January 22, 2013 By Greg Janetka RICHMOND, Virginia: In a stunning move, Republicans in the Virginia State Senate passed a new redistricting map yesterday on a 20-19 party-line vote. The measure, which Democrats tried to get referred to committee, did not go through the normal process and was passed in about 30 minutes. The new lines appear to draw [...]

January 15, 2013 The Tuesday Count reports on ballot measure news and tracks all measures that make statewide ballots across the country (ballot certifications). Edited by Al Ortiz Although certifications have come slow on the ballot measure front, petition drive deadlines have been anything but few and far between. The state of Maine is setting up for its [...]

January 14, 2013 By George Sousouris Lexington, KENTUCKY: The Kentucky State Legislature convened briefly last week and started off the 2013 session by reelecting Rep. Greg Stumbo (D) Speaker of the House, and electing a new Senate President in Republican Robert Stivers.[1] This session will only last for 30 days, but undoubtedly pension reform will be brought up as one of the highest [...]

January 11, 2013 By Phil Sletten BATON ROUGE, Louisiana: Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (R) proposed eliminating the corporate income tax and personal income tax in a statement outlining broad tax reform goals. The statement said the governor’s office planned to work with state legislators on the details of the tax reform and that Governor Jindal wants “to keep the sales tax as low and [...]

January 9, 2013 By Joel Williams Santa Fe, New Mexico: United States Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell took an opportunity during the opening session of the new Senate on January 4 to lash out against a New Mexican icon. “If we can’t stop spending taxpayer dollars on robo-squirrels, and dancing robot DJ’s or hot air balloon rides for Smokey the [...]

January 8, 2013 By Justin Haas TALLAHASSEE Florida Early voting laws are likely to be changed once again in Florida. Senator Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, the man who sponsored the 2011 law that reduced the number of early voting days in Florida, has now authored a bill which would provide increased early voting opportunities.[1] Both chambers of the Florida Legislature are [...]

December 26, 2012 By Al Ortiz Throughout the year, Ballotpedia has been keeping track of anniversaries of the enactment of the initiative and referendum process in certain states, particularly the 100-year anniversaries. Previously, reports were completed for Arizona and Ohio, detailing approval rate and the history behind the implementation of this direct democracy process. In early-November, three states had anniversaries marking the 100th [...]

December 13, 2012 By Greg Janetka Raleigh, North Carolina: Ten state executive positions were up for election this year in the state of North Carolina. Gov. Bev Perdue (D) chose not to seek re-election while Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton (D) made a play for her open seat. The other eight incumbents all ran for, and won, re-election on November 6, 2012. Here are the candidates [...]

By Greg Janetka Helena, Montana: Nine state executive positions were up for election this year in the state of Montana. Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D), Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger (R), and Public Service Commissioner Brad Molnar (R) were term-limited and Attorney General Steve Bullock (D) ran for Governor. This left five incumbents who ran for re-election, [...]

By Maresa Strano MADISON, Wisconsin: It’s an off-year for gubernatorial elections in Alabama, Georgia, and Louisiana, which means the region had all eyes fixed on the state executive races for Public Service Commssioners. Three of the five state executive incumbents up for election ran in the general election on November 6, 2012. Both Georgia incumbents [...]