State Legislature Special Election Megathread v3

[lfromnj]

https://twitter.com/PeterSchorschFL/status/1600981084031930394?cxt=HHwWtMC-3Yj06...

FL special election . Overall a pretty safe district in Marion County that excludes the black precincts of Ocala.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

https://twitter.com/WCIA3/status/1601320230008934400?t=E48bF6QWQFGOWZqqc6X8xQ&am...

Sad, guy was only 45 and that sounds like a terrible way to go.

District is Safe D but a special could provide some interesting insight on college campus turnout.

[Gracile]

https://twitter.com/WCIA3/status/1601320230008934400?t=E48bF6QWQFGOWZqqc6X8xQ&am...

Sad, guy was only 45 and that sounds like a terrible way to go.

District is Safe D but a special could provide some interesting insight on college campus turnout.

Illinois doesn't have special elections for state legislators. A member of the same party as the departing member is appointed to the seat when it becomes vacant.

[free my dawg]

https://twitter.com/FostersDailyDem/status/1600847167551315969

Our first special election in NH, on February 6th, is a tiebreaker to resolve a 2022 election.

Incumbent Democrat Chuck Grassie originally lost to David Walker, another elected official, by 1 vote. A recount later revealed a tie, causing both candidates to withdraw their challenges and let it go to the state legislature.

There really isn't much settled precedent here on what to do in this situation. NH politics being arcane as it is, left it to the state legislature to decide. They had two options: hold another election, or break the tie themselves. They narrowly voted to hold another election, and here we are.

[NOVA Green]

Apologies if it has already been mentioned, but didn't see it elsewhere.

Really wondering what Atlas Nation thinks about this one....

Very, very long article so apologies if my quotes might have been longer than normal.

If so, Mods pls merge...

More than a month after the elections in Pennsylvania, which were among the most closely watched in the country, a question remains unanswered in the state’s House of Representatives: Who, exactly, is in charge?

For now, both the Democratic and Republican parties are claiming a majority in the chamber, and representatives from both parties have declared themselves the House majority leader. Both are accusing the other party of ignoring the will of the voters, the rule of law or some combination thereof. With the House set to reconvene, and presumably to choose a speaker in less than three weeks, the question now sits with the courts.

Democrats also won a majority of seats in the State House for the first time in a dozen years, even as Republicans maintained control of the State Senate. But the margin in the House appeared to be wafer-thin, 102-101, decided by fewer than 65 votes in a race in the Philadelphia suburbs. It turned out to be even more tenuous — one of the victorious lawmakers was dead.

Republicans saw a stalemate. Until a special election could be held in Mr. DeLuca’s district, they reasoned, each party had 101 representatives, and neither could claim a majority in the House.

What happens now is anyone’s guess.

Among them is a Senate bill that would put a handful of constitutional amendments proposed by Republicans on a statewide ballot — including ones that would establish a voter ID requirement, expand the legislature’s power and assert that there is no state constitutional right to abortion. If each chamber approved the bill during the upcoming legislative session, the questions would be put to a statewide vote.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/13/us/pennsylvania-house-control.html

[Landslide Lyndon]

https://twitter.com/DKElections/status/1603495238181478415

[GeorgiaModerate]

We might have a special election soon in Georgia HD-116119:

https://twitter.com/bluestein/status/1603553671463198720

[Oryxslayer]

We might have a special election soon in Georgia HD-116:

The new seat is 119. 116 was last decades version. Seats are roughly numbered north-south, so the reapportionment of districts shifted the numbering scheme around even though the seat barely changed.

[CityofSinners]

@Nova Green

This is a proper mess. Legally speaking I can't think dems can't do much. Whichever party has a quorum and the most votes in the chambers can set the agenda.

It is dubious from a moral and small d democratic standpoint to circumvent the voters will like this. Dems share some of the blame for running candidates for two offices at once.
A resign to run law and stricter rules for setting special election dates would help in the future to prevent a mess like this.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Georgia will have linked special elections on January 31.  SD-11 opened up when Sen. Dean Burke (R-Bainbridge) resigned to become the Department of Community Health’s new chief medical officer.  Then in HD-172, Rep. Sam Watson (R-Moultrie) resigned to run for the SD-11 vacancy.

https://www.ajc.com/politics/south-georgia-state-house-member-resigns-from-office/P232W2HKH5EQXF4ESCCJY3U6BU/ 

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/baseballot/status/1607817954036535298

[Secretary of State Liberal Hack]

I'm in Virginia Beach and just saw an attack ad hitting Kevin Adams on abortion, seems like this might be an expensive race given how closely divided the state senate is.

[ProgressiveModerate]

I'm in Virginia Beach and just saw an attack ad hitting Kevin Adams on abortion, seems like this might be an expensive race given how closely divided the state senate is.

Actually quite important, given there’s like 1 or 2 conservative/moderate Democrats in the VA-Sen who may help pass mild abortion restrictions and such

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/bluestein/status/1609289136111865857

[Oryxslayer]

Better here I guess?

https://twitter.com/MorganTrau/status/1610363875479916545?s=20&t=TwDSRBT0glj...

D"s + Half of R's elect Jason Stephens over Derek Merrin. More info shortly, but might immediately throw a wrench into any attempt at mid-decade redraws under the current state framework.

[Oryxslayer]

https://twitter.com/baseballot/status/1610389655492370435?s=20&t=mJLdhEzbcRc...

Directly related to the 2 soon to be 3 special elections in Allegheny: since D's lack the votes presently to command a majority, they get a good deal to ensure ideal functionality.

[GeorgiaModerate]

Could bipartisanship actually be coming back into favor in this country?  That would be a very encouraging development.

[NewYorkExpress]

We will have a special election in Connecticut HD-100 after State Representative Quentin Williams died in a traffic accident.

A Connecticut state representative was killed overnight in a wrong-way highway crash after having attended the governor’s inaugural ball and his own swearing-in ceremony for a third term, House Democratic leaders said Thursday.

Quentin Williams, a Democrat from Middletown known as “Q,” died in the crash on Route 9 in Cromwell.

He was 39.

State police said both drivers were killed and one of the vehicles became fully engulfed in flames. State police have not yet released the names of the victims.

[Hope For A New Era]

Better here I guess?

https://twitter.com/MorganTrau/status/1610363875479916545?s=20&t=TwDSRBT0glj...

D"s + Half of R's elect Jason Stephens over Derek Merrin. More info shortly, but might immediately throw a wrench into any attempt at mid-decade redraws under the current state framework.

https://twitter.com/baseballot/status/1610389655492370435?s=20&t=mJLdhEzbcRc...

Directly related to the 2 soon to be 3 special elections in Allegheny: since D's lack the votes presently to command a majority, they get a good deal to ensure ideal functionality.

2x Combo!

May they be omens.

[Virginiá]

Given Republicans still control the state senate and this likely puts those power grab / voter suppression constitutional amendments Republicans wanted to ram through with their brief pseudo-majority on the shelf, sounds like a good outcome for Democrats.

[wbrocks67]

What are the odds the D wins Kiggans old seat this Tuesday? The early voting #s look promising.

[ProgressiveModerate]

What are the odds the D wins Kiggans old seat this Tuesday? The early voting #s look promising.

Generally, special elections in VA tend to be dreadful for Ds, but most other things seem to be working in Ds favor:

This is a Biden + 10 district, though it did go for Youngkin by 4.
In 2022, Ds won most Biden + 10 seats with relative ease nationally, with some obvious exceptions that had unique circumstances.
D candidate seems slightly better than R imo, but I'm prolly biased.

[Spectator]

What are the odds the D wins Kiggans old seat this Tuesday? The early voting #s look promising.

Lean D. Democrats seem to be taking it seriously.

[Pollster]

What are the odds the D wins Kiggans old seat this Tuesday? The early voting #s look promising.

Youngkin idiotically announced his abortion ban proposal a solid month before this special election, giving Democrats ample time to use it and use it well.

[wbrocks67]

Interesting, Kiggans only just barely won this district in 2019 and actually lost it in last year's House race

https://twitter.com/vpapupdates/status/1612625559351164928