By Ballotpedia’s Congressional and State legislative teams

The fast-moving primary season of May and June continues tomorrow with elections in Arkansas and Kentucky.

Here’s what to watch for in Arkansas, where polling places will be open from 7:30 am to 7:30 pm. When the polls close, any voter in line will be permitted to vote.

Arkansas Secretary of State Mark Martin initially predicted turnout of around 30 percent, but that figure has been reduced based on low turnout in early voting.^[1]

Congress

Arkansas has a total of four seats on the ballot in 2012. A total of 14 candidates have filed to run, made up of 8 Democraticchallengers, 3 Republican challengers, and 3 incumbents. Including the two states with primaries tomorrow, a total of 117U.S. House seats have held primaries. Thus far, 57.26% of possible primaries have been contested. Arkansas‘s contested figure of 37.5% (3 of 8 possible party primaries) is significantly less competitive than the national average.

In the 4 congressional districts, there are 2 Democratic races contested, with two or more candidates running, and 1Republican contested race. The Democratic races with a single candidate running unopposed include candidate Herb Rule in the 2nd district and candidate Ken Aden in the 3rd district.

The Republican races with a single candidate running unopposed are incumbent Rick Crawford in the 1st district, incumbent Tim Griffin in the 2nd district, and incumbent Steve Womack in the 4th district.

The open seat in Arkansas‘s 4th district from retiring Democratic incumbent Mike Ross has created a primary contest on both sides, with three candidates battling in each of the Democratic and Republican primaries.

In the 1st district Scott Ellington, Gary Latanich, and state representative Clark Hall are running for the Democratic nomination and the chance to run against incumbent Rick Crawford in the generalelection.

State legislature

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

There are 135 total legislative seats with elections in 2012 – 35 Senate seats and 100 House seats.

There are 19 (14.07%) contested Democratic primaries and 15 (11.11%) contested Republican primaries. Thus, there will be 34 races tomorrow with at least two candidates on the ballot. The 12.59% figure of contested primaries in Arkansas is lower than the current national contested average of 24.18% for states that have had filing deadlines.

Senate

In the Senate, there are a total of 7 incumbents facing a primary challenge – 4 Democrats and 3 Republicans. Four of the 7 incumbents are facing a challenge from a current member of the State House.

 District 7: Incumbent Bill Pritchard (R) is running against state representative Bill Pritchard.

 District 9: Incumbent Bruce Holland (R) faces Rick Green.

 District 11: Democratic incumbent Steve Harrelson is challenged by state representative Larry Cowling.

 District 19: Republican incumbent David Wyatt faces state representative Linda Collins-Smith.

 District 24: Incumbent Jack Crumbly (D) is challenged by state representative Keith Ingram.

 District 25: Incumbent Stephanie Flowers (D) is running against state representative Efrem Elliott.

 District 26: Democratic incumbent Eddie Cheatham faces Johnnie Bolin and Gregg Reep.

House

In the House, there are a total of 6 incumbents facing a primary challenge – 2 Democrats and 4 Republicans.

 District 9: Democratic incumbent Sheilla Lampkin is challenged by Robert Cornelius.

 District 47: Incumbent Jody Dickinson (D) is running against WM. Burl Simmons, Jr..

 District 70: Republican incumbent David Meeks faces Price Dooley.

 District 76: Incumbent Denny Altes (R) is challenged by Mathew Pitsch.

 District 81: Incumbent Justin Harris (R) faces Lisa France Norris.

 District 92: Republican incumbent Mary Slinkard is running against Jim Parsons.

MONTGOMERY, Alabama: Lawmakers in the Alabama House of Representatives voted 101-0 for a bill that would expand state incentives for film companies and increase the size of projects that qualify for them. The legislation, sponsored by Representative Terri Collins, adds to a 2011 bill by expanding Alabama’s film and television production incentive cap from $10 to $25 million. The cap will go up $5 million a year until it reaches the new $25 million cap in 2015.

Collins said, “Because the incentives we are allowed to offer lag behind those of other states, many television and movie projects that are actually set in Alabama have gone elsewhere to film. Alabama native Octavia Spencer put our state on the theatrical map when she won an Academy Award just two days ago, and I hope passage of this bill will eventually do the same thing. It is time that we demonstrated Alabama is open for business when it comes to competing for movie and TV productions along with the economic investments they can bring to our state.”^[1][2]

The bill now moves to the Senate for debate.

Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky House Republicans have filed a lawsuit to block the legislative redistricting map passed by the Democratic majority. Republicans say the map unconstitutionally split counties and was unfavorable to Republicans.^[1]

The filing deadline for candidates was set for Tuesday. The judge considering the suit is expected to rule whether to extend the deadline while he considers the case.^[2]

Kentucky also faces difficulties in creating new districts for its congressional seats. The state Senate unanimously passed a bill to extend by a week the filing deadline for candidates, originally set for January 31. Speaker of the House Greg Stumbo (D) is optimistic that the extra week will give the two chambers time to agree on a new map.^[3] States are redistricting following the results of the 2010 U.S. census.

By Bailey Ludlam

JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri: Advocates of a renewable energy initiative for the 2012 ballot have filed their proposal with the Missouri Secretary of State‘s office. However, unlike other proposals, this one asks for the initiative language to be written by somebody other than Secretary of State Robin Carnahan.

Rep. Jay Barnes has asked that Carnahan recuse herself from writing the initiative language because her brother is an investory in wind energy production. “This renewable energy mandate would have a direct and incredibly lucrative impact on hundreds of millions of dollars of investment by a close family member of Robin Carnahan. If Robin Carnahan values fair government, she will immediately recuse herself and her office completely from this petition process,” said Barnes. Carnahan’s spokesperson said the request would be taken under consideration.

Initially, the proposal was filed in October 2011 but was later withdrawn “because of technical problems in how it was drafted.” A second proposal was submitted in earlyDecember 2011. The proposal, according to news reports, would maintain the same renewable energy targets as the initial proposal but would also give the state Office of Public Counsel the authority to monitor enforcement of the new standards.^[1]

The measure would require renewables to be used for 5 percent by 2014, 10 percent by 2017, 15 percent by 2020, 20 percent by 2023 and 25 percent of electricity by 2026.^[2][3]

Since its approval in 2008, Missouri Proposition C, Clean Energy Initiative has faced several road blocks and challenges. Among the issues is “whether electricity from renewable energy sources needs to be produced or sold in Missouri and the specifics of how to apply the 1 percent cap in rates.”^[4]

RALEIGH, North Carolina: Last week, the House Committee on the State’s Role in Immigration Policy met to consider tougher laws targeting illegal immigrants in the state. The meeting drew a standing-room only crowd of supporters from both sides.^[1]

The issue of illegal immigration came to the forefront this year following the 2010 Republican wave that took control of the House. Legislation in past years focused mainly on limiting illegal immigrants’ access to public services, but to limited success.

No specific bills were addressed at the meeting, but legislation is pending that would prohibit use of consular and other embassy documents as official identification, specify documents required to receive public benefits, and add an identifying mark to the driver’s licenses of people who are not permanent citizens. A bill similar to the controversial Arizona law has been filed but not yet considered by either chamber.^[2]

By Jimmy Ardis

Texas: The US Supreme Court threw Texas redistricting and elections into a frenzy on Friday when it temporarily blocked the recently implemented interim maps that were drawn by a San Antonio federal court. The nation’s high court is set to hear arguments on the constitutionality of the maps next on January 9, 2012 – just under a month. The move has put the fate of the 2012 elections in a state of confusion.^[1]

Texas officials have been in an uproar this month over the interim maps drawn by the San Antonio federal court responsible for the state’s consolidated redistricting case. Over the past month the court has implemented newly drawn maps for the Texas House of Representatives, the Texas State Senate, and Texas’ congressional delegation. The San Antonio court was forced to draw interim maps in order for the 2012 elections to proceed without further delay after a DC-based court rejected Texas’ maps on grounds they violated the Voting Rights Act.

The maps increase minority voting power and in turn the likelihood of Democrats gaining seats. Republicans were not pleased with the court-drawn maps, to say the least. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has been highly critical of the court’s maps since day one, claiming the court was overreaching and creating policy instead of upholding the law. Abbott attempted to block the plans by requesting emergency stays from the United State Supreme Court. The Attorney General filed a request on November 28th asking the high court to halt implementation of the interim State House and State Senate plans. He filed a similar request for Texas’ congressional map on December 1st.

The Supreme Court answered the Texas Attorney General on Friday December 9th, temporarily halting the court-drawn maps until it can hear the case. As it currently stands, the signature filing deadline is December 15 for all state legislative and congressional candidates running for election in 2012. But those dates are now in peril since the Supreme Court isn’t set to hear arguments on the redistricting plans until January 9th.^[1]

While the Supreme Court is gearing to look at the case, the San Antonio court, along with Texas officials, is currently trying to figure what to do about the primary election dates – given that the filing deadlines are now moot. The court held hearings today to hear proposed plans on how to handle the primaries. Two camps have emerged, with those calling for two separate primaries on one side and those requesting one primary at a much later date on the other.

SANTA FE, New Mexico: In the 2010 state house election in New Mexico, Speaker of the House Ben Lujan, Sr. was nearly defeated in the Democratic Primary, winning by only 84 votes.^[1] His opponent, Carl Trujillo, has announced he will once again seek election to District 46 of the New Mexico House of Representatives.^[1]

Lujan has not yet declared whether he will seek re-election to a 19th term. The signature filing deadline for candidates is February 14, 2012. The primary takes place on June 5, 2012.^[1]

Trujillo is the nephew of state representative Jim Trujillo (D).

Lujan said he will make his decision once the redistricting process is completed. Currently, the courts are holding hearings on maps. The legislature was unable to complete new maps during the 2011 session.

[hide]New Mexico House of Representatives District 46 Primary, 2010
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Ben Lujan, Sr. Incumbent	51%	2,140
Carl Trujillo	49%	2,056
Total Votes		4,196

By Greg Janetka

DES MOINES, Iowa: With just a little over a month left to go before the Iowa Republican caucuses on January 3,^[1] the eyes of the nation are watching as the presidential contenders jockey for position in the state. Meanwhile, Iowa legislators are busy preparing for the 2012 session, set to get under way January 9.

While formal agendas have not been set, it looks like familiar issues will dominate. Republican House Speaker Kraig Paulsen stated recently, “There’s no question that the economy and jobs, that’s what Iowans across the whole spectrum want us to be working on. I think we’re in general agreement that we’ll be addressing that.”^[2] He also said he believes the two parties are ready to work together more productively.

Democrats won a special state senate election on November 8, narrowly retaining their 26-24 majority in the chamber. Republicans hold the governorship and a solid majority in the House – both of which they won in the 2010 elections. Next year all 100 state representatives and half of the 50 member senate will be up for re-election. The filing deadline to run in the June 5 primary is March 16.

By Lauren Rodgers

HARRISBURG, PA: A new law is scheduled to take effect in the Keystone state on December 25, 2011. Gov. Tom Corbett signed HB9 into law, limiting the number of passengers allowed in vehicles operated by teenage drivers and increasing the practice hours required for would-be drivers from 50 to 65. The law also makes not wearing a seatbelt a primary offense for anyone under the age of 18, meaning that police officers no longer need another reason to pull someone over.

In a statement to the press, Corbett defended the legislation. “Teen drivers out there may feel that they are being singled out by this bill and, the fact is, they are…”^[1] Another road safety bill has passed the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and will head to the state senate for a vote. The bill prohibits the use of “interactive wireless communication devices for reading, writing or sending text messages while driving.”^[2] Other traffic-related legislation under consideration includes legalizing the enforcement of traffic laws with the aid of cameras; creating a “careless driving” offense for driving while using the phone, eating, or drinking; and requiring motorists to remove ice and snow from their vehicles.^[3]

Edited by Tyler Millhouse

On Monday, Utah’s House and Senate Republicans reached a compromise on the state’s congressional redistricting plan. The approved map, passed 50-19 in the House and 20-5 in the Senate, is a modified version of the plan previously passed by the Joint Redistricting Committee and the State Senate.

The modified version was prepared by the House after its earlier proposal (very loosely based on a citizen-drawn map) was rejected by the Senate and sharply criticized by its original author. The final version, however, has not satisfied opponents who charge that legislators deliberately targeted US Rep. Jim Matheson (D) for elimination. Matheson’s districts is now 60%-65% Republican. GOP estimates suggest that Matheson’s new District 2 contains only 31% of its existing voters. Opponents worry that the new lines will make it possible for the GOP to capture all four of Utah’s U.S. House seats.

Both Democrats and Republicans threatened lawsuits during the process. Republicans threatened to sue if a safe Democratic seat was created, but none was created. Democrats, on the other hand, plan to go forward with their lawsuit, arguing that the new map is unfair and gerrymandered.

Despite the impasse over congressional redistricting, lawmakers did manage to pass the committee’s legislative redistricting plans (with modifications) prior to the recess. Utah Governor Gary Herbert (R) signed the legislative maps on Wednesday and the congressional maps on Thursday.

• The approved congressional map can be found here.
• The joint committee’s congressional map can be found here.

State news

Arizona

Both Democrats and Republicans continue to express their disapproval of the legislative draft map. This week the state legislature announced it is forming a special committee to make recommendations to the Arizona Independent Redistricting commission. The bipartisan legislative committee is meeting today for the first time. While the six-member committee includes two Democrats and four Republicans, legislative Democrats are boycotting the new meeting. House Minority Leader Chad Campbell and Senate Minority Leader David Schapira said the committee is simply a scheme to protect incumbents’ seats and undermine the Independent Commission.

California

With less than a month to go before the signature deadline, the referendum to withdraw the new state Senate map received a $400,000 donation from the California Republican Party this week. The organization leading the effort says it has already obtained more than 400,000 signatures. At least 504,760 valid signatures must be turned in by November 14 in order to qualify the measure as a veto referendum for the 2012 ballot.

Florida

On October 20, Rep. Luis Garcia (D) sent a letter to legislative leaders, demanding that Senator and redistricting committee member Alan Hays (R) apologize for his remarks on Hispanic districts in Central Florida. In addition, Rep. Janet Cruz (D) issued a similar letter calling for Hays’ resignation. Hays came under fire after suggesting that any proposed Hispanic district ought to be vetted to ensure that its population is not inflated due to illegal immigrants. Opponents are concerned that this approach will be used to disenfranchise Hispanic residents in Central Florida, most of which, argues Garcia, are natural-born US citizens of Puerto Rican descent. Census figures typically undercount illegal immigrants since many refuse to fill out census forms.

Earlier in the week, the Senate Reapportionment Committee decided that minority districts are a top priority of the new redistricting amendments — even above the laws’ anti-gerrymandering rules. The committee plans to draw minority maps first, drawing the remaining districts accordingly. It remains to be seen whether the GOP-dominated committee will use this approach to pack Democratic voters in urban areas.

This week, lawmakers also reviewed public suggestions for the state’s northeast. Both of the suggestions for the region pair incumbents and exemplify the difficulty lawmakers face in redistricting the region.

Hawaii

On October 13, attorney Mike Matsukawa of Kona filed a lawsuit challenging Hawaii’s redistricting plans. Unlike the first lawsuit which centers on the fact that non-residents were included, Matsukawa argues that the Reapportionment Commission did not try in “good faith” to exclude non-residents. He contends that the commission’s eleventh-hour decision to exclude some non-residents was partially responsible for its inability to exclude them all. Matsukawa suggests that the late decision did not allow enough time to determine the actual feasibility of separating out non-residents.

• A copy of the petition can be found here.

Idaho

Successfully adopting new legislative and congressional districts, the second Idaho redistricting commission completed in less than one month what the first commission could not complete in 92 days. Last Friday, the commission unanimously adopted a plan for new legislative districts. The plan has 11 county splits, something that has been a point of contention throughout this year’s redistricting process. However, Republican Commissioner Dolores Crow said they were necessary in order to preserve communities of interest. The new map puts a number of incumbents into the same districts, forcing them to run against one another. Seven of the 35 districts include more than two House incumbents, who will have to battle for the district’s two seats.

On Monday the commission voted 4-2 to adopt a new congressional map. Democrat Ron Beitelspacher crossed the aisle to vote with the three Republicans but acknowledged the map wasn’t his first choice. Under the new map, Idaho’s two congressional districts once again split Ada County, home to Boise. Democrats were pushing to include all of the county in the first congressional district, but Republicans would not go along with that plan. Secretary of State Ben Ysursa announced on October 18 that the new districts are the law of the land and immediately go into effect.

Illinois

A court case brought by Illinois Republicans over the new Congressional districts continued to develop this week. The case, filed in July, argues that the new district lines violate Hispanic voting rights and are severely gerrymandered. Last month, plaintiffs asked a federal court to force the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to produce documents requested in a subpoena in an attempt to discover what role the national Democratic Party played in drawing the new district lines.

An order issued by a three-judge federal court panel last week allows Republicans to find out the identities of experts and consultants used by the Democrats. The panel also ruled that lawmakers and their staff were immune from providing documents that were not based on objective facts.

Kansas

Insight Kansas, a political science blog, is sponsoring a redistricting competition. The winning maps will be submitted to the legislative redistricting committees. Details can be found here.

Maryland

While the last few weeks were filled with contention over Governor Martin O’Malley’s proposed congressional districts, the maps easily sailed through both chambers and are now law. Maryland held a special session this week to address congressional redistricting, taking up the governor’s proposal as well as several others. Alternatives came from both sides of the aisle – Republicans saw the governor’s map as severely gerrymandered while some Democrats were angry over the redistribution of black voters.

In the end, the governor’s map passed the Senate by a vote of 33-13 and the House 91-46. Republicans in both chambers unanimously voted against it, while one Senate Democrat and five house Democrats voted against it. Gov. O’Malley signed the districts into law on October 20. Less than 24 hours later, the Fannie Lou Hamer Political Action Committee, along with Republicans, called on the Justice Department to investigate the maps for possible racial gerrymandering.

Massachusetts

State legislative maps were released this week by the state’s redistricting committee. The new maps would increase the number of majority-minority districts in the State Senate from two to three and from 10 to 20 in the State House. A number of small changes are made to existing districts with precincts shifting among districts. Two freshmen Democrats and two freshmen Republicans were put into districts that would have created likely primaries between incumbents. Paul Mark (D) and Gailanne Cariddi (D) were placed in one district while Jim Lyons (R) and Paul Adams (R) would be placed into the 18th Essex District. However, Adams and Mark said they intend to move before the November 6 residency deadline in order to qualify for incumbent-free districts in Berkshire and Essex counties. In Massachusetts, candidates must reside in their House district for at least one year prior to the election day, which means the new maps must be finalized before Nov. 6, 2011 in order to allow some candidates to move if they choose to.

• See the proposed maps here.

Meanwhile, legislators are expected to release the draft Congressional map sometime next week or soon thereafter. The Congressional map is seen as more controversial because it must cut from 10 to 9 the number of U.S. House districts.

Nevada

This week the three-member panel of special masters tasked with redrawing the districts in Nevada released draft maps. A hearing is scheduled for October 27 for Judge James Todd Russell to review the maps.

Most notably, the Congressional proposal draws the new 4th District in urban Las Vegas. That district would be 42.7 percent Hispanic. An analysis by Roll Cal said the new map would likely result in either a 2-2 split or 3-1 Democratic favor in the Congressional races.

Special Masters Redistricting Proposals
Proposed Congressional districts. Proposed State Senate districts. Proposed State Assembly districts.

New Mexico

The retired judge handling the redistricting lawsuits in New Mexico — James Hall — has set the timeline for court hearings about the four disputed maps (Congressional, State Senate, State House, and Public Regulation Commission). The dates are:

• December 5-8: Congressional map
• December 12-15 and December 19-21: State House map
• January 3-6 and January 9-10: State Senate map
• January 11-13: Public Regulation Commission map

Ohio

On October 14, the Ohio Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision allowing the referendum against Ohio’s congressional redistricting maps to proceed. Despite the GOP’s 6-1 advantage on the court, defenders of the Republican-drawn congressional map could not sway the justices. The Ohio Constitution prohibits referendums against “appropriations for the current expenses of the state government.” However, the court found that the redistricting legislation’s $2.75 million appropriation, designated for local election officials to implement the new map, does not fund current expenses and, thus, does not exempt the bill from referendum. If the referendum gathers enough signatures, the new redistricting plan will be suspended until voters weigh in. This would create significant confusion as courts and lawmakers struggle to choose a new plan as the elections approach.

Lawmakers could pass another plan, this time as an emergency measure. This would exempt the new plan from referendum but require a two-thirds supermajority. Ohio Republicans are reportedly reaching out to African-American Democrats to achieve this majority. Some members of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus crossed over to support the maps originally, but still more would be needed to reach a supermajority. Meanwhile, the Ohio Democratic Party is using the threat of a referendum to pressure the GOP to make concessions in exchange for Democratic support of a redrawn map.

Ohio lawmakers are now expected to delay the presidential and congressional primaries in order to allow time for resolving congressional redistricting.

• The court’s opinion in State ex rel Ohioans for Fair Districts v Husted can be found here.

South Dakota

A special session kicks off on Monday to redraw the 35 state legislative districts. The likely most contentious battle surrounds Aberdeen, where a committee-approved map drawn by Republicans would place 5 Democratic incumbents in one districts that elects 3 legislators.

Texas

Tuesday was the deadline for participants to submit interim map proposals in Texas’ consolidated redistricting case being heard in a San Antonio federal court. Among those who submitted proposals were: State Representatives Marc Veasey and Harold Dutton, Jr., State Senator Wendy Davis, Congressmen Cuellar and Canseco, multiple Hispanic advocacy groups, the NAACP and African-American members of Congress, Travis County plaintiffs, and the State of Texas. One particular proposal put forth by the Mexican American Legislative Caucus could potentially end the already heated primary battle between US Representative Lloyd Doggett and State Representative Joaquin Castro by splitting the contested district into two – one centered around San Antonio and one around Austin. Objections to the proposals must be submitted to the court by Monday.

West Virginia

County election officials in West Virginia are in a bind as the state’s redistricting plans face legal challenges. With one lawsuit filed and several more expected, the state’s House of Delegates districts, and possibly its congressional districts, are open to court-mandated revisions. State officials do not plan to dictate how and when county election officials implement the new plans, but either option (waiting for possible changes or acting immediately and changing as needed) could create confusion among voters. In addition, making changes twice could cost counties significant amounts of money.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin, which was dominated by nine recall elections for most of this year, looks to be headed for another round of recalls in 2012. The question, however, is which districts would the recalls take place in – the new districts passed in August or the old districts the incumbents were elected under? According to a memo this week by Wisconsin Government Accountability Board Director Kevin Kennedy, senators would have to face recall elections in their existing districts. The six-member board will consider Kennedy’s opinion on November 9 and decide whether they agree with it or not.

Republicans, who hold the governorship along with a majority in the Assembly and Senate, controlled the redistricting process this year, drawing districts favorable to their interests. Because of this, it would be to their benefit to hold recalls in the new districts, which could lead to a legal battle. A total of 17 of Wisconsin’s 33 incumbent state senators, 6 Democrats and 11 Republicans, are eligible for recall in 2012. Democrats have already announced plans to launch a recall campaign against Gov. Scott Walker on November 15 of this year.