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Political Roundup for March 14, 2024

Senate:

OH-Sen: A new Emerson College/The Hill poll has a close race for the Republican nomination for Senate. State Sen. Matt Dolan (R) leads with 26%, with businessman Bernie Moreno at 23% and Sec. of State Frank LaRose (R) at 16%. This is the first poll to have Dolan in the lead. In head-to-head matchups with Sen. Sherrod Brown (D), Dolan trails 37-34%, Moreno trails 39-34%, and LaRose trails 39-33%.

House:

CA-16: It is still unclear who will get the second spot for the general election for this open seat. Former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo (D) has secured one spot, but both Santa Clara County Commissioner Joe Simitian (D) and state Rep. Evan Low (D) are close for the second spot. Simitian currently leads Low by 162 votes for the second spot, but Low has been gaining ground as more votes get counted.

CO-5: There have been dueling endorsements in this race. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R) has endorsed Jeff Crank (R) in the Republican primary. Following close behind, Donald Trump has endorsed Colorado GOP Chair Dave Williams (R). Also running in the Republican primary are state Sen. Bob Gardner (R) and ex-state Rep. Doug Bruce (R).

MI-8: Former Flint Mayor Matt Collier (D) has entered the race for this open seat being vacated by retiring Rep. Dan Kildee (D). He joins a Democratic primary that includes current Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley (D), state Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D), state Board of Education President Pamela Pugh (D), and businessman and former Genesee County Democratic Chairman Dan Moilanen (D). 2022 Republican nominee Paul Junge (R) is the only Republican currently running.

NC-6: Ex-Rep. Mark Walker (R) has decided to forego a runoff for this seat. He will instead take a position with the Trump campaign. Lobbyist Addison McDowell (R), who Trump endorsed, will be the Republican nominee. McDowell took 26% in last week’s primary, with Walker getting 24%.

States:

VA-LG: Prince William School Board Chair Babur Lateef (D) is the first candidate in the 2025 race for Lieutenant Governor. Incumbent LG Winsome Sears (R) is thought likely to run for governor, although she has not stated her plans yet.

OR-SoS: State Sen. Dennis Linthicum (R) has filed to run for Secretary of State. Linthicum cannot run for re-election due to a voter-passed initiative that bars legislators who miss at least 10 days of a session with unexcused absences from running for re-election. The measure, confirmed by a recent state Supreme Court ruling, bars Republican senators who have engaged in recent walkouts from running for re-election. Linthicum will face two other candidates in the Republican primary-real estate broker Brent Barker (R), and market analyst Tim McCloud (R). Democrats running include State Treasurer Tobias Read (D) and state Sen. James Manning (D) as well as three perennial candidates who have lost previous races for Sec. of State and various other offices. Current appointed Sec. of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade (D), is not seeking election.

OR-Treas: State Sen. Brian Boquist (R), is running for State Treasurer. Like Linthicum, Boquist is one of the group of Republican senators barred from running for re-election due to walkouts. Soon after Boquist filed for the race, Nathan Sandvig (R), who had just filed for the race on Sunday, dropped out. Sandvig expressed surprise at Boquist’s entry and said he had filed at the request of Republican leaders, but was not prepared for a primary fight. Boquist will face the winner of the Democratic primary between state Sen. Elizabeth Steiner (D) and former Lake Oswego councilman Jeff Gudman (R ->D).

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Political Roundup for March 13, 2024

About last night….

– Former President Donald Trump (R) and President Joe Biden (D) officially unofficially became the presumptive nominees of their respective parties. Biden became the presumptive nominee by wrapping up a majority of delegates around 8PM Eastern after Georgia’s results came in; Trump had to wait about 3 hours until 11PM Eastern when Washington started reporting its all by-mail results.

– As for the specifics of last night’s primaries and caucuses, Trump and Biden swept all contests. Trump won Georgia with about 85%, Hawaii with 97%, Mississippi with about 92%, and Washington State with about 74%. Biden won Georgia with about 95%, Mississippi with about 99% (where he ran unopposed), Washington State with about 86% and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands with 94%. Results of the Democrats Abroad caucuses are not yet available.
– In Mississippi, incumbent U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R) won his primary outright with a weak 61% of the vote. Second-place Ghannon Burton (R) actually won quite a few Northeastern Mississippi counties. Wicker will face Democratic sacrificial lamb Ty Pinkins (D) in November.
– Incumbent MS-4 Congressman Mike Ezell (R) easily won his primary with about 73%. Ezell will face Craig Raybon (D), who ran unopposed, in November.
– The MS-2 Republican primary will head to a runoff between Ron Eller (R) and Andrew Smith (R). Eller leads Smith 46-36%. The winner will be the sacrificial lamb against Congressman Bennie Thompson (D) in November. Thompson ran unopposed.
Diane Black (D) handily won the MS-1 Democratic primary with about 84%. She will be the sacrificial lamb against Congressman Trent Kelly (R) in November. Kelly ran unopposed.
-Finally, Gary Richardson (R) defeated CJ Pearson (R) in the GA-HD-125 special election runoff, 60-40%.

Now, for the rest of yesterday’s political news…

President:

RFK ’24: Are you ready for some football (or wrestling or whatever)? Vaccine skeptic and 2024 Independent Presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is considering two big names to be his Vice President: Vaccine skeptic and current New York Jets Quarterback Aaron Rodgers (I?) and former professional wrestler and Minnesota Governor Jesse “The Body” Ventura (I). Rodgers endorsed RFK, Jr. late last year. Rodgers, Ventura and  Dwayne Elizondo “Mountain Dew” Herbert Camacho couldn’t be reached for comment.

Curry ’28 or ??: Speaking of sports stars entering the political arena a la Mountain Dew Camacho in the movie Idiocracy, Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry (D?) told CBS Mornings that he’s a “maybe” for running for President in the future – or somehow getting involved in politics. Curry endorsed President Biden (D) in 2020 and got into a spat with Former President Trump (R) in 2017.

No Labels: They’re likely not going to get their man! Mastercard has appointed former U.S. Ambassador and Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr. (R) its Vice Chairman and President of Strategic Growth, effective April 15. This likely means Huntsman is out of the running for a No Labels presidential or vice presidential bid.

Congress:

AZ-Sen: Rep. Ruben Gallego (D) is up with his first ad, a relatively standard-issue biographical spot. Gallego is the likely Democratic nominee to succeed retiring Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I/D).

CO-4 I: In case you missed it, Congressman Ken Buck (R) announced he will retire from Congress at the end of next week. Colorado Governor Jared Polis (D) said he will order the special election to fill Buck’s seat be held on the same day as the regularly scheduled Colorado primary, June 25. As a result of Buck’s resignation, The House majority will likely shrink to 1 for a brief time after the April 30 NY-26 special election, which Democrats are likely to win.

CO-4 II: The Boebert has spoken! Current CO-3 Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (R), who is running for CO-4 in the regularly scheduled June 25 primary, addressed the vacancy on an audio podcast-like party line thing called a Space on X (nee Twitter) last night. On the X Space, Boebert expressed a preference that the party officials who will nominate the Republican CO-4 special election candidate appoint “a candidate who is not currently running in the primary” to run in that special. Contrary to those wishes, X Rumor has it that the party apparatchiks will appoint either Jerry Sonnenberg (R) or Deborah Flora (R) to run in the special. Both are currently also running in the June 25 regularly scheduled primary. So stay, tuned, I guess.

GA-10/NY-5/PA-4: In today’s “X (nee Twitter) isn’t the real world until some Congressmen make it so” news, NY-5 Congressman Gregory Meeks (D) criticized GA-10 Congressman Mike Collins (R) for posting “Some might call [Haiti] a sh*thole” on X. Meeks called Collins’ post “insulting,” “ignorant” and “asinine.” Adding insult to injury, PA-4 Congresswoman Madeleine Dean (D) also chimed in on this “controversy,” stating “that kind of a comment displays the kind of contrast of how Democrats look at foreign affairs . . . versus those who just want to demean those who are suffering these things.” I’m not sure exactly what Haiti exactly is, but we can all probably agree that a failed state full of roaming packs of cannibals can’t exactly be called paradise, right?

NY-3: The Nassau GOP have named their man! The Nassau GOP, which basically controls the party selection process for NY-3, picked former state Assemblyman Mike LiPetri (R) as their candidate in the upcoming June 25 NY-3 primary. Unlike in the recent special election, picking LiPetri doesn’t guarantee he will be the nominee against newly minted Congressman Tom Suozzi (D): attorney and Air Force veteran Greg Hach (R) and businessman Jim Toes (R) are also gathering petition signatures to run.

NY-16: Fire alarm enthusiast and Congressman Jamaal Bowman (D) is in hot water again, this time for defending a local black history mural that includes noted anti-Semite Louis Farrakahn. I’d say more, but the linked article is behind a paywall (you can read a little more for free just above the fold in the NY-3 item linked above). Bowman is facing Westchester County Executive George Latimer (D) in a heated primary battle, where anti-Semitism has become a major issue.

ND-AL: Veteran and farmer Alex Balazs (R) will join the race for North Dakota’s at-large congressional seat. Balazs joins PSC member Julie Fedorchak (R), ex-State Sen. Tom Campbell (R), and ex-State Rep. Rick Becker (R) in the race for the GOP nomination to succeed gubernatorial candidate Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R).

SD-AL: She’s running! “SD Mom” Sheryl Johnson (D) announced a run for South Dakota’s lone Congressional seat last week. Johnson, who is from Sioux Falls, was last seen losing the SD-HD-11 elections in 2018 and 2020, and SD-SD-11 election in 2022. She will likely be the Democratic sacrificial lamb who loses to Congressman Dusty Johnson (R) in November.

State Offices:

NC-Gov, NC-AG: WRAL-TV has a poll from SurveyUSA showing AG Josh Stein (D) leading LG Mark Robinson (R) 44-42 in the gubernatorial race. For Attorney General, Rep. Jeff Jackson (D) leads Rep. Dan Bishop (R) 41-40.

OR-SoS, OR-Treas: They’re running for (new) offices they are (still) eligible for! State Sens. Dennis Linthicum (R) of the Klamath Falls area and Brian Boquist (R) of the Salem area failed in an attempt to challenge a voter measure restricting them from running for re-election for the State Senate due to “unexcused absence” quorum-busting walkouts. However, both Linthicum and Boquist will still be on the ballot this year as they filed yesterday for SoS and Treasurer respectively. Linthicum and Boquist will be the heavy favorites for the GOP nominations for the open seats; Democrats have contested primaries.

UT-AG: He’s running for an office he’s not (yet) eligible for! 2020 UT-4 congressional candidate Trent Christensen (R) is currently ineligible to hold the office he is seeking, Utah Attorney General, which requires its holder to be a member in good standing of the Utah Bar. Christensen has a law license, but in Massachusetts rather than Utah. Christensen says he will be admitted to the Utah bar before the election through a reciprocality agreement with his Massachusetts law license.

Territorial & Local:

AS-Gov: He’s running! Pula T.I. Nikolau Pula (D?) announced that he will run for American Samoa governor in November 2024. Pula, who worked for the U.S. Department of the Interior for nearly 30 years before retiring in 2022, as well as for Hawaii Senator Inouye (D) and American Samoa’s first Delegate to Congress, Fofo Iosefa Fiti Sunia (D), is the first candidate to enter the 2024 race to head the executive branch of this U.S. territory in the South Pacific. American Samoa governor and lt. governor run together on a ticket; Pula has yet to name his Lt. Governor candidate.

AL-HD-52: He’s pleading guilty – and resigning! The current longest-serving member of the Alabama House of Representatives, State Rep. John Rogers (D) of Birmingham, is stepping down from office after pleading guilty to federal wire fraud and obstruction of justice charges. Rogers allegedly took a kickback from a youth sports organization run by another state legislator implicated in the scheme. In addition to resigning from office, the 83-year-old Rogers will pay restitution and spend 14 months on home confinement.

Jefferson County, WV, WV-Aud: Two county commissioners in Jefferson County, WV have been arrested and indicted for failing to perform their governmental duties. Commissioners Tricia Jackson (R) and Jennifer Krouse (R), the former of whom is also a candidate for State Auditor, were arraigned on charges brought by a special prosecutor. Jackson and Krouse are accused of refusing to attend commission meetings for three months from September to November of last year. The move was to prevent the selection of a fifth commissioner who would fill a vacancy; Jackson and Krouse thus busted a quorum on the county board and grinding county business to a halt. Jackson is running in the primary to succeed State Auditor and AG candidate JB McCuskey (R); she is facing State Reps. Eric Householder (R) and Caleb Hanna (R) and State Sen. Mark Hunt (R) in that race.

Rochester, NY – City Court Judge/WATN: Finally, she’s back, and that’s not so lovely! Former Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren (D), last seen resigning from office after losing the 2021 Democratic mayoral primary and pleading guilty to campaign finance, gun and child endangerment-related misdemeanors, will run for Rochester City Court Judge. Despite the plea deal, Warren has been the Democratic Committee Chair for Monroe County’s 22nd Legislative District since September 2022. Warren, who is running on a “racial equity” platform, will face Michael Geraci (D) in the Democratic primary, assuming both gather enough signatures to appear on the June 25 ballot in the Flour/Flower City. Rochester’s City Court Judges serve 10-year terms.

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March 12, 2024 Georgia, Mississippi, Washington State, Hawaii (R), CNMI (D) & Democrats Abroad (D) Primaries Open Thread

Welcome to tonight’s liveblog of the Georgia, Mississippi, Washington State, Hawaii (R), CNMI (D) and Democrats Abroad (D) contests! In addition to the presidential race, Mississippi is also holding primaries for all offices up this cycle.

As always, we’ll start with some results links:

CNMI (already closed): NBC News
Georgia (7PM Eastern): NBC News | AP | DDHQ
Mississippi (8PM): NBC News | AP | DDHQ
Washington State (11PM): NBC News | AP | DDHQ
Hawaii (Open Midnight; Close 2AM): NBC News | AP | DDHQ
Democrats Abroad (?): NBC News


5:40 AM: Trump has won 97% of the vote in Hawaii, while there are no results from Democrats Abroad.

2:25AM: Hawaii’s Republican caucuses are theoretically closed, but Hawaii, as always, appears to be on island time. There are no results yet. I’ll have to update the post in the morning with those (and Democrats Abroad). That’s it for now. Thanks for reading!

11:15PM: GA-HD-125 is finally done counting. Gary Richardson (R) defeats CJ Pearson (R), 60-40%.

11:07PM: Trump now has enough delegates to clinch the Republican nomination from NBC News and the AP.

11:05PM: First results out of Lincoln County, WA have Trump at 83% – and Biden at 87%. AP calls Washington for Trump.

11:00PM: “Polls” are now closed in Washington State. DDHQ says Trump will win Washington and enough delegates to win the Republican nomination. Biden gets the winner’s checkmark as well.

10:45PM: Trump’s magic number is now 27: Trump is projected by NBC News to take all 59 of Georgia’s and 40 of Mississippi’s delegates. 15 minutes.

10:30PM: As we await Trump clinching the Republican nomination in about 30 minutes when Washington State reports (Trump is 30 delegates away and WA has 43), with 91% in, it looks like Trump will win 85% in Georgia. With about 83% in, Trump will likely win with about 93% in Mississippi.

9:30PM: Trump is on 91% in Mississippi and 84% in Georgia. Ezell (R) got the winner’s checkmark from the AP in MS-4-R. The right to lose to Congressman Bennie Thompson (D) in MS-2-R is very close, Ron Eller (R) leads Andrew Smith (R), 45-38%, per the AP. This looks like it may be headed to a runoff (but Eller is at 50.1% in the NBC News Count, so maybe not).

9:05PM: In MS-4-R, Incumbent Mike Ezell (R) leads Carl Boyanton (R), 71-20%. It’s only a matter of time before Ezell get’s the winner’s checkmark, too.

9:03PM: Roger Wicker gets the winner’s checkmark from the AP in MS-Sen-R. He’s on 60%.

9:00PM: DeKalb County just flipped to Trump. Every Georgia county is now going Trump.

8:35PM: In case you’re wondering, former President Trump will likely clinch the Republican nomination once Washington State reports its results tonight at 11PM. He is just 34 delegates away, and Washington State has 43 delegates (and there are a few uncalled delegates from Georgia right now).

8:31PM: In the MS-Sen race, incumbent Senator Roger Wicker (R) leads Dan Eubanks (R) 59-27%. Ghannon Burton (R) is on 14% per the AP. Nothing in MS-4 yet.

8:30PM: There is also a special Georgia House Election in GA-HD-125. Gary Richardson (R) leads CJ Pearson (R) 71-29% in initial results.

8:15PM: Trump and Biden get the winner’s checkmark from the AP in Mississippi. Biden is running unopposed; Trump is at100% versus Haley, DeSantis and Ramaswamy in very, very early results out of Jasper County.

8:10PM:With about 43% in, Haley pulls ahead in heavily African-American Atlanta-suburban DeKalb County, GA, 51-46%, per NBC News.

8:00PM: Polls are now closed in Mississippi.

7:35PM: With about 10% in, Biden is on 96% and Trump on 82%. As the usual pattern, Trump is generally winning the more affluent counties like Cherokee and Glynn with less than 82% and the rurals with over 82%.

7:10PM: Our first actual results out of Georgia have Trump on 87% to Haley’s 11% and Biden on 95% to Philip’s and Williamson’s 2%ish. The AP and NBC News agree with DDHQ and give Biden and Trump the winner’s checkmark.

7:01PM: DDHQ gives Biden the winner’s checkmark in GA – and says Biden has clinched enough delegates to win the Democratic nomination for President. DDHQ also gives Trump the winner’s checkmark on the Republican side.

7:00PM Eastern: Polls are now closed in Georgia. Earlier today, Jason Palmer (D) was not able to continue his territorial sweep: President Joe Biden (D) won the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands 94-4% over Palmer, taking all delegates.

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CO-4: Rep. Ken Buck (R) Will Resign

Rep. Ken Buck (R), who previously announced he was retiring, will resign his House seat entirely at the end of next week. Colorado law requires a special election between 85 and 100 days of when the vacancy occurs, which would place the June 25th regularly scheduled primary within the window. Colorado law uses the New York system of nominations for special elections being decided by a cabal of insiders, which means that the GOP central committee will appoint a nominee for a June special election. This likely throws a wrench into Rep. Lauren Boebert’s (R) plans to carpetbag across the state to run for this seat, as she is extremely unlikely to receive the insiders’ nomination, and will thus be facing a quasi-incumbent at the June primary.

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Political Roundup for March 12, 2024

President & National:

HUD: Biden Housing and Urban Development secretary Marcia Fudge (D) will resign at the end of the month. As Biden has not formally filled the Labor Secretary role which has been vacant for months, it seems unlikely a new HUD secretary will be confirmed before 2025.

No Labels, Duncan: No Labels is apparently looking towards the “C” list in its search for a Presidential candidate, as ex-Georgia LG Geoff Duncan (R/NL) has been meeting with the group to explore a run under their banner. Several more prominent candidates have denied interest in running on the theoretical centrist third-party ticket.

Senate:

MI-Sen: Trump has endorsed ex-Rep. Mike Rogers (R), the establishment favorite, in the primary to succeed retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow (R). Rogers is facing a crowded field including ex-Reps. Peter Meijer (R) and Justin Amash (R=>L=>R), 2018 candidate Sandy Pensler (R), and elected state school board member Nikki Snyder (R). Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D) is the favorite for the Democratic nomination.

OH-Sen: State Sen. Matt Dolan (R) picked up two major endorsements in the last few days from Gov. Mike DeWine (R) and ex-Sen. Rob Portman (R). Dolan, an establishment conservative, is facing antiestablishment-leaning car dealer Bernie Moreno (R) and establishment conservative SoS Frank LaRose (R) in next week’s primary to take on Sen. Sherrod Brown (D). The endorsements could suggest an attempt to consolidate around Dolan (at LaRose’s expense) as the best chance to upset the front-running Moreno next week.

VA-Sen: Trump administration Border Patrol chief Ron Vitiello (R) has ended his run in the primary to take on Sen. Tim Kaine (D). Still in the crowded primary are 2022 VA-10 nominee Hung Cao (R), libertarian-leaning attorney Jonathan Emord (R), Club for Growth executive Scott Parkinson (R), and 2021 AG candidate Chuck Smith (R), among others.

House:

AZ-2: Ex-Yavapai County commissioner and Trump administration official Jack Smith (R) will launch a primary challenge to Rep. Eli Crane (R) in this medium-red seat covering Flagstaff, the rural northeast of the state, and parts of exurban Phoenix. Smith served as a county official until 2019, when he left to become a low-level appointee in the Trump Agriculture Department. Ex-Navajo Tribal President Jonathan Nez (D) is running for Democrats.

GA-3: Trump administration official Brian Jack (R) jumped into the race for this open conservative seat stretching from Columbus to exurban Atlanta at last week’s filing deadline, and is expected to be the front-runner for the seat. Jack will face State Sen. Mike Dugan (R) and several minor candidates in the primary to succeed retiring Rep. Drew Ferguson (R).

IL-7: A fundraiser for 2020/2022 candidate Kina Collins (D) was packed, but might not turn in to many votes for the candidate; most of the attendees admit they were only there to see the event’s headliners, indie rock band The Strokes. Collins, who has to date had very poor fundraising, is one of four notable candidates challenging Rep. Danny Davis (D) in this deep-blue Black-plurality seat based on Chicago’s west side, along with elected Chicago city treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin (D), teacher Nikhil Bhatia (D), and Dem operative Khouri Marshall (D).

MD-6: Ex-Chevy Chase councilman Joel Rubin (D) has ended his run in the extremely crowded primary to succeed Senate candidate Rep. David Trone (D) and endorsed Biden administration official April McClain-Delaney (D). Both sides have massive fields for the race in this light-blue district stretching from western Maryland to the DC suburbs.

MI-7: An internal poll for ex-State Sen. and 2022 nominee Tom Barrett (R) from Cygnal (R) has him leading ex-State Sen. Curtis Hertel (D) 44-37 in the race for this purple seat covering the Lansing metro area.

MO-3: State Rep. Justin Hicks (R) of suburban St. Louis will run for this open conservative seat stretching from the St. Louis suburbs to the Columbia and Jefferson City areas. Hicks joins State Sen. Mary-Elizabeth Coleman (R) and ex-State Sens. Bob Onder (R) and Kurt Schaefer (R) in the race to succeed retiring incumbent Blain Luetekemyer (R).

SC-4: Rep. William Timmons (R) is under fire for a 2021 video in which he says he made diversity a “top priority” in hiring for his office, and supported making Congress’s DEI office permanent. Timmons is facing a primary challenge from the right from State Rep. Adam Morgan (R) for this conservative seat covering the core Greenville and Spartanburg metro areas.

TX-13: Rep. Ronny Jackson (R) was demoted by the Navy in 2022, two years after retiring, due to allegations of inappropriate behavior at the White House. The Inspector General’s report stated Jackson “made sexual and denigrating statements” about a female staff member, drank alcohol and took the sleeping pill Ambien while on the job, and overall contributed to a “negative work environment” while serving as White House physician.

WATN: 2020 NV-3 nominee Dan Rodimer (R) has turned himself in on murder charges ad has been released on bail in relation to an altercation at a Las Vegas hotel in October of last year.

State & Local:

NC-Supt: Here’s an interesting postmortem on what might have been the biggest upset of the night on Tuesday, where little-known former nurse and 2022 school board candidate Michelle Morrow (R) ousted incumbent North Carolina Superintendent Catherine Truitt (R). The analysis boils down to Morrow outworking the incumbent and tapping into GOP grassroots networks. Morrow will now move on to face local superintendent Mo Green (D) in the general.

GA-PSC: For the second consecutive cycle, Georgia will not be holding an election for Public Service Commission, as appeals to the state’s system of at-large elections wind their way through the courts. Plaintiffs had argued that the at-large election system for the 5-member body is racially discriminatory and sought to make the state elect candidates by district (candidates must live in a specific district but are elected statewide). A prior court ruling had gone for the state but plaintiffs are appealing.

NM-SD-23: Ex-Bernalillo County Sheriff Manny Gonzales (D=>R) will run for State Senate after being disqualified from his run for US Senate due to insufficient signatures (New Mexico has different filing deadline for state and federal races). Gonzales will be running in the GOP primary to challenge State Sen. Harold Pope (D) for this D+5 seat covering much of the western edge of Albuquerque.

MN-Redistrict: Democratic legislators in Minnesota are advancing a bill to create an independent redistricting commission for the state. The bill would create a 15-member commission chosen by a panel of 3 retired judges. Minnesota has had court-drawn redistricting maps for over a century.