Welcome to the Wednesday, July 8, Brew. Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

1. Previewing the Texas Senate runoff election
2. 11 statewide ballot measures certified for Nov. ballot in 6 states
3. Checking in on SCOTUS cases this month

Previewing the Texas Senate runoff election

Although elections tend to slow down in the summer months, they certainly haven’t stopped! We’ll be covering statewide elections in Alabama, Maine, and Texas this Tuesday, July 14. Ahead of those, we’re previewing some of the battleground races happening on that night. Today, let’s look at the Democratic primary runoff for the U.S. Senate seat from Texas.

M.J. Hegar and Royce West are running for the Democratic Party nomination to face three-term incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R) in the general election. The runoff was called after none of the 12 candidates in the March 3 primary received a majority of the vote. Hegar led with 22.3% to West's 14.5%. 

Hegar, a former search and rescue and medevac pilot with the U.S. Army, ran for Texas’ 31st Congressional District in 2018, losing to incumbent John Carter (R) 50.6% to 47.7%. Hegar says she embodies the Texas values of strength, courage, and independence, and would counter partisan gridlock. Hegar's endorsers include the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, End Citizens United, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas).

West, who has served in the Texas State Senate since 1992, says he has a long legislative record, citing election governance, abortion, education, and healthcare as areas of particular concern. His endorsers include Joaquin Castro (D-Texas), Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.), four of his state senate colleagues, and 16 state house members.

Cornyn won the 2014 election by over 27 points against David Alameel (D). Three outlets rate the general election Likely Republican. No Democratic candidate has won a statewide election in Texas since 1994.

Learn more

       

---

11 statewide ballot measures certified for Nov. ballot in 6 states

With all that is going around the country, you may not have noticed that there has been a flurry of ballot measure activity in the past few weeks. 

Since June 24, six states have certified 11statewide ballot measures for the Nov. 3 ballot.

In addition, campaigns behind nine additional citizen initiatives have submitted signatures for verification in three states. These initiatives include marijuana legalization, ranked-choice voting, top-four primaries, gambling, hospital worker wages, redistricting, and income taxes.

Here’s a quick look at those measures.

California

On July 1, California Secretary of State Alex Padilla (D) announced the final list of 12 Nov. 3 ballot measures, along with their ballot order and official titles. The deadline for certifications was June 25 until Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed legislation (SB 300) that extended the deadline to July 1 for several legislative referrals. 

Five measures were certified on June 24 and June 26. One was a ballot initiative, Proposition 24, to expand the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) and create a state agency to enforce consumer data privacy laws. The legislature referred the other four to the ballot, with three approved largely along party lines. Voters will consider affirmative action, voting rights restoration for parolees, voting rights for 17-year-olds, and property tax assessment transfers.

Louisiana

The Louisiana Legislature referred a constitutional amendment to the ballot that would create a trust fund for unclaimed property revenue, allocate certain unclaimed property revenue and the fund’s investment revenue to the general fund, and authorize the investment of up to half of the fund in equities. The measure was part of a compromise between Governor John Bel Edwards (D) and State Treasurer John Schroder (R) that included transferring to the general fund an estimated $57.5 million in unclaimed property revenue reserved by Schroder.

Michigan

The Michigan Legislature unanimously referred an amendment to the Nov. 3 ballot that would require a search warrant to access a person's electronic data and electronic communications.

Mississippi

The Mississippi Legislature referred two measures to the Nov. 3 ballot. One will present to voters a new official Mississippi state flag as designed by the Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag. The new flag cannot contain the Confederate Battle Flag and must include the words "In God We Trust." The bill also immediately removed the state flag's official status and provided for the removal of the state flag within 15 days. Mississippi became the only state with a state flag containing an image of the Confederate Battle Cross after it was removed from Georgia’s flag in 2001. Voters in Mississippi decided a state flag referendum in April 2001. It presented voters with the existing flag and an alternative. Voters reaffirmed the use of the existing flag containing the Confederate Ballot Cross image.

The other measure would amend the state constitution to remove the state’s electoral vote requirement for governor and statewide offices and provide for runoff elections.

Oregon

On June 30, the Oregon Secretary of State announced that the campaign behind the Drug Decriminalization and Addiction Treatment Initiative submitted more than the required 112,020 valid signatures to qualify for the Nov. 3 ballot. The initiative would reclassify possession of a controlled substance in Schedule I-IV from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class E violation and establish a drug addiction treatment and recovery program funded by the state's marijuana tax revenue.

Washington

Voters will decide Referendum 90 in November. In March 2020, the Washington State Legislature passed and the governor signed Senate Bill 5395. Opponents of the bill collected signatures for a veto referendum petition to place SB 5395 on the ballot hoping voters will reject SB 5395. SB 5395 would require public schools to provide comprehensive sexual health education to students in grades 6-12 beginning in the 2021-22 school year and for all public school students, including those in grades K-5, beginning in the 2022-23 school year.

Since June 24, one measure was withdrawn, and another was moved from the 2020 ballot to the 2021 ballot. This brought the total number of certified statewide 2020 ballot measures to 105 in 32 states. Eight were scheduled for pre-November ballots, and the remaining 97 on the Nov. 3 ballot. Signatures have been submitted for a total of 20 additional initiatives in 10 states.

You can get details about each of these measures and more in July’s edition of the State Ballot Measure Monthly - signup now to receive it in your inbox next week.

See the chart below for where this year’s certified measures stand so far compared to the last five even-year elections.

Checking in on SCOTUS cases this month

Something else not slowing down this month is the Supreme Court’s issuance of opinions. Normally, June 30 would have ended the October 2019-2020 term, but it was extended due to the coronavirus pandemic. This is the first time since 1996 the court has issued opinions in July. 

On July 6, the court issued opinions in two linked cases, Colorado Department of State v. Baca and Chiafalo v. Washington, and in the case Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants Inc. 

So far this term, the court had issued decisions in 56 cases. It is expected to release four more. Between 2007 and 2018, SCOTUS released opinions in 850 cases, averaging 77 cases per year.

Ballotpedia depends on the support of our readers.

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.