State supreme court elections + new nominations to the FEC
[The Daily Brew by Ballotpedia]
** WELCOME TO THE FRIDAY, DEC. 11, BREW.
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** HERE’S WHAT’S IN STORE FOR YOU AS YOU START YOUR DAY:
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* A summary of the year’s state supreme court elections
* Cook resigns from U.S. House to become county supervisor in California
* U.S. Senate confirms three to Federal Election Commission
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** A SUMMARY OF THE YEAR’S STATE SUPREME COURT ELECTIONS
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We’re continuing our analysis of this year’s elections with a look at contests for state supreme court judgeships. Thirty-five states held elections this year for 78 of the nation’s 344 state supreme court seats, or 23% of the total.
Of these seats:
* 18 were decided in partisan elections
* 31 were decided in nonpartisan elections
* 29 were decided in retention elections
FORTY-ONE INCUMBENTS RAN FOR RE-ELECTION IN PARTISAN AND NONPARTISAN RACES, WITH 37 OF THEM—90%—WINNING. Two incumbents lost in partisan elections, and two incumbents lost in nonpartisan elections. Three of these seats switched from Republican to Democrat, while one switched from Democrat to Republican. Seats switched from Republican to Democrat in Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin, while one seat went from Democrat to Republican in North Carolina. North Carolina might see one more seat change from Democrat to Republican, depending on the results of the chief justice race.
Twenty-eight of 29 justices (97%) won their retention elections. Illinois Supreme Court Justice Thomas Kilbride (D) was the only justice who lost this year. The last state where supreme court justices lost retention elections is Iowa, where Marsha K. Ternus, Michael J. Streit, and David L. Baker all lost in 2010, likely in response to those justices’ decision to end Iowa’s ban on same-sex marriage in 2009.
Kilbride’s loss created a vacancy on the court that was filled when the state supreme court appointed an interim member—Robert Carter (D). Carter will serve on the Illinois Supreme Court until December 2022, and he must run in a partisan election that November to remain on the court. The winner of that election will then serve a full 10-year term.
There is one state supreme court race where the outcome is not yet decided. In North Carolina, Paul Newby (R) leads incumbent Cheri Beasley (D) in the election for chief justice by 401 votes, which represents a margin of less than 0.01% of the total votes cast. Beasley's campaign requested a hand recount, which is ongoing in randomly-selected precincts and is expected to be completed Dec. 14.
The partisan balance of Michigan’s state supreme court changed in this year’s elections. Elizabeth Welch (D) won a judgeship previously held by retiring Justice Stephen Markman (R). Four of the current court’s justices advanced from Democratic Party nominating conventions before winning general elections. Republican governors appointed the other three justices to fill vacancies on the court.
Ballotpedia conducted a study earlier this year that examined the partisan affiliations of state supreme court justices. We gathered data on 341 active state supreme court justices in all 50 states to understand their partisan affiliations. Based on this research, we placed each justice in categories indicating our confidence in their affiliations with either the Democratic or Republican parties.
In the 2020 elections, 42 justices with some Republican affiliation won state supreme court seats while 24 justices with some Democrat affiliation won state supreme court seats. Eight justices with undetermined partisan affiliations won state supreme court seats.
Nationwide, 38 states hold elections to select supreme court justices. The other 12 states use gubernatorial appointments or have state legislatures or commissions choose who serves on the court of last resort. One state—Pennsylvania—will hold elections for state supreme court positions in 2021. Other states may also hold such elections due to court vacancies.
> KEEP READING ([link removed])
** U.S. SENATE CONFIRMS THREE TO FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION
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The U.S. Senate confirmed three new members of the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Dec. 9, filling the remaining vacancies on the six-member commission.
The new commissioners are Shana Broussard (D), Allen Dickerson (R), and Sean Cooksey (R). They join current commissioners James "Trey" Trainor (R), Steven T. Walther (I), and Ellen L. Weintraub (D). Trainor chairs the commission, and Walther is vice chair.
The Senate confirmed Broussard 92 to 4 ([link removed]) , Dickerson 49—47 ([link removed]) , and Cooksey 50—46 ([link removed]) . All Republican Senators who voted were in favor of Dickerson’s and Cooksey’s nominations, and all Democratic Senators—as well as Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.-I)—voted against. Sen. Angus King (Maine-I) voted in favor of Cooksey’s nomination and against Dickerson’s.
The president appoints commissioners who serve six-year terms, with two seats up for appointment every two years. ACCORDING TO THE Federal Election Campaign Act Amendments of 1976 ([link removed]) , NO MORE THAN THREE MEMBERS CAN BE OF THE SAME POLITICAL PARTY, AND THERE IS A FOUR-VOTE MINIMUM FOR ANY PROPOSAL TO BE PASSED. Chairs of the commission serve one-year terms and are limited to one term as chair during their tenure.
The FEC lacked the four members it needed to enact policies from August 2019 to May 2020, and again from July until Dec. 9, due to commissioner resignations. During those periods, FEC staff made campaign finance documents available to the public and issued recommendations on campaign finance complaints, but the commission could not vote on policy proposals.
Congress created the FEC as an independent regulatory agency in 1975 to administer and enforce the Federal Elections Campaign Act. It is responsible for disclosing campaign finance information, enforcing limits and prohibitions on contributions, and overseeing the public funding of presidential elections.
> KEEP READING ([link removed])
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** COOK RESIGNS FROM U.S. HOUSE TO BECOME COUNTY SUPERVISOR IN CALIFORNIA
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Paul Cook (R) resigned from the U.S House of Representatives on Dec. 7 before being sworn in as a member of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors. He won election to the board of supervisors on March 3 after receiving 65% of the vote among four candidates.
Cook did not run for re-election to California's 8th Congressional District. Jay Obernolte (R) defeated Chris Bubser (D) on Nov. 3, 56% to 44%, based on unofficial election results. Obernolte will be sworn in when the 117th Congress convenes on Jan. 3, 2021.
HERE ARE SOME OTHER NOTABLE U.S. HOUSE RESIGNATIONS IN DECEMBER OF AN EVEN-NUMBERED YEAR SINCE 2011:
* Bob Filner (D) resigned from the U.S. House in December 2012 after winning San Diego's mayoral election that year.
* Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) resigned from the U.S. House on Dec 27, 2018, after winning New Mexico's gubernatorial election in 2018.
Ballotpedia also tracks the month that members of Congress announce their retirement. Between 2011 and 2020, we compiled 243 such announcements. The month with the highest number of retirement announcements is January, with 45. Thirty-one of those took place during election years, and 14 during the previous odd-numbered year.
June has the fewest number of retirements with eight. Six of those were announced during odd-numbered years and two during election years.
[Retirements by month]
> KEEP READING ([link removed])
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