Election News

This week we're following elections to fill State House vacancies in Connecticut and Kentucky. 

Connecticut State House District 71

Democrats hold a sizeable 96-53 majority over Republicans in the Connecticut State House. There are two vacancies. The vacancy in District 5 will be contested next Tuesday. Members serve two year terms; the next regularly scheduled elections are in November. These will be contested using redistricted boundaries.

District 71 is located in the west central part of the state, and includes Middlebury and parts of Waterbury. The previous incumbent, Republican Anthony D'Amelio, retired December 31 after 25 years in office. In 2018, the last contested election here, D'Amelio won by 59% to 37% over his Democratic challenger.

The party nominees are Republican William Pizzuto and Democrat John Egan. Polls close at 8:00 PM Eastern Time.

On Friday, Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee (D) signed the congressional redistricting bill advanced to his desk by the Legislature. The map is little-changed from the one in place over the past decade.

Democrats, who completely controlled the redistricting process, did not take advantage of an opportunity to improve the partisan lean of District 2, where incumbent Jim Langevin (D) is retiring. Although it strongly favors Democrats, the district is somewhat more competitive than District 1. Republicans, who haven't won a U.S. House seat in the state since 1992, will attempt to contest it this year. Former Cranston Mayor Allan Fung is the most well-known of several Republicans to jump into the race.

Rhode Island shapes have been added to the 2022 House Interactive Map.

Rep. Jim Hagedorn (R, MN-01) died Thursday night. He was 59 years old. First elected in 2018, Hagedorn was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer in 2019. After treatment, the cancer went into remission, but recurred last summer. His wife, Jennifer Carnahan, paid tribute to him in a Facebook posting.

Hagedorn won his second term by a 3% margin over Democrat Dan Feehan in 2020. Minnesota completed congressional redistricting earlier this week; the first district saw little change and will continue to span the length of the southernmost part of the state. Under the redistricted boundaries, Donald Trump beat Joe Biden by about 9.5% points in 2020, down just slightly from 10% points under the current boundaries.

Connecticut, Kansas and Washington finalized their congressional redistricting last week. Minnesota was completed Tuesday. These shapes, with initial ratings, have been added to the House Interactive Map.

On Tuesday, we are following five special elections. Voters will fill vacancies in two New York State Assembly districts. Across the country, there are two contests for vacancies in the California State Assembly. These are technically primaries, although at least one of them will not require a general election. Finally, Milwaukee voters will begin the process of electing a new mayor via a nonpartisan primary.

New York State Assembly Districts 60 and 72

The lower chamber of the New York Legislature is dominated by Democrats, who currently hold 104 of 150 seats. There are 43 Republicans and 1 Independence Party member. The two vacancies will be filled in Tuesday's special election. Both are safely Democratic seats in New York City.

Assembly members serve two year terms. The next regularly scheduled elections are in November. Those will be contested under redistricted boundaries.

Polls close at 9:00 PM Eastern Time.

Rep. Kathleen Rice (NY-04) will not seek reelection this year. In her 4th term, Rice becomes the 30th Democratic House member to retire or seek another office. 

As I turn to the next chapter of my own personal and professional story, I do so with profound thanks to the community leaders, colleagues and staff who have lived our shared commitment to service with courage and humility. pic.twitter.com/GBVvtrWpia

— Kathleen Rice (@RepKathleenRice) February 15, 2022

New York's 4th district includes parts of Nassau County on Long Island. The current boundaries are shown in the image below; there was very little change in redistricting. Joe Biden has  a roughly 12% 2020 margin over Donald Trump in both the old and new map. The consensus rating is Likely Democratic.

Of the four congressional districts largely or entirely in Long Island, only Republican Andrew Garbarino is seeking another term. In addition to Rice's retirement, Republican Lee Zeldin (NY-01) and Democrat Tom Suozzi (NY-03) are running for governor.

This week, maps for Kansas and Washington were enacted into law. The shapes for those states will be added to the House Interactive Map in the days ahead. 11 states, with 113 districts, have yet to finalize their plans for the next decade. All of them are in the Eastern or Central time zone. 

In Kansas, the Republican-controlled Legislature overrode a veto by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly. The new map redistricts part of Kansas City out of District 3, endangering the reelection prospects Sharice Davids, the lone Democrat in the state's delegation.

In Washington, the Legislature approved a new map, after making very minor changes to a map approved by the state's redistricting commission in November. The new map does not significantly alter the competitive balance in the state.

February 9, 2022 marks 1,000 days until the 2024 presidential election, which is scheduled to take place on November 5, 2024. 

There are 272 days until the November 8 midterm elections.

We're following two elections this Tuesday. Overview and live results below.

Oklahoma City Mayor

Oklahoma City is the 22nd largest city in the United States,^{1 1}City rankings are based on July 1, 2020 Census Bureau population estimates. They are for the city itself, not the associated metropolitan area. with a population of just over 681,000.  The mayor is David Holt, who is seeking a second four-year term. 

In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated Alabama's previously enacted congressional map, allowing it to be used for the state's upcoming primary election and the November midterm elections.

The Justices issued a stay on a January 24 preliminary injunction by a lower court. 

While Alabama's new map is little changed from the one in place for the past decade, the earlier ruling had said that it likely violated the Voting Rights Act. Under the plan, Black voters would only having the opportunity to elect one representative of their choice, despite comprising 27% of the population.