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Welcome to the weekend!
Keep reading for this week's highlights in state and local politics. For a full review of the week, plus a look ahead, remember to click the button below and launch the full edition.
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Connecticut implements fines for mask violations
- Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed an executive order imposing a fine of up to $100 for violating the state’s mask mandate. The order took effect at midnight on Sept. 17. Connecticut has required individuals to wear masks in public places since April 17.
- Thirty-four states have statewide orders requiring individuals to wear masks in indoor or outdoor public spaces. All 24 states with a Democratic governor have statewide mask orders, while 10 out of 26 Republican states require face coverings.
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Federal judge strikes down some of Gov. Wolf's COVID-19 orders
- Judge William Stickman IV of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania struck down some of Gov. Tom Wolf’s (D) COVID-19 orders. The suit was brought on behalf of various Pennsylvania counties, businesses, and elected officials. It challenged Wolf’s restrictions on indoor and outdoor gatherings, the continued closure of "non-life-sustaining" businesses, and prolonged stay-at-home orders. Writing that the "liberties protected by the Constitution are not fair-weather freedoms," Stickman, an appointee of President Donald Trump (R), ruled that the "Constitution cannot
accept the concept of a 'new normal' where the basic liberties of the people can be subordinated to open-ended emergency mitigation measures." In his order, Stickman found
- "(1) that the congregate gathering limits … violate the right of assembly enshrined in the First Amendment;"
- "(2) that the stay-at-home and business closure components of defendants' orders violate the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment;
- "and (3) that the business closure components of defendants' orders violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment."
- Stickman limited remedy to the plaintiff individuals and businesses, dismissing the counties for lacking standing to sue. Thomas E. Breth, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said, "You can't tell 13 million Pennsylvanians that they have to stay home. That's not America. It never was. That order was horrible." Lyndsay Kensinger, Wolf’s press secretary, said Wolf would seek to block the decision while seeking an appeal, adding that the "ruling does not impact any of the other mitigation orders currently in place including … mandatory telework, mandatory mask order, worker safety order, and
the building safety order."
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Rhode Island schools allowed to reopen
- In-person K-12 classes were allowed to resume in Rhode Island. Cumberland and Warwick school districts started the school year fully remote. Most other school districts resumed with a hybrid schedule. Schools in the state initially closed on March 16 and closed for the school year on April 23.
- In March and April, 48 states canceled in-person instruction for the remainder of the 2019-2020 academic year. Those states accounted for 99.4% of the nation's 50.6 million public school students. Montana and Wyoming did not require cancellation of in-person instruction for the year. Montana schools were allowed to reopen on May 7 and Wyoming schools were allowed to reopen on May 15.
- The current status of school reopenings is as follows: Washington, D.C., has a district-ordered school closure, five states have a state-ordered regional school closure, two states are open for hybrid or remote instruction only, four states have state-ordered in-person instruction, and 39 states have reopenings that vary by school or district.
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Voters decide state executive, legislative primaries in Delaware
- Delaware held its statewide primary and candidates competed to advance to the general election scheduled for Nov. 3. In Delaware, unopposed primary candidates automatically advance to the general election. Consequently, only 13 state-level offices were on the primary ballot even though 55 seats are up for election in 2020. There were 15 state-level primaries held. Candidates ran in elections for the following offices:
- Governor
- Incumbent Gov. John C. Carney Jr. defeated challenger David Lamar Williams Jr. in the Democratic primary. Julianne Murray advanced from the Republican primary, defeating five other candidates. They face Kathy DeMatteis (Independent Party) and John Machurek (Libertarian) in the general election.
- Lieutenant governor
- Both the Democratic and Republican primaries were canceled. Incumbent Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long (D) and challenger Donyale Hall (R) automatically advanced to the general election.
- Insurance Commissioner
- Incumbent Trinidad Navarro defeated challenger Kayode Abegunde in the Democratic primary. Navarro faces Julia Pillsbury (R), who had no primary opposition and automatically advanced to the general election.
- Delaware State Senate (11 seats)
- Five primaries were opposed and on the ballot—four Democratic primaries and one Republican primary.
- Two contested primaries featured incumbents, both Democrats. District 14 incumbent Bruce Ennis defeated two challengers to advance to the general election. District 13 incumbent David McBride lost to challenger Marie Pinkney.
- The remaining three primaries did not feature incumbents and were in Districts 1, 5, and 14. The District 14 primary was the only Republican state legislative primary on the ballot in Delaware. District 1 is the only open state Senate seat in the 2020 election cycle.
- Delaware House of Representatives (41 seats)
- Seven primaries were opposed and on the ballot—all Democratic primaries.
- Five contested primaries featured incumbents, all Democrats. Incumbents in Districts 4 and 10 advanced to the general election. Incumbents in Districts 7 and 27 were defeated. The District 26 race was still too close to call as of September 17, 2020.
- The remaining two primaries did not feature incumbents and were in Districts 8 and 34. District 8 is the only open state House seat in the 2020 election cycle.
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Massachusetts Supreme Court chief justice dies
- Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Ralph D. Gants died while in office, causing a second vacancy in the state’s court of last resort. The other vacancy will occur on Dec. 1, 2020, when Justice Barbara Lenk is scheduled to retire from the court, one day prior to reaching the court's mandatory retirement age of 70 years old.
- In 2008, Chief Justice Gants was appointed to the court by Gov. Deval Patrick (D) to replace retired Justice John Greaney. Gants assumed office on Jan. 29, 2009. On April 17, 2014, Justice Gants was nominated by Gov. Patrick to serve as the chief justice of the court, effective following Chief Justice Roderick Ireland's retirement on July 25, 2014. Gants’ term was scheduled to expire in 2024 when he reached the court’s mandatory retirement age.
- The seven justices of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court are appointed by the governor and approved by the Governor's Council. Out of the court’s six active judges, five were appointed by Gov. Charlie Baker (R). Justice Barbara Lenk was appointed by Gov. Deval Patrick (D). Chief Justice Gants' replacement will be Gov. Baker's seventh nominee to the seven-member supreme court.
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Florida governor appoints Grosshans to state supreme court
- Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) appointed Jamie Grosshans to the Florida Supreme Court. She was appointed to succeed Justice Robert Luck, who was elevated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in November 2019. Grosshans will join two other DeSantis nominees on the seven-member court.
- The governor had originally appointed Renatha Francis to the position on May 26. On Sept. 11, a five-member Florida Supreme Court unanimously ruled against Francis’ appointment and ordered the governor to select a different nominee. The panel found Francis was ineligible for the position since she had not been a member of the Florida Bar for 10 years, as required by the state constitution. Justice John Couriel, whom DeSantis appointed to the court along with Francis, recused himself. Francis withdrew herself from consideration the same day.
- Grosshans was a judge on the Florida 5th District Court of Appeal from 2018 to 2020. She was appointed to that court by Gov. Rick Scott (R).
- The Florida Supreme Court is the state’s court of last resort. As of September 2020, all seven of the justices were appointed by a Republican governor.
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Hawaii announces start date for pre-travel testing program; Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania modify travel restrictions
- Hawaii Gov. David Ige (D) announced that travelers can avoid the 14-day quarantine requirement beginning Oct. 15 by presenting a recent negative COVID-19 test. Tests will need to have been taken within 72 hours of arrival in the islands.
- The pre-travel testing program was first scheduled to begin on August 1, but Ige postponed implementation following a spike in coronavirus cases and concerns about a shortage of testing supplies.
- Govs. Ned Lamont (D-Conn.), Phil Murphy (D-N.J.), and Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) announced on September 15 that Puerto Rico had been re-added to the joint travel advisory, while California, Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, and Ohio had been removed. Travelers from states on the advisory are required to self-quarantine for 14 days upon arriving in the tristate area.
- Puerto Rico was removed from the list on Sept. 8.
- On Sept. 13, the Pennsylvania Department of Health removed California and Texas from its travel advisory and added Illinois. Travelers and returning residents from states on the list are urged to self-quarantine for 14 days upon arriving in Pennsylvania.
- On Sept. 12, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health removed Pennsylvania, Delaware, and West Virginia from the list of low-risk states. The state had designated Pennsylvania, Delaware, West Virginia, and Colorado low risk at the end of August. Travelers from low-risk states are exempt from the 14-day quarantine requirement.
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Ballot measures update
- Unless courts remove other measures from the ballot, the 2020 statewide measures are finalized. Voters in 32 states will decide 115 statewide ballot measures on Nov. 3.
- Last week, the Arkansas Supreme Court removed Issue 6, a veto referendum about whether to allow optometrists to perform certain eye surgeries, from the ballot.
- For the 2020 cycle, three citizen-initiated measures were certified for the ballot, but all three were removed from the ballot by the Arkansas Supreme Court because petition sponsors failed to certify that signature gatherers passed background checks. The certifications submitted by petitioners stated that background checks were acquired.
- Notable topics addressed by November 3 measures include:
- Elections policy: Eighteen measures in 14 states concern election policy, including campaign finance, election dates, election systems, redistricting, suffrage, and term limits.
- Taxes: Voters in 12 states will vote on 19 ballot measures addressing tax-related policies.
- Marijuana and drug policy: Four states will vote on recreational marijuana legalization initiatives, and two states will vote on medical marijuana initiatives. Oregon could also become the first state to establish a program for legal psilocybin mushroom use and decriminalize all drugs if voters approve Measure 109 and Measure 110.
- Including the eight pre-November election dates, a total of 123 statewide ballot measures were certified for the 2020 ballot in 34 states.
- Forty-three of the certified measures are citizen-initiated measures. Seventy-nine are legislative referrals. One is an automatic constitutional revision commission question.
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State legislative special elections
- Fifty-eight state legislative special elections have been scheduled in 26 states so far this year, with 37 seats having taken place already. Heading into those races, Democrats had previously controlled 14 of the seats, while Republicans previously controlled 23. One seat flipped from Democratic control to Republican control, and six 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: 94, 2013: 84, 2015: 88, 2017: 98, 2019: 77).
- Upcoming special elections include:
- September 22
- September 29
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States in session
Eight states—Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Vermont—are in regular session.
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Ballotpedia in the News
- Ballot measures across US aim to overhaul voting practices - The Hill
- Josh Altic-project director for our Ballot Measures team-was interviewed and quoted in an article by The Hill regarding upcoming ballot measures addressing election laws. Below is a section from the article.
- “Since 2016, there’s been this focus on elections,” said Josh Altic, a ballot measure expert at Ballotpedia, a nonpartisan website that tracks political news. “You see a potential movement trying to gain traction.”
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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.
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