Election News

This week we're following one special general election to fill a vacancy in the New York State Assembly. There is also a GOP primary for a State House vacancy in South Carolina.

New York State Assembly District 43

Democrats hold a large majority in the New York State Assembly. The party controls 105 seats. There are 42 Republicans, one Independence Party member and two vacancies. The District 20 vacancy will be filled by special election on April 7.

Members serve two-year terms. The next regularly scheduled elections will be in November. These will be contested using redistricted boundaries.

District 43 is located in Brooklyn. Democrat Diana Richardson resigned in early February after being appointed deputy borough president. This is a deep blue district; Richardson was reelected by an 89% to 11% margin in 2020. 

The New Hampshire state Senate has approved - with no changes - a redistricting plan previously approved by the state House. The plan makes each of the state's two districts more partisan. District 1 becomes more favorable for a GOP pickup; the party has not won a U.S. House seat here since 2014.

Although both legislative chambers are Republican-controlled, fellow GOP Gov. Chris Sununu says he will veto the plan. He had previously asked the Senate to modify the House map to make both districts more competitive.

The Remaining States

Including New Hampshire, four states, with 44 total districts, have not completed redistricting.  Florida's 28 districts account for almost 2/3 of the total.

It is possible that Ohio, with 15 districts, will be added back to this list in the days ahead. After the originally-enacted plan was thrown out by the State Supreme Court in January, the Redistricting Commission approved a new map on March 2. 

According to FiveThirtyEight, the new plan "is barely fairer than the map that was struck down." On March 16, the Court invalidated new redistricting plans for the state House and Senate, perhaps foreshadowing an upcoming ruling on the congressional plan. 

The Maryland Court of Appeals has moved the state's 2022 primary back three weeks from June 28 to July 19. The Court also moved the state's candidate filing deadline to April 15. 

The 2022 Election Calendar has been updated with this change.

Late Tuesday, Fox News released the results of several polls conducted for the Republican primaries for Senate and Governor in Georgia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. 

Georgia U.S. Senate

Incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock is seeking reelection to a full six-year term after winning a special election runoff in January, 2021 against Republican Kelly Loeffler, who was appointed to the seat following the resignation of Johnny Isakson at the end of 2019. 

Congressional redistricting was completed last week in Ohio and Wisconsin. The 2022 House Interactive Map has been updated with shapes for the 23 total districts in these two states. 

This is the second plan enacted in Ohio; the first was thrown out by the State Supreme Court in January. The Court ruled that the map was a Republican gerrymander in violation of the state's Constitution. According to FiveThirtyEight, the new plan "is barely fairer than the map that was struck down." The Court may well invalidate this map as well.

This week we're following one special general election in each branch of the Florida Legislature. There is also a GOP primary for a vacancy in South Carolina.

Special General Elections

Incumbents in both these Southeastern Florida districts were unsuccessful in their quest for the Democratic nomination in the then-vacant 20th congressional district seat. Each had to give up the seat under the state's 'resign to run' law; the departures took place in early January.

Polls close at 7:00 PM Eastern Time.

Florida State Senate District 33

One State House vacancy will be filled via special election on Saturday.

Delaware State House District 4

There are 41 seats in the Delaware State House; Democrats hold a 25-15 majority over Republicans. Members serve two year terms; the next regularly scheduled elections are in November. These will be contested using redistricted boundaries.

The vacancy to be filled is in the Wilmington area District 4. Democrat Gerald Brady resigned, effective February 4, Brady won his final term 70% to 30% over Republican Jordan Nally in 2020.

On the ballot are Democrat Charles Freel and Republican Ted Kittila. Polls close at 8:00 PM Eastern Time.

Texas Rep. Van Taylor finished first, just shy of the 50% needed to avoid a May 24 runoff, in Tuesday's Republican Primary for the 3rd congressional district. Late Wednesday, he admitted to an affair and ended his reelection campaign. Former Collin County Judge Keith Self, who finished second with 27%, is likely be the next Representative for this district north of Dallas.  

Allegations of the affair were first reported by Breitbart News on Monday.

According to the Texas Tribune, "Taylor has until March 16 to remove his name from the runoff ballot, which he plans to do, according to a spokesperson. After he does that, Self is automatically the Republican nominee for the district. There is a Democratic nominee for the seat, Sandeep Srivastava, but they face long odds after the district was redrawn last year to favor Republicans."

Taylor is the 47th current House member to announce they are retiring or seeking another office this year.

For those interested, there are also special legislative elections Tuesday in Connecticut and Michigan. Overview and Live Results >>

Texas

All Texas Results>>

Texas holds the first statewide primary on the 2022 Election Calendar Tuesday. With North Carolina rescheduled from March 8 to May 17, the Lone Star State's nominating contests are a full two months earlier than any other state.

We're following statewide races including Governor, Lt. Governor, and Attorney General. There are also U.S. House and State Legislative primaries that will be conducted using redistricted boundaries.