. A trifecta exists when one political party simultaneously holds the governor’s office and majorities in both state legislative chambers. Vermont has a divided government where no party holds a trifecta.

Ballot measures update

• Eighty-five statewide measures in 32 states have been certified for the 2020 ballot so far.

  • Twenty-three of the certified measures are citizen-initiated measures. Sixty-one are legislative referrals. One is an automatic constitutional revision commission question. 

  • Three new measures were certified for the ballot:

    • An initiative to expand Medicaid coverage in Missouri qualified for the ballot, and the governor put the measure on the August 4 ballot.

    • An initiative in California that would define app-based transportation (rideshare) and delivery drivers as independent contractors and adopt labor and wage policies specific to them qualified for the November 3 ballot.Uber, Lyft, Doordash, and other companies that hire app-based drivers back the initiative. Proponents have contributed $110.7 million to the support campaign.

    • The Louisiana State Legislature referred a constitutional amendment to the November ballot that would add consideration of the presence or production of oil or gas to property tax assessment of the fair market value of an oil or gas well.

  • Four statewide measures have been on the ballot so far this year. Four more are on the ballot over the summer and the remaining 77 are on the November ballot.

  • Proponents of eight additional ballot initiatives in California, Colorado, Michigan, Missouri, and Oregon submitted signatures, which are pending verification by state officials.

State legislative special elections

• Forty-four state legislative special elections have been scheduled in 21 states so far this year. Special elections for 25 seats have taken place already. Heading into those races, Democrats had previously controlled 10 of the seats, while Republicans previously controlled 15. One seat flipped from Democratic control to Republican control, and three seats flipped from Republican control to Democratic control.

  • In special elections between 2011 and 2019, one party (either Republicans or Democrats) saw an average net gain of four seats nationally each year.

  • An average of 56 seats were filled through special elections in each of the past five even years (2010: 30, 2012: 46, 2014: 40, 2016: 66, 2018: 99).

  • An average of 88 seats were filled through special elections in each of the past five odd years (2011: 95, 2013: 84, 2015: 88, 2017: 98, 2019: 77).

• Upcoming special elections include the Massachusetts House of Representatives’ 3rd Bristol District and the 37th Middlesex District on June 2, and the Georgia State Senate District 4 and South Carolina House of Representatives District 115 (primary) on June 9.

States in session

Fifteen states—California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Vermont—are in regular session. 
 

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