1. Minneapolis voters will not see police department removal charter amendment in Nov.
2. Hagerty wins U.S. Senate Republican primary in Tennessee
3. Candidate Connection spotlight

Minneapolis voters will not decide police department removal charter amendment in Nov.

Minneapolis voters will not decide on a charter amendment in November to remove the city's police department and replace it with a Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention. 

The measure was proposed after a Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd on May 25. The proposal would have removed all references to the city's police department from the charter and made the city council responsible for establishing and funding the new community safety department. Under existing charter provisions, the mayor has authority over the police department and nominates the police chief, who must be confirmed by the city council. The existing charter also requires the city council to provide funding to the police department to provide for "a police force of at least 0.0017 employees per resident."

On Aug. 5, the Minneapolis Charter Commission voted 10-5 to take an additional 90 days to evaluate the proposal. This effectively blocked the measure from the November 2020 ballot, although it could still appear on a later ballot. The city council's deadline to add the measure to the November 2020 ballot is Aug. 21. The city council is not able to vote on the measure until it is returned by the charter commission.

Ballotpedia has tracked policy changes in 28 other cities among the 100 largest by population in response to the killing and protests about George Floyd. Click here for details about each city’s changes.

Councilmember Jeremiah Ellison responded to the commission's vote, "It is our legacy in the US to use voting to decide our future, whether that be by representative democracy or direct democracy. It is not our legacy to use bureaucratic processes to circumvent the people in an attempt to 'protect' voters from themselves. That is not democracy. In a democracy, the people decide. But I guess today the Charter Commission decided otherwise."

Mayor Jacob Frey, who opposes the charter amendment, said, "I look forward to working with Chief Arradondo, my council colleagues, and community to transform the culture of policing in our city in the months ahead. Now it is on all of us to roll up our sleeves and dig into this work together."

Voters in at least half a dozen cities and counties—including San Francisco, Los Angeles County, and Sonoma County, California; King County, Washington; Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Columbus Ohio; and Portland, Oregon―will decide ballot measures in November concerning law enforcement oversight, structure, funding, policies, and staffing levels. Stay tuned for an overview of this ballot measure trend as it develops.

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Hagerty wins U.S. Senate Republican primary in Tennessee

Republican U.S. Senate primary in Tennessee

Bill Hagerty was declared the winner in the 15-candidate Republican primary for U.S. Senate in Tennessee. As of 8:15 p.m. CDT with 31% of the vote reporting, Hagerty had received 52.5 percent of the vote and Manny Sethi had received 37.9 percent.

Hagerty is a former ambassador to Japan in the Trump administration and has been endorsed by Trump and Tennessee's other U.S. Senator, Marsha Blackburn (R). According to campaign finance reports through July 17, Hagerty raised $12.3 million, the second-highest total among all non-incumbent Republicans in 2020 U.S. Senate primaries.

The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, and Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball all rate the general election as Solid or Safe Republican.

Democratic primary in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District

U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper (D) defeated Keeda Haynes and Joshua Rawlings in Tennessee's 5th Congressional District Democratic primary. With 52% of precincts reporting at 8:35 p.m. CDT, Cooper had received 57% of the vote to Haynes' 41% and Rawlings' 3%.

Cooper has represented the district since 2003 and also served in the U.S. House from Tennessee from 1983 to 1995. No Republican candidate filed to run for the seat, so Cooper will appear on the general election ballot unopposed.

Hawaii

It’s been a week where primary elections are on days other than Tuesdays. In addition to Tennessee’s primaries yesterday, Hawaii holds statewide and congressional primaries on Saturday, Aug. 8.

If you’re in Hawaii, you get to be one of the first to use our newly designed sample ballot to prepare for the upcoming primaries. Our Tech Team redesigned the desktop page using the same great layout as our app, My Vote, which you can download here to get an overview of all the races on your ballot all in one place that you can easily take to the polls. 

Speaking of Hawaii, we’ve got one battleground race in the state I want to highlight today.

Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District election (Democratic primary)

Brian Evans, Noelle Famera, Kaiali'i Kahele, and Brenda Lee are vying for the Democratic nomination in the 2nd Congressional District. The current incumbent, Tulsi Gabbard announced in October 2019 she would not run for re-election. Gabbard ran for the Democratic presidential nomination instead. 

Brian Evans is a singer and activist who lists increased local control, tourist visitor fees, and Medicare for All as some of his key policies. Businesswoman Noelle Famera said she would prioritize environmental legislation, like the Green New Deal, and implementing Universal Basic Income. Kaiali'i Kahele is a veteran and state senator whose campaign priorities include public education, access to healthcare, and addressing climate change. 

The Serve America PAC endorsed Kahele in the primary.

Elections forecasters rated the general election as Solid/Safe Democratic. The district has been represented by Democrats since its creation in 1971.

Candidate Connection spotlight

Part of the new design for our sample ballot feature is the inclusion of two questions from Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection survey. As I wrote last week, we ask all candidates with Ballotpedia profiles to complete a survey. It’s designed to elicit insightful and thoughtful responses from candidates on what they care about, what they stand for, and what they hope to achieve.

In our recently redesigned sample ballot tool, if you click on a candidate who filled out the survey, a pop-up window will feature their answers to these two questions: “Who are you? Please tell us about yourself in 300 words or less.” and “What are your key messages?” 

One of my favorite things about the survey is that it really helps you get to know a candidate on a personal level. Last week, we highlighted some candidates’ answers to the question: “What’s your favorite book?” (Spoiler: at least 23 listed Harry Potter.) 

Today, we’re bringing you a few answers to the question: “What was your very first job?” We’ve had 1,774 candidates in the current cycle respond to this question. I hope you enjoy the below responses as much as I did!

“My first job was working in my parents office - the family dental practice. My sister and I would go to the office after school, on the weekends and all summer long to help my parents.” 

-Robbie Goldstein, Democratic candidate for Massachusetts' 8th Congressional District

“My first job was clearing driveways of snow when I was 12 years old in western South Dakota. I had that job for several winters. My next job was as a dishwasher at 14 years old at Jeannie's Kitchen. I've had a W2 every year since I was 14.”

-Jesse Jensen, Republican candidate for Washington's 8th Congressional District

"My first job was actually 2 jobs at the same time. When I was twelve years old I woke up every morning at 4:30 am to ride my bike to deliver newspapers. I was home by 6:00 am to go back to sleep before school started. After school, I pushed my Dad's lawnmower all around our neighborhood and over to adjacent neighborhoods to mow lawns - earning $5.00 per lawn. I kept these 2 jobs until I entered high school"

-Thomas Wakely, Green Party candidate running for Texas' 21st Congressional District

By the way, if you don’t know your candidate’s answer to this question, ask them to take the survey here.

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