A review of May 15 primary election results in Idaho, Nebraska and Oregon. (May 17, 2012)

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Edited by Al Ortiz

Two more ballot measure certifications are needed for Ballotpedia’s Tuesday Count to hit the century mark. However, until then the total number of ballot-certified measures stands at 98 measures in 31 states with four ballot additions this week. The states which had a hand in bumping up the total were Alaska, Arizona and Missouri, which all sent legislative referrals to their 2012 general election ballots for voters to decide.

Starting in Arizona, a whopping three ballot measures secured a spot on the ballot, leaving the state with a total of seven measures that are up for a public vote in the fall.

The three measures deal with various topics including government financing, property and taxes.

Proposals in Arizona included House Concurrent Resolution 2056, which would mandate that the annual distribution from the state Permanent Fund be 2.5 percent of the average monthly market values of the fund for the immediately preceding five calendar years. This would take effect from fiscal year 2013 to fiscal year 2021.

The next proposal, Senate Concurrent Resolution 1001, authorizes the Arizona Legislature to enact a process to exchange trust land if the exchange is related to protecting military installations and managing lands. The last measure, Senate Concurrent Resolution 1025, would limit the annual growth in the limited property value of locally assessed properties. The limit would begin in 2015.

All three proposals are legislatively-referred constitutional amendments.

A majority vote is required in the Arizona State Legislature to send a constitutional amendment to the ballot. Arizona is one of ten states that allow a referred amendment to go on the ballot after a majority vote in one session of the state’s legislature.

Jumping to Alaska, in 2010, two bonding propositions found their way onto the ballot via legislative referral, where they were both approved. This year, state lawmakers added another bonding proposition, this time in hopes of improving the state’s public transportation.

Bonding Proposition A would allow for a general obligation bond to be issued for the purpose of transportation projects in the state. The general obligation bond would not exceed $453,499,200. This brings Alaska’s statewide ballot measure count to four.

Finally in Missouri, a judicial appointment question survived legislative session to make the ballot in November. The state constitutional amendment, which was certified on May 10, would grant the governor the power to appoint 4 persons to the Appellate Judicial Commission, the body responsible for choosing nominees for the Court of Appeals and the Missouri Supreme Court. The governor currently has the power to chose three of the seven total members.

In other ballot measure news, citizen initiative supporters in Massachusetts will now try to clear their last hurdle in order for their proposals to obtain ballot access this year. Since the state implements anindirect initiated state statute process, initiative organizers who turned in sufficient signatures by the initial November 23 petition drive deadline had their potential ballot measures reviewed by theMassachusetts General Assembly. Four efforts successfully turned in signatures by this deadline, therefore all four were reviewed by the state lawmaking body.

May 2, 2012 was the last day for the assembly to enact legislation similar to any proposed law. However, since the general assembly did not choose to make any of the four ballot proposals a law, supporters must now gather additional signatures to obtain ballot access. Those signatures must be obtained from about 1/2 of 1% of voters who voted in the last gubernatorial election and supporters must submit them to local clerks.

Validated signatures must then be turned in by the first Wednesday of July to the Massachusetts Secretary of State‘s office. Since the deadline falls on a national holiday, July 4, that deadline could be either July 3 or 5.

North Carolina Amendment 1 approved

On May 8, North Carolina Amendment 1 was approved by state voters. The highly-scrutinized measure was enacted with 61.05% of the vote.

The measure will add to the state constitution that the definition of marriage is between one man and one woman, according to the measure’s text. Also, the measure will ban any other type of “domestic legal union” such as civil unions and domestic partnerships.

Official election results will be posted when the North Carolina State Board of Elections website completes those numbers.

To view ballot measure election results, click here.

Quick hits

• Poll released on North Dakota Measure 2: A Forum Communications poll conducted May 3 to 8 of 500 likely voters found that nearly 3 to 1 of those surveyed oppose Measure 2. Of those who responded, 74% said they would be voting against the measure, while 26% said they would vote for it. The poll has a margin of error of +/-4.3 percent and was conducted by Essman/Research of Des Moines, Iowa.^[1]

• Voters may be barred from wearing “Fighting Sioux” related gear at polls: According to Mike Montplaisir, auditor for Cass County, North Dakota, voters who show up at the polls wearing clothing sporting the “Fighting Sioux” logo or nickname could be asked to remove it or cover it up. The county is prohibiting this because the nickname is the subject of Measure 4 and state elections law prevents wearing buttons or other materials designed to promote measures or candidates at a polling place. Montplaisir says, “It’s just a fairness issue. You can’t be campaigning at the polls.”^[2]

• Signatures still quite short for Michigan Marijuana Legalization Amendment: On Tuesday, May 15, supporters of the Michigan Marijuana Legalization Amendment are rallying at the state Capitol in Lansing in a late attempt to gather enough signatures to send the measure to the ballot. Proponents need 323,000 signatures by July 9 to qualify for November, but have currently only 25,000 signatures. According to campaign organizer, Matthew Abel, the problem is funding and lack of a major political lobby. In spite of this Abel remains positive, saying, “Our polling has shown that it’s very close to 50-50 and the poll numbers have been moving our way steadily for 40 years. We’re confident that if we can get it on the ballot that it will pass.”^[3]

SPOTLIGHT:Springfield measure given court injunction

In Springfield, Missouri, a local measure which was approved in February has been put under an injunction by a local judge who deemed the measure illegal.

The measure sought to implement an “E-verify system” within the city so that any business who was looking to hire a new employee would have to use the system to verify that the potential employee was not illegally in the country. The Ozark Minutemen, who brought the issue to the ballot, were urging the city officials to fight the injunction and allow the measure to be implemented.

City officials though had noted that the ordinance, if the judge deems it illegal, should not be implemented since it would be against state laws. The ordinance will not be enforced as it stands, though the Ozark Minutemen have stated that they would further fight the injunction.

Also, today in Oregon, resident will go to the polls and decide on several local issues.

The next petition drive deadline for citizen initiatives is in Montana. True or False? Click here to find out!

BALLOT LAW UPDATE

Libertarian Party challenges VA residency requirement: On May 14, the Libertarian Party filed a lawsuit challenging Virginia’s in-state residency requirement for candidate petition circulators. Earlier this year, a U.S. District Court overturned the state’s in-district residency requirement in Lux v. Judd. Although Virginia does not have initiative and referendum, anearlier ruling in Lux  has already had broader implications for ballot measure law.^[4]

A new update will be released on May 30, 2012. Click here for past Ballot Law Update reports!

The fast-moving primary season of May and June continues tomorrow with elections in Idaho, Nebraska and Oregon. In Idaho voters will decide on two U.S. House racesand all 105 state legislative seats.

Congress

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Idaho, 2012

Idaho has 2 seats on the ballot in 2012. A total of 8 candidates have filed to run, made up of 4 Democratic challengers, 2Republican challengers, and 2 incumbents. Including the three states with primaries tomorrow, a total of 106 U.S. House seats have held primaries. Thus far, 58.02% of possible primaries have been contested. Idaho‘s contested figure of 100% is well above the national average.

In the 1st district, former NFL player Jimmy Farris is running on the Democratic ticket against candidate Cynthia Clinkingbeard. On the Republican ticket, incumbent Raul Labrador is seeking re-electionagainst challenger Reed McCandless. Clinkingbeard suspended her campaign after charges were filed against her stemming from an incident where she allegedly threatened an office supply store employee with a gun.^[1][2][3]

In the 2nd district, Democratic candidates, Jack Wayne Chappell and Nicole LeFavour are facing off for the nomination. LeFavour is currently a state senator serving in the Idaho State Senate. IncumbentMike Simpson is running against challenger M.C. Heileson on the Republican ticket.

Both Simpson and Labrador are considered “strong incumbents” in the primary election tomorrow.^[4]

State legislatures

Idaho State Senate elections, 2012 and Idaho House of Representatives elections, 2012

There are 125 total legislative seats with elections in 2012 – 35 Senate seats and 70 House seats.

There are 10 (9.52%) contested Democratic primaries and 60 (57.14%) contested Republican primaries. Thus, there will be 70 races tomorrow with at least two candidates on the ballot. The 33.33% figure of contested primaries in Idaho is higher than the current national contested average of 23.42% for states that have had filing deadlines.

A total of 35 incumbents – 26 Republicans and 9 Democrats – chose not to seek re-election. Of those, 9 are senators and 26 are representatives.

With Republicans dominating the state, the primaries will in many cases serve as the main battleground of the 2012 election. Tea party members and libertarians are actively targeting incumbents who they say are no longer in line with republican values. Big business associations have been dumping last minute contributions in the races in order to defeat tea party candidates. Among those they are seeking to protect are Senators Shawn Keough and Patti Anne Lodge and Rep. George Eskridge.^[5]

• In District 1 Sen. Keough is facing a challenge from Danielle Ahrens, a tea party supporter who has never run for office. The Free Enterprise PAC has attacked Keough as “the No. 1 big spender in Boise” while referring to Ahrens as “an actual Republican.”^[6]
• Sen. Lodge is facing a primary challenge from Maurice Clements in District 11. Clements, a former legislator and conservative farmer, has found himself targeted by groups such as the Idaho Association of Realtors. Lobbyist for the IAR John Eaton called Clements “the perfect example” of candidates they are targeting, saying, “He wants to legalize pot. That’s the kind of stuff that the business community would never support.”^[7]
• Rep. Eskridge is facing Pam Stout for the Republican nomination in House District 1B. Stout, who heads a tea party group, made a name for herself when she appeared on the David Letterman show to talk about tea partiers. She has found support from incumbent Rep. Bob Nonini. Eskridge, meanwhile, has assured voters that there is no doubt he is a conservative.^[5]

Republicans have large majorities in both chambers of the Idaho State Legislature.

The fast-moving primary season of May and June continues tomorrow with elections in Idaho, Nebraska and Oregon. In Oregon, voters will decided on five U.S. House races and 74 state legislative seats.

Congress

United States House of Representatives elections in Oregon, 2012

Oregon has 5 U.S. House seats on the ballot in 2012. A total of 15 candidates have filed to run, made up of 3 Democraticchallengers, 7 Republican challengers, and 5 incumbents. Including the three states with primaries tomorrow, a total of 106 U.S. House seats have held primaries. Thus far, 58.02% of possible primaries have been contested. In Oregon, just one incumbent (20%) faces a primary challenge, which is below the national average.

In Oregon’s 4th, incumbent Peter DeFazio faces graduate student Matthew L. Robinson in the Democratic primary. Robinson’s father, scientist Art Robinson, is running unopposed in the Republican primary; he also ran against DeFazio in 2010. The younger Robinson switched to the Democratic party in order to face DeFazio in the primary.^[1]

The other four incumbents are running unopposed: Suzanne Bonamici (D-1st), Greg Walden (R-2nd), Earl Blumenauer (D-3rd), and Kurt Schrader (D-5th).

In the 1st district, Republican challengers Lisa Michaels and Delinda Morgan compete. In the 2nd, Democrats Joyce Segers and John Sweeney will duke it out. Republican voters will choose betweenDelia Lopez and John Green in the 3rd district, and between Fred Thompson and Karen Bowerman in the 5th.

State legislatures

Oregon State Senate elections, 2012 and Oregon House of Representatives elections, 2012

There are 74 total legislative seats with elections in 2012 – 14 Senate seats and 60 House seats.

There are 6 (8.11%) contested Democratic primaries and 9 (12.16%) contested Republican primaries. The 10.1% of contested primaries in Oregon is below the current national contested average of 23.42% for states that have had signature filing deadlines.

A total of 10 incumbents — 3 Republicans and 7 Democrats — chose not to seek re-election. Of those, 7 are senators and 3 are representatives.

• In the state Senate, 27th district Republican incumbent Chris Telfer has a primary challenge from Tim Knopp. In the 28th, Republican incumbent Douglas K. Whitsett is challenged by Karl Scronce. In the 29th, Republicans Bill Hansell and Maryl Graybeal Featherstone seek to replace retiring Republican incumbent David Nelson.

• There are three contested Republican primaries in the state House. In the 11th district primary, Republicans have a choice between Kelly Lovelace and Jacob Daniels. In the 12th, Democrats John Lively and Sandra Mann compete. The 22nd sees a Republican primary between Kathy LeCompte against Tom Chereck, Jr.

• On the Democratic side, there are three contested House primaries. In the 29th district, Democrats choose between Katie Riley and Ben Unger. In the 36th, three Democrats are competing: Jennifer Williamson, Benjamin Jay Barber, and Sharon Meieran. Democrats Timothy McMenamin and Sam Cantrell face off in the 41st.

Democrats and Republicans have a nearly equal split in the Oregon State Legislature.

The fast-moving primary season of May and June continues tomorrow with elections in Idaho, Nebraska and Oregon. In Nebraska, voters will decided on one U.S. Senate seat, three U.S. House races and 26 state legislative seats.

The Republican primary for U.S. Senate is anticipated to be very close, as presumed frontrunner Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning faces serious competition from state Senator Deb Fischer and state Treasurer Don Stenberg.^[1]

Congress

U.S. Senate

United States Senate elections in Nebraska, 2012

Nebraska has one U.S. Senate seat on the ballot in 2012. Senator Ben Nelson is retiring, leaving the Senate seat open. Six Republicans and four Democrats are in the running.

On the Democratic primary, voters will choose between Larry Marvin, Steven P. Lustgarten, Sherman Yates, and Bob Kerrey.

Republican voters will choose between Jon Bruning, Deb Fischer, Don Stenberg, Sharyn Elander, Pat Flynn, and Spencer Zimmerman. Fischer, a state senator, has received an endorsement from Sarah Palin, and many conservative PACs are supporting her over Nebraska Attorney General Bruning.^[2] Meanwhile, state Treasurer Don Stenberg was endorsed by South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint,^[3] and national conservative super PAC Club for Growth Action has funded ads supporting him.^[4]

U.S. House

United States House of Representatives elections in Nebraska, 2012

Nebraska has 3 U.S. House seats on the ballot in 2012.

A total of 14 candidates have filed to run, made up of 4 Democratic challengers, 7 Republican challengers, and 3 incumbents. Including the three states with primaries tomorrow, a total of 106 U.S. House seats have held primaries. Thus far, 58.02% of possible primaries have been contested. In Nebraska, all three incumbents face primary challenges.

• In the 1st district, incumbent Jeff Fortenberry faces Dennis Parker and Jessica L. Turek in the Republican primary. Democrat Korey L. Reiman is unopposed.
• In the 2nd district, incumbent Lee Terry is challenged by Jack Heidel, Brett Lindstrom, Glenn Freeman, Paul Anderson. In the Democratic primary, Gwen Howard faces John Ewing.
• In the 3rd district, Bob Lingenfelter is challenging Republican incumbent Adrian Smith, and Mark Sullivan is unopposed in the Democratic primary.

State legislatures

Nebraska State Senate elections, 2012

There are 26 total legislative seats with elections in 2012. There are 10 (38.5%) contested primaries in the Nebraska State Senate, which is higher than the current national contested average of 23.42% for states that have had filing deadlines. Five of the 17 incumbents who are seeking election will face primary opposition in 2012.

Nebraska’s legislature is non-partisan, meaning candidates do not declare party affiliations. The top two vote-getters in each primary will go on to the general election.^[5]

There are four unchallenged incumbents in 2012. They are: Heath Mello (District 5), Kathy Campbell (District 25), Mike Gloor (District 35), and Ken Schilz (District 47).

A total of 9 incumbents, or 18.4% of the total senate seats, are ineligible to run for the senate again due to term limits. They are: Abbie Cornett (District 45), Chris Langemeier (District 23), Deb Fischer(District 43), Gwen Howard (District 9), Lavon Heidemann (District 1), LeRoy Louden (District 49), Mike Flood (District 19), Rich Pahls (District 31), and Tony Fulton (District 29).

The 38.46% of contested primaries in Nebraska is above the current national contested average of 23.42% for states that have had signature filing deadlines.

SALEM, OR: There are four statewide offices on the ballot in the Beaver state this year - attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer and labor commissioner. Three incumbents are seeking re-election, with the fourth, attorney general John Kroger, retiring to become president of Reed College. The only two primary contests awaiting settlement tomorrow are the Democratic nominations for attorney general and secretary of state.

Besides the nonpartisan race for labor commissioner, which voters will not address at the polls until November due to a new election law,^[1] the state executive primary races are all partisan and thus subject to this year’s open Republican primaries. Oregon’s Republican party, which has struggled over the last decade to elect a single candidate to state row, decided to extend a special invitation to the state’s over 420,000 unaffiliated voters to participate in its primaries for attorney general, secretary of state, and treasurer.^[2] The gesture meant to attract these voters, which compose 21% of the state’s electorate, to GOP candidates early in the election season and to build goodwill for the floundering party.

Ultimately, the gesture was an empty one; Republican presence has dwindled so much in recent past that it took considerable effort by the party to recruit one candidate -Knute Buehler for secretary of state- between the three races, let alone produce enough candidates to stage a Republican primary contest. ^[3]

Owing to the forgone presidential primary contests, Secretary of State Kate Brown predicted that voter turnout in Tuesday’s primary will be in the “low 40s,” which would be the lowest voter participationfor the state’s presidential primary in modern history.^[4]

Three states are holding primary elections today. Here at Ballotpedia, we’ve got you covered in all aspects of the ballot.

Below you fill find four preview stories detailing what to expect in today’s elections. Additionally, you will find links to the pages about the local ballot measure electionsin Oregon.

Idaho

Polls will be open from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM Mountain and Pacific Times. In some instances, the Clerk is able to open polling at 7:00 AM.

The bullets below contain a detailed preview of what will be on the ballot in Idaho.

• Congressional and Legislative Primaries

Nebraska

Oregon is an elections by mail state, however a voter can still vote on election day at their local municipal clerks office from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm central time and 7:00 am to 7:00 pm mountain time.

The bullets below contain a detailed preview of what will be on the ballot in Nebraska.

• Congressional and Legislative Primaries

Oregon

Polls will be open from 6:30am to 7:30pm EST.

The bullets below contain a detailed preview of what will be on the ballot in Oregon.

• State Executive Official Primaries
• Congressional and Legislative Primaries
• May 15, 2012 ballot measures in Oregon

This week’s tracker features a sessions update and look at recall efforts in Louisiana and Wisconsin.

Sessions

This week 17 out of 50 state legislatures are meeting in regular session. North Carolina is scheduled to convene this week, while Alabama is expected to adjourn.

Twenty-seven states have adjourned for the year, while four states – Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, and Texas – will not hold regular sessions in 2012.

Regular sessions

See also: Dates of 2012 state legislative sessions

The following states convened their regular legislative sessions:

• January 3: Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont

• January 4: California, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York

• January 9: Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Washington

• January 10: Arizona, Delaware, Florida, New Jersey, South Dakota, Tennessee, Wisconsin

• January 11: Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia

• January 17: Alaska, New Mexico
• January 18: Hawaii
• January 23: Utah
• January 24: Minnesota
• February 1: Oregon
• February 5: Oklahoma
• February 7: Alabama
• February 8: Connecticut
• February 13: Arkansas, Wyoming
• March 12: Louisiana State Legislature

The following states have ended their regular session:

• February 16: New Mexico
• March 6: Oregon
• March 8: Utah, Washington
• March 9: Arkansas, Florida, Wyoming
• March 10: Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia
• March 16: Wisconsin
• March 19: South Dakota
• March 29: Georgia, Idaho
• April 9: Maryland State Legislature
• April 12: Kentucky State Legislature
• April 16: Alaska State Legislature
• April 18: Nebraska State Legislature
• May 1: Tennessee State Legislature
• May 3: Arizona, Mississippi, Hawaii
• May 5: Vermont State Legislature
• May 9: Colorado, Iowa, Connecticut
• May 10: Minnesota State Legislature
• May 14: Maine State Legislature

Click here to see a chart of each state’s 2012 session information.

Kansas

The Kansas State Legislature was scheduled to adjourn today but, due to infighting among Republicans, the session had to be extended. Major issues which remain unresolved include education funding, state employee pension reform, redistricting and the budget. Gov. Sam Brownback (R) stated, “I think it’s reasonable for people to say they should have gotten things done in 90 days. My hope is that they wrap it up here pretty soon.”^[1]

Special sessions

In 2011, special sessions were a widespread occurrence in state legislatures. This was largely due to states’ having to complete the redistricting process for legislative and congressional districts. Overall in 2011, there were 45 special sessions in 28 states.

Since the beginning of 2012, there have been 11 special sessions in 8 states. Two are ongoing.

Colorado

Colorado began a special session today to deal with the issue of civil unions as well as other unresolved issues that Republican House leaders stopped action on. Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) called the session, stating, “Transparency, accountability and the virtues of good government are compromised when the legislative clock is used to avoid consideration of important legislation. We owe it to the people we serve to do better.”^[2]

Maryland

Gov. Martin O’Malley announced on May 4 that he would call state legislators back into session on May 14 to deal with lingering budget issues.^[3] The session opened today with protests by GOP lawmakers, calling O’Malley a liar and vowing to fight a Democratic plan to raise income taxes and move part of the cost of teacher pensions to the counties.^[4]

Criticism of the effort to raise taxes has not been just a partisan matter – this morning State Comptroller Peter Franchot (D) sent a letter to the press calling the plan “simply the wrong approach at the wrong time.”^[5]

In recess

As of today, May 14, 3 states’ sessions are currently in recess:

• North Carolina – Mid-term recess June 18, 2011 through May 16, 2012^[6]
• Virginia – In recess April 19 to May 18.^[6]
• Wisconsin – In recess from March 17 to May 21.^[6]

Redistricting

State news

Alaska

On April 10, the Alaska Supreme Court rejected the Alaska Redistricting Board’s revised redistricting map. A previous version of the map had already been struck down by the court. Although the ruling reiterated the need to more closely adhere to the Alaska Constitution, it also gave more specific instructions regarding the map. The court ordered the Board to redraw House Districts 31 through 34 and Senate Districts P and Q. The court had previously instructed the Board to make Voting Rights Act adjustments only after the state constitutional requirements were satisfied. However, the court has now instructed board not to make VRA adjustments since, according to the court, the Act does not justify diverging from the state constitution for the districts in question. The Board has until May 15 to revise the plans. Objections must be filed by May 18.^[7]

Arkansas

A redistricting trial began last week in Arkansas. A panel of three federal judges dismissed Secretary of State Mark Martin (R) from the suit, which was filed regarding an eastern Arkansas State Senate district.^[8] The court ruled it will not delay the May 22 primary as it considers the case.^[9]

Kansas

On April 10, the Kansas House of Representatives approved a Senate redistricting map. The move is part of an ongoing feud between moderate Republicans in the Senate and conservatives in the House. Ordinarily, each chamber draws its own chamber maps. The competing House plan challenges this tradition.^[10]

Kansas law requires legislators to complete redistricting during the regular session–which is limited to 90 days. The 90 day limit has passed and a lawsuit has been filed, but it’s unclear when or if the courts will intervene.^[11]

New Hampshire

Five lawsuits filed against the approved House districts have been consolidated into one case and have been sent to the state Supreme Court. Separate cases were filed by the cities of Concord and Manchester, the town of Gilford, a group of Democrats and a group of House Republicans.^[12]

According to lawsuits, the new House districts denied certain towns and wards their own representatives even though they deserved them by law. Gov. John Lynch (D) used similar arguments when he vetoed the bill, but the Republican majority in the legislature overrode the veto.^[12]

2012 Legislative Elections

See also: State legislative elections, 2012 and State legislative elections results, 2012

A total of 86 of the 99 chambers will hold state legislative elections on November 6, 2012.

1,272 (64.5%) of the country’s 1,971 state senate seats are up for election in November 2012, and 4,712 (87.05%) of the country’s 5,413 state house seats are up for election. Altogether, 5,984 (81.04%) of the country’s 7,384 state legislative seats will be up for election during the presidential election year.

• 43 of the 50 state senates are holding elections.
• 43 of the 49 state houses are holding elections.

The 5,984 seats up for election is 141 fewer than the 6,125 that were contested in 2010.

Filing deadlines

See also: Signature requirements and deadlines for 2012 state government elections and 2012 Elections preview: Comparing state legislative filing deadlines

Two states – Michigan and Washington – have signature filing deadlines this week.

So far, deadlines have passed in 26 states:

States with upcoming deadlines:

Primaries

See also: 2012 election dates

State legislative primaries taking place this week:

So far, primaries have taken place in six states:

• Ohio – March 6
• Illinois – March 20
• Pennsylvania – April 24
• Indiana, North Carolina, West Virginia – May 8

A total of 18 state legislative incumbents have been defeated in a primary.

States with upcoming primaries:

• May 15: Idaho, Nebraska, Oregon
• May 22: Arkansas, Kentucky
• May 29: Texas
• June 5: California, Iowa, Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota
• June 12: Maine, Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina, Virginia
• June 26: Colorado, Oklahoma, Utah

Note: Texas was originally scheduled to hold their primary on March 6. However, with newly drawn state legislative maps being fought in the courts, the date was moved to May 29.

Recalls

Currently, 18 states permit the recall of state officials. Between 1913 and 2008, there were just 20 state legislative recall elections in five states. Of the 20 state legislative recall elections, 13 out of 20 resulted in the state legislator being recalled. In 2011, there were 11 state legislative recalls in three states, 4 of which resulted in the legislator being recalled. In 2012, there are currently 4 scheduled state legislative recalls.

Louisiana

Last week recall paperwork was filed against Republican state Reps. Kevin Pearson and Greg Cromer, both of whom are considered allies to Gov. Bobby Jindal (R). A petition drive was launched in March against Speaker of the House Chuck Kleckley for his support of Jindal’s proposed changes to the education system. In order for a recall election to be scheduled, organizers have to collect signatures from one-third of the registered voters in each district within 180 days.^[13]

Michigan

2011 saw a wave of recall attempts in Michigan. While most of those efforts dried up, at least two campaigns continued on (the recall of Paul Scott was successful on November 8, 2011). Organizers of the campaigns to recall Bruce Caswell (R) and Phil Pavlov (R) set their sights on the August 2012 ballot, but last month organizers of the Pavlov recall announced they did not have enough signatures and were abandoning their efforts.^[14] The Caswell campaign remains active.

Proposed recall petition language was submitted in April targeting Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville (R). The man behind the move is Jeff Andring, a fellow Republican and former chairman of the Monroe County Republican Party. The language says Richardville should be recalled for cosponsoring legislation that benefited the brother of the state GOP chair, supporting a right-to-work law only affecting public school teacher unions, and supporting a proposed bridge to Canada.^[15]

The language was recently rejected in a 3-0 vote by officials in Monroe County because it was unclear. Andring has the option to appeal the decision or to reword the petition.^[16]

Wisconsin

See also: Timeline of events of the recall of Wisconsin State Senators in 2012

Recalls are scheduled against four state senators. The primary took place on May 8 with general elections on June 5.^[17]

Democrats in Wisconsin filed recall petitions on November 15, 2011 against four Republican state senators – Pam Galloway, Scott Fitzgerald, Terry Moulton and Van Wanggaard.^[18] Campaign organizers turned in more than the necessary number of signatures in each of the four races on January 17, 2012.

The Republican Party ran protest candidates (Republicans who ran as Democrats) in each of the primaries in order to ensure all recalls would take place on the same date. The “fake” candidates were all defeated, taking between 27.9 and 35.8 percent.

Matchups for the June 5 recalls are as follows:

District 13 – Sen. Scott Fitzgerald (R) faces Democrat Lori Compas, an organizer of the recall, and Libertarian Terry Virgil.

District 21 – Sen. Van Wanggaard (R) faces former state Sen. John Lehman (D).

District 23 – Sen. Terry Moulton (R) faces former Democratic state legislator Kristen Dexter.

District 29 – Sen. Pam Galloway (R)

Galloway resigned, but the recall against her continues as scheduled. State Rep. Jerry Petrowski (R) is running in her place and will face Democratic state Rep. Donna Seidel.

Meanwhile, a recall targeting Sen. Bob Jauch (D) was launched on March 19, 2012. Supporters of the recall needed to collect 15,270 valid signatures by May 18 in order to force a recall election, but they suspended the recall a week before the deadline.^[19][20]

On Friday, a Hayward affiliate of the Citizens for Responsible Government announced they would be suspending the recall drive, stating “the group intends to focus its resources to retain Governor Scott Walker and Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch in the upcoming recall elections.”^[21]

The group promised more information about the future of the recall following the recall elections on June 5, 2012.^[21]

Special Elections

See also: State legislative special elections, 2012

There are no special elections scheduled to take place this week.

Looking ahead

Upcoming special elections include:

• July 17: South Carolina Senate District 41
• July 24: South Carolina House District 68
• November 6: New Jersey Assembly District 16
• November 6: New Jersey Assembly District 26
• November 6: New Jersey Assembly District 68

A summary of May 8 Wisconsin recall election results. (May 10, 2012)

The May 8 primary elections are now over, capping one of the busiest election days of the 2012 season. Here at Ballotpedia, we’ve got you covered in all aspects of the ballot. That includes filling you in on the overall occurrences of Tuesday’s events.

Here you fill find stories giving recaps on what happened during the primary elections held in the states below. Additionally, you will find links to the pages about the recalls that happened in Wisconsin. More recap articles are coming soon, so check back here for more updates!

Here are a few notable developments from the May 8 elections:

• North Carolina Amendment 1 was approved with 61.05% of voters casting “yes” votes. The measure intends to define marriage as between one man and one woman in the state constitution.
• Incumbent Richard Lugar, Republican U.S Senator from Indiana, lost to challenger Richard Mourdock. Lugar had been in office since 1977.
• Six state House incumbents lost on May 8 in North Carolina – five Republicans and one Democrat - bringing the number of defeated incumbents in state legislatures across the country to 18.
• Earl Ray Tomblin, the only West Virginia state executive incumbent seeking re-election who faced a primary challenger, easily defeated Arne Moltis in the Democratic gubernatorial election

Indiana

The bullets below contain a recap of what happened during the May 8 primary election in Indiana. No recap article was posted for state executives due to only one candidate running for governor from each party. The governor’s race was the only state executive office on the ballot in the primary election:

• State Executive Official Primaries
• Congressional and Legislative Primaries recap

North Carolina

The bullets below contain a recap of what happened during the May 8 primary election in North Carolina.

• Amendment 1 recap
• State Executive Official Primaries recap
• Congressional and Legislative Primaries recap

West Virginia

The bullets below contain a recap of what happened during the May 8 primary election in West Virginia.

• State Executive Official Primaries recap
• Congressional and Legislative Primaries recap

Wisconsin

Primary elections were held in the recall campaigns for Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch. See below for election results:

• Scott Walker recall, Wisconsin (2012)
• Rebecca Kleefisch recall, Wisconsin (2012)