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North Carolina court strikes down state legislative maps as partisan gerrymanders

• A North Carolina court struck down the state's legislative district plan as an impermissible partisan gerrymander under the state constitution on Tuesday.
  
  
• The plaintiffs, which included Common Cause and the Democratic Party of North Carolina, had alleged that the state legislative district maps adopted and enacted by the North Carolina General Assembly in 2017 infringed upon the rights to equal protection, free speech, association, and free elections guaranteed by the state constitution. The three-judge panel of state superior court judges – Paul Ridgeway, Joseph Crosswhite, and Alma Hinton – ruled unanimously in favor of the plaintiffs. In their ruling, the judges wrote, "[The] 2017 Enacted Maps, as drawn, do not permit voters to freely choose their representative, but rather representatives are choosing voters based upon sophisticated partisan sorting. It is not the free will of the people that is fairly ascertained through extreme partisan gerrymandering. Rather, it is the carefully crafted will of the map drawer that predominates."
  
  
• The court ordered state lawmakers to draft remedial maps by September 18, 2019, for use in the 2020 election cycle. Should lawmakers fail to adopt remedial maps, the court will appoint a referee to develop and recommend remedial maps to the court. In 2020, all 50 seats in the state Senate and all 120 seats in the state House are up for election. The primary is slated for March 3, 2020.
  
  
• Currently, North Carolina is one of 14 states operating under divided government. Democrat Roy Cooper serves as governor, and he is running for re-election in 2020. Meanwhile, Republicans control both chambers of the state legislature, holding a 29-21 majority in the Senate and a 65-55 majority in the House.

Councilmember Cooper, incumbent Briley face off in Nashville mayor runoff

• The runoff election for mayor of Nashville, Tennessee, takes place September 12. Incumbent Mayor David Briley and At-large Metro Councilmember John Cooper advanced from the August 1 general election, with Cooper receiving 35 percent of the vote to Briley's 25 percent. Early voting for the runoff began August 23 and ends September 7.
   
• A mayor of Nashville's Metro government (formed in 1963) has never lost a re-election bid. Briley was the first incumbent to not receive the highest share of the vote in a general election. Briley assumed the office upon the resignation of Mayor Megan Barry in March 2018. He won the special election on May 24, 2018, to complete Barry's term.
   
• Briley has campaigned on what he considers his progressive credentials and his accomplishments since taking office in 2018, including an affordable housing plan and a new scholarship fund. He has criticized Cooper as being conservative and for sponsoring a budget in the council that Briley says harmed the city. 
   
• Cooper has emphasized fiscal stewardship in his campaign, criticizing Briley's support for funding affordable housing with municipal bonds and for privatizing the city's parking meters. Cooper says the city needs to invest more in neighborhoods instead of downtown and has called his focus on the city's finances effective progressivism.
   
• Nashville was the 25th largest city in the U.S. as of 2013. Among the 100 largest cities, there are 62 Democratic mayors, 30 Republicans, four independents, and four nonpartisans. Briley is a Democrat. Cooper's affiliation is unknown.

Incumbent faces four challengers in Charlotte's Democratic mayoral primary

• In North Carolina, Mayor Vi Lyles faces four opponents—Roderick Davis, Tigress Sydney Acute McDaniel, Joel Odom, and Lucille Puckett— in Charlotte’s Democratic primary. The winner will advance to the general election on November 5 and face the Republican nominee, David Michael Rice. Rice was the only Republican candidate who filed to run, and he advanced automatically to the general election. 
  
  
• Here are the five Democratic primary candidates:
• Mayor Vi Lyles won her first two-year term in 2017 after defeating the sitting incumbent, Jennifer Roberts, in the Democratic primary. Lyles won the general election against her Republican opponent with more than 59% of the vote. On September 2, The Charlotte Observer reported that only Lyles' campaign had cash on hand as of the most recent campaign finance reports.
  
  
• Roderick Davis, who works as a business manager, previously campaigned for Charlotte mayor in 2015, Charlotte City Council in 2017, and the state senate in 2016 and 2018.
  
  
• Tigress Sydney Acute McDaniel, who works as a consultant, previously campaigned for Greensboro City Council in 2013 and both Mecklenburg County commissioner and soil and water conservation district supervisor in 2018.
  
  
• Joel Odom is a student at the Queens University of Charlotte. The 2019 primary is his first time running for office.
  
  
• Lucille Puckett, who works as a community advocate, previously campaigned for the Charlotte school board in 2005, Charlotte mayor in 2013 and 2017, and state House in 2018.
  
  
• As of September 4, the mayors of 62 of the country's 100 largest cities are affiliated with the Democratic Party. Republican-affiliated mayors hold 30 offices, independents hold four, and mayors with unknown party affiliations hold the remaining four. Click here for more information.
  
  
• All 11 seats on the Charlotte City Council are also up for election in 2019. A partisan primary is scheduled for 10 of the 11 seats on September 10. The other seat, District 6, had its primary canceled since only one candidate from each party filed to run. Charlotte is the largest city in North Carolina and the 17th-largest city in the U.S. by population. The only other municipality in North Carolina that could have had a September 10 primary was Sanford in Lee County. However, their four city council primaries were also canceled due to the number of candidates who filed from each party.
  
  
• In 2019, Ballotpedia is expanding its coverage of North Carolina to provide voters with a comprehensive statewide sample ballot. This coverage includes North Carolina elections spanning 503 cities, towns, and villages, nine school districts, and 17 special districts. No North Carolina counties are holding elections in 2019. Most North Carolina localities are holding nonpartisan general elections on November 5, although 32 are holding either nonpartisan primaries or general elections on October 8.

Arizona Governor selects new state Supreme Court justice

• Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey appointed Bill Montgomery (R) to the state Supreme Court, replacing former Chief Justice Scott Bales, who retired on July 31, 2019. After leaving office, Bales became executive director of the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System at the University of Denver. Montgomery was Ducey's fifth appointment on the seven-member court.
   
• Before being appointed to the supreme court, Montgomery served as Maricopa County Attorney. He was first elected to the position in a 2010 special election and was re-elected in 2012 and 2016. He also previously served as Deputy County Attorney and was a professional prosecutor before holding elected office. Montgomery earned his bachelor's from West Point and his J.D. from the Arizona State University College of Law. He is a veteran of the Gulf War.
   
• In 2019, there have been 18 supreme court vacancies across 12 of the 29 states where replacement justices are appointed instead of elected. Of those 18 vacancies, 12 are in states where a Republican governor appoints the replacement. Five vacancies occurred in a state where a Democratic governor fills vacancies, while another occurred in a state where a Republican-controlled legislature appoints replacements.

New justice takes office on Virginia Supreme Court

• Teresa Chafin joined the Virginia Supreme Court to fill the vacancy created by Justice Elizabeth McClanahan’s retirement. In February 2019, the Virginia General Assembly unanimously approved Chafin to succeed McClanahan.
  
  
• Chafin received her J.D. from the University of Richmond School of Law in 1987. Her previous judgeships included serving on the state’s 29th Judicial Circuit from 2005 to 2012 and on the Virginia Court of Appeals from 2012 to 2019.
  
  
• State supreme court justices in Virginia are appointed through legislative selection. As outlined in Article VI of the Virginia Constitution, judges are selected by a majority vote of the Virginia General Assembly, which is the combined House of Delegates and state Senate. Supreme court justices serve for 12 years and are subject to reappointment to additional terms by the legislature. Virginia is one of two states, the other being South Carolina, where judges are selected using this method.
  
  
• In 2019, there have been 18 supreme court vacancies across 12 of the 29 states where replacement justices are appointed instead of elected. Of those 18 vacancies, 12 are in states where a Republican governor appoints the replacement. Five vacancies occurred in a state where a Democratic governor appoints the replacement, and one—Virginia—occurred in a state where a Republican-controlled legislature appoints the replacement.

Ballot Measures Update

2019:

• Twenty-four statewide measures are certified for the 2019 ballot so far in Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington.
  • The Maine Transportation Infrastructure Bond Issue was certified for the ballot on August 30. The measure would authorize $105 million in general obligation bonds. 
• Four of the 26 states with a process for citizen-initiated measures allow for ballot initiatives or veto referendums on ballots in any odd-numbered years: Colorado, Maine, Ohio, and Washington.

2020:

• Thirty-nine statewide measures in 18 states have been certified for the 2020 ballot so far.
  • Five of the 39 certified 2020 measures are citizen-initiated measures. Thirty-three are legislative referrals. One is an automatic constitutional revision commission question.
  • The Colorado National Popular Vote Referendum was certified for the ballot on August 29. It will be the first veto referendum to go before Colorado voters since 1932.
  • Proponents of a medical marijuana legalization initiative in Mississippi reported submitting signatures to qualify the measure for the November 2020 ballot. Click here to read more about the measure.

State legislative special elections

• So far this year, 73 state legislative special elections have been scheduled in 24 states. Special elections have been held for 52 seats so far; heading into those races, Democrats had previously controlled 30 of the seats while Republicans previously controlled 22. Four seats have flipped from Democratic control to Republican control. One seat has flipped from Republican control to Democratic control. One seat has flipped from Republican control to an independent officeholder. 
• In special elections between 2011 and 2018, one party (either Republicans or Democrats) saw an average net gain of four seats nationally each year.
• An average of 91 seats were filled through special elections in each of the past four odd years (2011: 94, 2013: 84, 2015: 88, 2017: 98).
• An average of 55 seats were filled through special elections in each of the past five even years (2010: 26, 2012: 45, 2014: 40, 2016: 65, 2018: 99).

States in session

• Five states—California, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, and Wisconsin—are in regular session. Ohio is in skeleton session. In a typical skeleton session, a clerk, a presiding officer, and another legislative member are the only people present. The presiding officer will convene the session day and adjourn it minutes later. New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia are in recess. Forty-one states have adjourned their 2019 legislative sessions.

Ballotpedia in the news

• Our post-election coverage made the news this week in an article on redistricting. Read the article here and read our full coverage on 2016's state legislative elections here.

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