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Check out this week's federal news below!

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Voters to decide Delaware’s congressional primaries

• Delaware will conduct its statewide primary on September 15, 2020. The filing deadline to run was July 14, 2020. Candidates are running for one seat in the U.S. House and one seat in the U.S. Senate.
   
• Delaware’s primary is the final statewide primary to take place before the November 3 general election. Louisiana will hold its first round of voting for the state’s congressional elections on November 3 for all candidates. If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, a second round of voting between the top two vote-getters will be held on December 5.

Deadline passes for states to apply for additional unemployment insurance funds

• The deadline for states to apply to the Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) program passed on September 10. 
   
• President Donald Trump (R) established the program in an August 8 memorandum that authorized the use of federal disaster relief funds to supplement state unemployment insurance programs. States were required to apply for a grant through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to participate in the program. If approved, the LWA grant provided up to $300 a week in additional unemployment insurance to eligible individuals. States could opt to supply an additional $100 a week per individual, for a total of $400 a week in additional unemployment insurance.
   
• South Dakota was the only state to decline to participate in the program. Four states, Kansas, Kentucky, Montana, and West Virginia, opted to supply an additional $100 per individual per week.
   
• As of September 11, Nevada’s application was pending approval.

New Hampshire, Rhode Island voters decide congressional primaries

• New Hampshire and Rhode Island held statewide primaries on September 8. A total of six congressional seats—two U.S. Senate seats and four U.S. House seats—were on the ballot. All six incumbents filed for re-election and won their respective primaries. The primary winners advanced to the general election on November 3.
   
• New Hampshire
  • Incumbent Jeanne Shaheen (D) won the Democratic primary for her Class II Senate seat, advancing over two challengers with 94% of the vote. 
  • In New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District, incumbent Chris Pappas (D) advanced unopposed from the Democratic primary. The Republican primary in this district was considered a battleground primary and is discussed below. In the 2nd District, incumbent Annie Kuster (D) received 93% of the vote to win the Democratic primary. With 98% of precincts reporting, Steve Negron advanced from a four-candidate field to win the Republican primary with 48% of the vote.
     
• Rhode Island
  • In the race for Rhode Island’s Class II Senate seat, both incumbent Jack Reed (D) and Republican challenger Allen Waters advanced from their respective primaries unopposed.
  • Incumbent Rep. David Ciciline (D) was unopposed in the Democratic primary for Rhode Island’s 1st Congressional District seat. No Republican filed in the race, so Ciciline will not face major-party opposition in the general election. Two independent candidates will be on the ballot. In the 2nd District, incumbent Jim Langevin (D) earned 66% of the vote to advance from the Democratic primary. Republican Robert Lancia won the two-candidate Republican primary with 73% of the vote.
     
• Ballotpedia identified two congressional battleground primaries in New Hampshire:
  • U.S. Senate Republican primary: Bryant “Corky” Messner defeated Don Bolduc, Andy Martin, and Gerard Beloin to win the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate. As of 5:00 p.m. ET on Sept. 10, Messner had 51% of the vote to Bolduc’s 43%. Messner, an attorney and U.S. Army veteran, had endorsements from President Trump, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and the National Association for Gun Rights. Bolduc, a U.S. Army veteran, had endorsements from Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), and the Senate Conservatives Fund. Messner will face incumbent Jeanne Shaheen (D) and Justin O’Donnell (L) in the November general election.
  • 1st Congressional District Republican primary: Matt Mowers defeated Matt Mayberry and three other candidates to win the Republican nomination in New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District. As of 5:00 p.m. ET on Sept. 10, Mowers had 60% of the vote to Mayberry’s 27%. Mowers, a former Trump campaign and administration official, had endorsements from President Trump (R) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). Mayberry, a businessman and U.S. Air Force veteran, had endorsements from Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) and former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-Ark.). Mowers will face incumbent Chris Pappas (D) and Zachary Dumont (L) in the November general election.

Sixteen states allow election officials to begin counting absentee ballots before Election Day

• An analysis by Ballotpedia determined that 16 states allow for officials to begin counting absentee ballots before Election Day. Of these 16 states, 10 voted for President Donald Trump (R) in the 2016 presidential election. The remaining six voted for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D).
  • Statutes in seven states – Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, and Vermont – provide explicitly for counting to begin before Election Day. 
     
  • In the other nine states, the relevant statutes either do not specify a timeline or leave the decision to the discretion of local officials: Connecticut, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Utah.
     
• Laws in the remaining states do not allow for counting to begin either until Election Day or after polls close. However, these procedures are subject to change, as policymakers continue to contend with the challenges presented by administering elections in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nebraska Democratic Party endorses write-in candidate over primary winner in state’s U.S. Senate race

• The Nebraska Democratic Party (NDP) announced that it is supporting Preston Love Jr.’s (D) write-in campaign for the U.S. Senate over primary winner Chris Janicek (D). Janicek declined to drop out of the race before the Sept. 1 deadline. The seat is currently held by incumbent Sen. Ben Sasse (R), who is running for re-election.
   
• Janicek won the Democratic nomination in the May 12 primary with 31% of the vote, defeating Angie Philips (24%), Alisha Shelton (22%), and four others.
   
• The NDP called on Janicek to drop out of the race in June after a staffer filed a complaint with the state party alleging Janicek had sent group text messages regarding sexual content. Janicek said, “This is a moment in time where I made a terrible mistake in a text message.” 
   
• In July, the NDP voted to support Shelton, the third-place primary finisher, to replace Janicek on the ballot if Janicek were to quit the race. Shelton was barred from running as a write-in candidate because she appeared on the primary ballot. She endorsed Love’s campaign.
   
• Love is the 2nd associate chairman of the NDP and manager of Jesse Jackson’s (D) 1984 presidential campaign.
   
• According to The Omaha World-Herald’s Aaron Sanderford, NDP chairwoman Jane Kleeb said, “Love gives Democrats a better option than Sasse or a candidate she said should have resigned, referring to Janicek." Janicek did not immediately respond to Love’s campaign announcement.
   
• On Aug. 31, responding to calls to withdraw and possible write-in campaigns, Janicek said, “I am the Democratic party’s nominee for United States Senate here in Nebraska,” adding, “I don’t work for Jane Kleeb; I don’t work for her Nebraska Democratic party … I am asking the people of Nebraska to hire me … I need to dedicate and show work ethic towards them.”

U.S. Senate confirms five U.S. District Court nominees

• The U.S. Senate confirmed five federal nominees to U.S. District Court positions, which are the general trial courts of the United States federal courts.
   
•  The nominees are:
  • Christy Wiegand to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. After Wiegand receives her federal judicial commission and takes her judicial oath, the court will have eight Republican-appointed judges and two Democrat-appointed judges. Wiegand will join seven other judges appointed by President Trump.
     
  • Brett Ludwig to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. After Ludwig receives his judicial commission and takes his judicial oath, the court will have two Republican-appointed judges and two Democrat-appointed judges. Ludwig will be the first judge appointed by President Trump to join the court.
     
  • Diane Gujarati to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. After Gujarati receives her federal judicial commission and takes her judicial oath, the court will have six Republican-appointed judges and six Democrat-appointed judges. Gujarati will join three other judges appointed by President Trump.
     
  • Hala Jarbou to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan. After Jarbou receives her federal judicial commission and takes her judicial oath, the court will have four Republican-appointed judges and no Democrat-appointed judges. Jarbou will be the first judge appointed by President Trump to join the court.
     
  • Thomas Cullen to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia. After Cullen receives his judicial commission and takes his judicial oath, the court will have one Republican-appointed judge and three Democrat-appointed judges. Cullen will be the first judge appointed by President Trump to join the court.
     
• The U.S. Senate has confirmed 208 of President Trump’s Article III judicial nominees—two Supreme Court justices, 53 appellate court judges, 151 district court judges, and two U.S. Court of International Trade judges—since January 2017.

Is Congress in session?

Both chambers of Congress are in recess next week. Click here to see the full calendar for the second session of the 116th Congress.

Where was the president last week?

• On Monday, Trump held a news conference.
• On Tuesday, Trump spoke about environmental accomplishments to Florida residents and delivered remarks live from North Carolina.
• On Wednesday, Trump spoke about judicial appointments.
• On Thursday, Trump met with the secretary of state and spoke live from Michigan.
• On Friday, Trump participated in a Flight 93 National Memorial Nineteenth Anniversary Observance.

What's the latest with the federal judiciary?

• 78 federal judicial vacancies
• 53 pending nominations
• 3 future federal judicial vacancies

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