Welcome to the Tuesday, Dec. 8, Brew.

Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

1.  States develop distribution plans for coronavirus vaccine
2.  Louisiana elects new U.S. House member, rejects statewide amendment concerning membership of university boards
3. Support Ballotpedia with your tax deductible gift

States develop distribution plans for coronavirus vaccine

The Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee will meet Dec. 10 and 17 to consider emergency use authorizations for Pfizer’s and Moderna’s coronavirus vaccines. If approved, distribution is expected to start quickly, with tens of millions of doses reaching states by the end of the year. 

The federal government will oversee vaccine inventory maintenance, allocation to states, and centralized distribution to health care providers. As of Dec. 3, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) website indicates: "The federal government will oversee a centralized system to order, distribute, and track COVID-19 vaccines. All vaccines will be ordered through CDC. Vaccine providers will receive vaccines from CDC’s centralized distributor or directly from a vaccine manufacturer."

The federal government will work with state, territorial, and tribal governments, which will have final authority over distribution priorities. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said on Nov. 24 that the federal government would allocate the first round of roughly 6.4 million doses to states based on the sizes of their adult populations.

All 50 states have released plans for distributing a coronavirus vaccine. 

On Sept. 16, the CDC issued a “COVID-19 Vaccination Program Interim Playbook for Jurisdiction Operations" to the states and asked for their responses. That document asked states to consider 15 broad categories as they built their distribution plans, including critical populations, vaccine storage and handling, and vaccine safety monitoring, that states were asked to consider in their plans.

We’ve compiled links to all 50 state distribution plans. Click the link below to find your state’s plan and learn more about the federal government’s role in distributing vaccines. And to stay updated on major developments and policies states are issuing in response to the coronavirus pandemic, click here to subscribe to our free newsletter—Documenting America’s Path to Recovery.

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Louisiana elects new U.S. House member, rejects statewide amendment concerning membership of university boards

In case you missed it, last Saturday was the final regularly-scheduled statewide election day of the 2020 cycle. Louisiana voters decided a statewide ballot measure and local races in their second round of elections on Saturday, Dec. 5. 

Louisiana uses a majority-vote system, meaning that all candidates running for a local, state, or federal office appear on the same ballot, regardless of partisan affiliation. If a candidate wins a majority of all votes cast for the office, he or she wins the election outright. If no candidate meets that threshold, the top two finishers advance to a second election.

Here are notable results from those races:

• Louisiana Amendment 1: Voters rejected a statewide ballot measure that would have allowed the governor to appoint at-large members to the boards of supervisors for the public university systems from out-of-state if there are multiple at-large seats and a state resident fills at least one at-large seat. The amendment was the first post-November statewide measure decided in Louisiana since at least 1974. Both legislative chambers unanimously approved the measure in October.
• Louisiana’s 5th Congressional District: Luke Letlow (R) defeated Lance Harris (R) in the general election for Louisiana’s 5th Congressional District. With all precincts reporting, Letlow received 62% of the unofficial vote. Incumbent Ralph Abraham (R), who was first elected in 2014, did not seek re-election. A Republican has represented the district since 2004.
• Orleans Parish District Attorney: Jason Williams (D) defeated Keva Landrum (D) in the general election for the Orleans Parish District Attorney. Williams received 57.8 percent of the vote, while Landrum received 42.2 percent. Williams is an at-large member of the New Orleans City Council, a seat he won in 2014. Williams served as a judge at the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court until July 2020, when she resigned to enter the district attorney race. Incumbent Leon Cannizzaro (D), who was first elected in 2008, did not seek re-election, leaving the office open for the first time in 12 years.
• Louisiana Public Service Commission District 1: Incumbent Eric Skrmetta (R) defeated Allen Borne Jr. (D), 62% to 38%, to win another term on the state's public service commission. Skrmetta had received 31% of the vote to lead the seven-candidate field in the primary on Nov. 3. The five-member commission regulates all common carriers and public utilities. It is currently made up of three Republicans and two Democrats.

There are still other elections happening before the end of the year. Certain jurisdictions in Texas are holding runoff elections for municipal and school board races over the next two weeks and voters in Texas will decide a runoff election Dec. 19 for a seat in the Texas state Senate. Bookmark our calendar page and check it often to stay up-to-date on upcoming elections!

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