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We are back with this week's top state and local news. In case you missed it, we relaunched our The Heart of the Primaries email series. Subscribe today for the latest state executive primary news and more.
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Rep. Bishop announces he won’t run for Utah governor, will run as Wright's lieutenant governor
- Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) announced Monday that he would not run for the state's open gubernatorial seat this year and endorsed former state GOP Chairman Thomas Wright (R) for the job. On Thursday, Wright announced that Bishop would join his gubernatorial ticket as his running mate.
- Local media sources have mentioned Bishop as a potential gubernatorial candidate following his announcement that he would not seek re-election to his northern Utah U.S. House seat. A former U.S. history teacher, Bishop was first elected to the House in 2002 after serving sixteen years in the state House, including two as house speaker.
- Wright is the only Utah gubernatorial candidate who has announced a running mate so far. Six other Republicans, including Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox (R) and former Gov. Jon Huntsman (R) are running for governor this year. Incumbent Gov. Gary Herbert (R) declined to seek re-election. The June 30 primary is open only to registered Republicans and unaffiliated voters.
- Following the state's abolition of the office of secretary of state in 1976, many of that office's responsibilities were delegated to the lieutenant governor. Utah's lieutenant governor is responsible for overseeing notaries public, authenticating legal documents, oversight of registered lobbyists, and certifying municipal annexations. Utah is also one of two states (alongside Alaska) where the lieutenant governor serves as chief elections officer.
- Additional candidates have until March 19 to file. The only declared Democratic candidate is businessman Zachary Moses (D). No Democrat has won election as governor of Utah since 1980. Because Gov. Gary Herbert (R) is a Republican and Republicans hold majorities in both chambers of the state legislature, Utah is one of 21 Republican trifectas.
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Ciatarelli expected to announce campaign for NJ governor in 2021
- Former state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli (R) is expected to formally enter New Jersey's 2021 gubernatorial field next Tuesday, becoming the first candidate to do so.
- Ciattarelli served in the General Assembly for seven years, including four as assistant minority whip. He earlier served as a Somerset County freeholder, as mayor of Raritan, and on the Raritan City Council.
- This will be Ciattarelli's second time running for governor. In 2017, he was among five Republicans to seek the party's nomination and one of three who qualified for the official state-sponsored debates. In the primary, Ciattarelli carried seven of the state's 21 counties but was defeated by then-Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno (R) by a margin of 16 percentage points.
- No other candidates have yet declared a run in 2021, although incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy (D) is eligible to run for re-election. The last Democratic governor of New Jersey to win re-election was Brendan Byrne (D) in 1977. Because the governor is a Democrat and Democrats hold majorities in both houses of the state legislature, New Jersey is one of 15 Democratic trifectas.
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Evans resigns from Washington D.C., city council
- On January 17, 2020, Washington, D.C.’s longest-serving Council Member, Jack Evans (D), resigned. Evans represented Washington, D.C. for 30 years.
- Evans’ resignation came after the D.C. Council spent a year investigating and reprimanding Evans for possible ethical violations stemming from his work as an attorney.
- On March 4, 2019, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) directed its ethics officer to open an investigation into Evans, who at the time was serving as the chair of the WMATA. Evans allegedly offered to use his influence as a council member and as chair of the WMATA to lobby the government on behalf of his clients.
- On March 19, 2019, the D.C. Council voted unanimously to formally reprimand Evans.
- On April 2, 2019, the D.C. Council voted unanimously to remove Evans from the Commission on Arts and Humanities.
- On December 10, 2019, the D.C. Council approved a report that recommended Evans be expelled from the council.
- After this report was released, Evans resigned from the D.C. Council effective at the close of business on January 17, four days before the date set by the D.C. Council to vote to remove Evans from office.
- A special election will be held to replace Evan's seat on June 16. The primary election for this special election will be held on June 2.
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Whipple resigns from Kansas House, sworn in as mayor of Wichita
- On January 13, 2020, Kansas State Rep. Brandon Whipple (D) resigned from the District 96 seat in the state House prior to being sworn in as mayor of Wichita, Kansas. Whipple defeated incumbent Jeff Longwell to become Wichita’s mayor on November 5, 2019. He was first elected to the Kansas House of Representatives in 2012.
- In Kansas, state legislative vacancies are filled by gubernatorial appointment. The Sedgwick County Democratic Party has nominated Stephanie Yeager (D) to succeed Whipple. Governor Laura Kelly (D) has not yet approved Yeager’s nomination.
- Kansas is currently under divided government since the governor is a Democrat and Republicans control both houses of the state legislature.
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Davis appointed to Louisiana State Board of Education
- Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) appointed Louisiana State University professor Belinda Davis to the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. Davis fills the at-large seat formerly held by
Lurie Thomason, who resigned in December 2019 for health reasons.
- Davis ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the Louisiana House of Representatives in 2019 and a seat on the East Baton Rouge Parish school board in 2014. She holds a master’s and a Ph.D. in political science from Florida State University and specializes in public policy.
- The Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education has 11 members—eight who are elected by district and three who are appointed at large. The partisan split of the elected members is two Democrats and six Republicans. The at-large seats are nonpartisan, though Davis ran for the Louisiana House as a Democrat.
- Louisiana Superintendent of Education John White announced plans to resign in March. The Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education will appoint his replacement.
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Nemes wins Kentucky Senate special election
- Mike Nemes (R) defeated Andrew Bailey (D), 64% to 36%, to win a special election for the District 38 seat in the Kentucky State Senate on Tuesday. Nemes previously served in the Kentucky House of Representatives from 2011 to 2013.
- The office became vacant after Dan Seum (R) retired in November 2019. Seum served in the state Senate from 1989 to 1992 and from 1995 to 2019. He served in the state House from 1982 to 1988. He was re-elected in 2018 with 68% of the vote.
- Once Nemes takes office, Republicans will hold a 29-9 majority in the state Senate. Kentucky has a divided government since Gov. Andy Beshear is a Democrat and Republicans control both chambers of the state legislature.
- Kentucky also has special elections scheduled on February 25 to fill two vacant seats in the state House. As of January, 27 state legislative special elections have been scheduled for 2020 in 13 states. Between 2011 and 2019, an average of 77 special elections took place each year.
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Polis selects Perkins for Colorado Public Utilities Commission
- Gov. Jared Polis (D) appointed attorney Susan Perkins to the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, succeeding Frances Koncilja. Polis had announced on Jan. 3 that he would not reappoint Koncilja when her term ended.
- The Pueblo Chieftain reported that according to Koncilja, Polis said that he was satisfied with her work but that he was not reappointing anyone appointed by former Gov. John Hickenlooper (D).
- Perkins is a member of the group Pueblo’s Energy Future and has worked as an attorney in the energy sector. The two other members of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, chairman Jeffrey Ackermann and John Gavan, are both Hickenlooper appointees. Their terms will expire in 2021 and 2023, respectively.
- The Colorado Public Utilities Commission is an independent, quasi-executive agency in the Colorado state government and a subdivision of the state's Department of Regulatory Agencies. The commission is responsible for regulating the state's telecommunications, electric, gas, and water utilities. It is composed of three members who are appointed by the governor to four-year terms. The members cannot all be from the same political party.
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Ballot Measures Update
2020:
- Fifty-two statewide measures in 24 states have been certified for the 2020 ballot so far.
- Fifteen of the 52 certified 2020 measures are citizen-initiated measures. Thirty-six are legislative referrals. One is an automatic constitutional revision commission question.
- One measure was certified for the 2020 ballot last week.
- The New Jersey State Legislature referred an amendment to the ballot that would make peacetime veterans eligible for a $250 property tax deduction. Currently, the deduction is offered to wartime veterans.
- Proponents of four additional ballot initiatives in Alaska, Arkansas, California, and Michigan submitted signatures, which are pending verification by state officials.
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Special Elections
- So far this year, 27 state legislative special elections have been scheduled in 13 states.
- 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 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).
- 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 21
January 28
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States in session
- Thirty-four states—Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin—are in regular session.
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