Three governors, 12 state legislatures to be sworn in this week 

Eleven states held gubernatorial elections on Nov. 3. Six have already sworn in the winner: Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Utah, and Vermont. The governors of Indiana, Missouri, and Washington—who were all incumbents re-elected to another term—will be sworn in on Jan. 11. 

• Of the 30 states that held elections for state executives on Nov. 3:
  • Two states swore in all newly-elected executives in 2020
  • 17 states have sworn in all newly-elected executives already this month
  • Six states will swear in new executives from Jan. 11 through Jan. 13
  • West Virginia and Pennsylvania will swear in state executives on Jan. 18 and Jan. 19, respectively
  • Alabama has sworn in its public service commissioner, and will swear in the state board of education on Jan. 18
  • Delaware has sworn in its insurance commissioner and will swear in its governor and lieutenant governor on Jan. 19
  • Nevada has sworn in its board of education and will swear in its board of regents on Jan. 15
• Of the 44 states that held legislative elections on Nov. 3:
  • 12 states swore in newly-elected legislators in 2020
  • 17 states have sworn in members so far this month
  • 12 states will swear in new members from Jan. 11 through Jan. 13
  • Nevada and New Mexico will swear in their state legislatures on Feb. 1 and Jan. 19, respectively

Louisiana starts next phase of coronavirus vaccine distribution

Here are the most notable changes to vaccine availability and distribution during this past week: 

• Louisiana started Phase 1-B of the state's vaccine distribution plan on Jan. 4. The shift made vaccines available by appointment at participating pharmacies to individuals over the age of 70 and most healthcare workers not covered in Phase 1-A.
• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced expanded vaccine availability, effective Jan. 4. All frontline healthcare workers who provided in-person care (regardless of age) became eligible to receive the vaccine. Home care providers, hospice workers, and nursing home workers who had not previously been vaccinated under the CDC’s Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care Program also became eligible for vaccinations.
• Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) added first responders to the list of individuals able to receive a vaccine on Jan. 5.

Four state, local officials quarantine or test positive for COVID-19

• On Monday, Jan. 4, South Carolina Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman (R) announced on Twitter that she had tested positive for COVID-19. She said she received the positive result on Dec. 31. 
• On Tuesday, Jan. 5, Nashville, Tennessee, Mayor John Cooper said he would quarantine at his home after his wife tested positive for COVID-19. Cooper announced later in the day that he tested negative, but said he would continue his quarantine. 
• On Tuesday, Jan. 5, Pennsylvania state Rep. Summer Lee (D) announced on Twitter that she had tested positive for COVID-19. 
• On Wednesday, Jan. 6, Mesa, Arizona, City Councilmember Francisco Heredia, who represents District 3, announced he had tested positive for COVID-19. 

Montana governor sworn in, state becomes Republican trifecta

Governor Greg Gianforte (R) took the oath of office in Montana on Jan. 4 after being elected governor on Nov. 3, 2020. Gianforte’s swearing-in gives Republicans trifecta control of the state as the party now holds the governorship and majorities in both chambers of the state legislature. Former Gov. Steve Bullock (D) was ineligible to run for re-election in 2020 due to term limits.

There are currently 38 state government trifectas: 15 Democratic and 23 Republican. As a result of the 2020 elections, Republicans increased their trifecta total with a net gain of two trifectas. States with divided government—no trifecta for either major party—declined by two. Democrats neither gained nor lost trifectas. The other state to become a Republican trifecta was New Hampshire, where Republicans gained majorities in both chambers of the state legislature and Gov. Chris Sununu (R) was re-elected.

New York, Kentucky ease school restrictions due to coronavirus

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced on Jan. 4 that schools could remain open in communities with 9% or greater positivity rates if positivity among students and school staff was lower than positivity in the surrounding community. Previously, the state required schools to close in communities where the positivity rate was 9% or greater.

• Also, Kentucky’s Healthy at School guidelines became mandatory on Jan. 4 and middle and high schools were allowed to reopen for in-person instruction.
• Nationwide:
  • Two states (N.M., W.Va.) and Washington, D.C. have state- or district-ordered school closures
  •  Five states (Calif., Del., Hawaii, N.C., R.I.) have state-ordered regional school closures, require closures for certain grade levels, or allow hybrid instruction only
  • Four states (Ark., Fla., Iowa, Texas) have state-ordered in-person instruction
  • Thirty-nine states leave decisions to schools or districts

Georgia voters re-elect public service commissioner in runoff

District 4 Commissioner Lauren “Bubba” McDonald Jr. (R) won re-election to Georgia’s Public Service Commission (PSC). He defeated challenger Daniel Blackman (D) with 50.6% of the vote, according to unofficial results posted on Jan. 7. There were roughly 4.4 million votes cast in the race.

• The runoff was held after no candidate received a majority of the vote in the general election on Nov. 3, 2020. McDonald received the highest number of votes in that race, winning 49.9% of the 4.84 million votes cast, roughly 0.1 percentage points below what he needed to win the election outright. Blackman received 47.0% of the vote and Libertarian candidate Nathan Wilson received 3.1% of the vote.
• While the PSC race had the lowest total votes of the night, McDonald received the third-highest number of votes (2.22 million votes), behind U.S. Senate challengers Raphael Warnock (D) (2.26 million) and Jon Ossoff (D) (2.24 million). Both Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R) (2.19 million) and Sen. David Perdue (R) (2.20 million) received fewer votes than McDonald. Each U.S. Senate race saw approximately 4.45 million total votes.

Colorado governor extends state’s face-covering mandate

On Jan. 6, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) extended the state’s mask requirement for 30 days through Feb. 5. Polis issued the state’s first mask requirement on July 17, 2020.

Thirty-eight states have effective statewide orders requiring individuals to wear masks in indoor or outdoor public spaces. All 23 states with a Democratic governor have statewide mask orders, while 15 out of 27 Republican states require face coverings. Mississippi is the only state that has allowed a statewide face-covering requirement to expire.

Ballot Measures Update

A total of 129 statewide ballot measures were certified for 2020 ballots in 34 states for elections on seven different dates. Ninety-three of the measures were approved, and 36 were defeated.

• Forty-three of the certified measures were citizen-initiated measures. Eighty-one were legislative referrals. One was an automatic constitutional revision commission question. Four were advisory measures in Washington.
• Click here to see all ballot measure election results, including highlighted measures.
• Eight statewide measures have been certified for the 2021 ballot.
• One statewide measure has been certified for the 2022 ballot.

Special Elections

Fourteen state legislative special elections have been scheduled in 10 states so far this year, with two elections having taken place already. Heading into those races, Democrats had previously controlled both of the seats.

• In special elections between 2011 and 2020, one party (either Republicans or Democrats) saw an average net gain of four seats nationally each year.
• An average of 57 seats were filled through special elections in each of the past six even years (2010: 30, 2012: 46, 2014: 40, 2016: 66, 2018: 99 2020: 59).
• 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:

• January 19
  • Alabama House of Representatives District 33
• January 23
  • Texas House of Representatives District 68
• January 26
  • Iowa State Senate District 41

States in session

20 states—California, Connecticut, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wisconsin—are in regular session.