State Politics Archives

2022 Gubernatorial Election Ratings (Mar 2022)

Thirty-six states are holding gubernatorial elections this November. And while most states vote the same way for their governor as they do federally, gubernatorial elections are typically far less partisan. This makes rating these elections more difficult, as incumbent popularity and campaign platforms play a bigger role here than they do nationally. Despite their status as being less partisan, they are still overwhelmingly important. Control of governorships usually dictates a state’s policy. Wisconsin, for instance, would be far more conservative if the governor was Republican.

Major House Redistricting Victories for Democrats

Since the last update on congressional redistricting, there have been substantive changes in the playing field in the decennial process. Despite what seemed to be hopelessly bad turf for the Democratic Party, they have managed to turn the tables and gain a narrow edge over the Republicans. In total, of the 44 states that have finished redistricting so far, the Democrats have a net gain of 12 seats. Republicans lost five seats. This is mainly due to a string of court, legislative, and commission victories in the Democrats’ favor.

NYC’s Interborough Express Line One Step Closer to Reality

In a State of the State address on Wednesday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, announced a plan that would bring the Triboro transit line one step closer to reality by starting an environmental review. The plan, titled the “Interborough Express,” would stretch 14 miles and link Brooklyn and Queens, connecting with the Long Island Rail Road and up to 17 subway lines.

Redistricting: Which Party Is Ahead? (Dec 2021)

Forty-four states have already begun the decennial congressional redistricting process, with 20 states already enacting finalized House maps that will run through the next 10 years. That is 14 more than in the previous update (not including states with only one district). In this post, we’re going to take a look at how redistricting is going in each state and discuss which party is doing better.

Let’s Get California High-Speed Rail Built

Welcome to Infrastructure Spotlight, a new series on Newshacker Blog examining major U.S. infrastructure projects in-depth. Today, we’re jumping back over to the West Coast to talk about California High-Speed Rail, a project that has long been in the works.

In November 2008, voters approved Proposition 1A. Thus was the birth of high-speed rail in California: the bill approved $9.95 billion in funding to the California High-Speed Rail Authority to link the San Francisco Bay Area to Los Angeles via the Central Valley, with future extensions to San Diego and Sacramento.

Virginia Gubernatorial Election Points to 2022 Red Wave

On Tuesday, off-year elections were held in various states, with the most notable races being the Virginia gubernatorial election and the New Jersey gubernatorial election. A number of other special elections were also held to fill congressional vacancies, and multiple cities also held mayoral elections. Notably, Republicans swept into power in Virginia, and New Jersey’s incumbent Democratic governor was just a hair’s smidge away from losing to a Republican. Yet, in what seemed like a great year for Republicans, a number of progressive Democrats won races in local elections.

Mail Voting for Virginia Gubernatorial Election Starts

The Virginia gubernatorial election, along with elections for other statewide positions and its legislature, is taking place this November. It, along with New Jersey, are the only two states that hold regular elections for governors in off-years. Virginia has been trending Democratic, with Republicans failing to win any statewide races in recent years, but the results of this race could still foreshadow what might go down in the midterms next year.

Gavin Newsom Survives Recall Election

Almost five months after an effort led by the California Republican Party to recall Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom and a month of mail voting, in-person voting for the recall election finally closed on Tuesday. Less than an hour later, The Associated Press called the race against the recall for Newsom, and with 74 percent of the vote in, 64 percent of voters voted against recalling Newsom. Just 36 percent of voters voted in support of the recall.

Why Kathy Hochul Should Reconsider AirTrain LaGuardia

Welcome to Infrastructure Spotlight, a new series on Newshacker Blog examining major U.S. infrastructure projects in-depth. We’re back in New York today discussing the AirTrain LaGuardia.

Now that Andrew Cuomo is no longer governor of New York, Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul is now in charge of all the problems plaguing the U.S.’s largest city and fourth-largest state. That includes all the problems the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is facing and all the other infrastructure projects currently under construction, such as East Side Access. One major thorn Hochul will have to fix is AirTrain LaGuardia.

Andrew Cuomo Resigns Over Sexual Harassment Scandal

Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced his resignation on Tuesday, August 10, effective in two weeks’ time. Cuomo announced his resignation amid a slew of sexual harassment allegations and the New York attorney general releasing a report that found he sexually harassed 11 women. Had he not resigned, Cuomo would have faced near-certain impeachment from the Democratic state legislature.

Decoding the Moves of Sen. Joe Manchin

Sen. Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat from the very Republican state of West Virginia, may seem to be one of the last, if only, conservative-esque, centrist Democrats left in Congress. He seems to oppose many Democratic priorities, such as on abortion, increasing the minimum wage, and gun control, and always tries to act in a bipartisan way. Lately, he voiced his opposition to passing the For the People Act, a large, sweeping Democrat-backed voting rights reformed package also known as H.R. 1 or S. 1. However, despite this, he isn’t nearly as conservative or as Republican-friendly as he may first seem.

Texas Dems Defeat GOP Voter Suppression Bill For Now

In a stunning turn of events, members of the Democratic caucus of the Texas House of Representatives staged a dramatic walkout in a last-ditch effort to stop the Republican Party from passing one of the most severe voter suppression bills in the U.S. The walkout by all 67 Democrats in the state House meant that the Republican Party wouldn’t be able to form a 100-member quorum in the 150-member body, meaning that the bill was not able to be passed before the end of this legislative session, which ended on May 30.

Glenn Youngkin Wins Virginia GOP Primary for Governor

After a grueling weekend of vote tabulation of ranked-choice voting, the results of the Virginia Republican Party gubernatorial primary held on May 8 were released, indicating that Glenn Youngkin, a former CEO and businessman, had won the party’s nomination to run in the Virginia gubernatorial election this November. The results indicated that once again, the Republican Party had chosen to embrace the pro-Trump strategy.

Why Missouri Could See a Competitive Senate Race in 2022

Missouri, once a major political bellwether, has slowly drifted into being solid for the Republicans. Therefore, it may come as a surprise to many that Missouri had a Democratic senator as recently as 2018, and the 2016 U.S. Senate election here was very competitive as well. Though the 2022 Missouri U.S. Senate election is expected to be safe for the Republicans, there is one scenario in which this race could become competitive.

Why Puerto Rico Should Be Granted Statehood

The push to make Washington, D.C. a state has never been greater. Not only has the House passed a bill that would admit the federal district as a state this Congress, making it the second consecutive Congress that passed such an act, it has also been introduced in the Senate and there has been a great push for it to become a real state. However, the push to make Puerto Rico, an American territory in the Caribbean which has a population of 3 million, a state has not garnered such attention and support. Granting Puerto Rico statehood would give more than 3 million Americans representation in government.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom Recall Effort Qualifies

A recall effort organized by Republicans against California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has reached the number of valid signatures required for the state to hold a recall election, the California secretary of state reported Monday. The state is now all but certain to be holding a gubernatorial recall election later this year, for only the second time ever in the state’s history.

NYC Mayoral Race Heats Up With 10 Weeks to Go

New York City, the nation’s largest city, is holding its mayoral race this November, with a primary election beginning on June 22, 2021. With incumbent Mayor Bill de Blasio ineligible for a third term, the race between the Democratic two frontrunners — businessman Andrew Yang and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams — is heating up.

Voting Rights and How America’s Pastime Got Pulled Into Politics

Major companies have come out in criticism of Georgia’s new voter-suppression law that makes it harder to vote, especially in the urban areas. As companies headquartered in Georgia like Coca-Cola and Delta slammed the law for being “based on a lie” and President Joe Biden calling the law “Jim Crow on steroids,” Major League Baseball has chosen to move this season’s All-Star Game out of Atlanta, resulting in Republicans, who have rallied against “cancel culture,” calling on people to boycott MLB.

Georgia GOP Passes Sweeping Voter Suppression Bill

Georgia Republicans, who currently hold a majority in that state’s legislature and the governorship (despite Democrats winning statewide on the presidential level and having both U.S. Senate seats), passed a disgraceful bill Thursday which would substantially restrict voting rights and make it far more difficult for people to vote, especially to those living in cities and for communities of color (both groups which vote overwhelmingly Democratic).

NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo Facing Major Scandals

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New York’s three-term Democratic governor, was once one of the most popular governors in the country. Many had hailed him for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, in an ugly turn of events for Cuomo, multiple scandals are now plaguing him. Not only was it discovered that Cuomo had underestimated the number of COVID-19 deaths in the state’s nursing homes by as much as 50 percent, but at least six women have also accused the governor of sexual harassment and misconduct.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom Faces a Recall Effort

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing a major recall effort organized in part by the state GOP after outrage began last year over coronavirus-related restrictions. It is the largest and likeliest-to-succeed recall effort of a California governor every since then-Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat, was recalled in 2003, with Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger succeeding him.

Nevada Looks to Succeed New Hampshire to Hold 1st Presidential Primaries

Iowa and New Hampshire have always been the first two states to hold presidential primaries every election cycle. The Iowa Caucuses and New Hampshire Primary have become synonymous with the first primaries and have always been seen as particularly important to prospective candidates. However, Iowa and New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation status when it comes to holding primaries is facing another threat: Nevada.

Arizona GOP Censures Three of Its Top Members

The Arizona Republican Party may have just spelled out its own death sentence. The state GOP approved resolutions on Saturday to censure three of its most prominent members, including Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, former Sen. Jeff Flake, and Cindy McCain, the widow of former Sen. John McCain. Including its previous censure of McCain five years ago, before his death in 2018, the Arizona GOP has now censured almost all of its members who have managed to win statewide in recent years.

The States That Swung The Most In the 2020 Presidential Election

There were lots of surprises in terms of how each state voted in the 2020 election. A number of states shifted drastically in terms of how they voted this election compared to the 2016 election. And though this year was not the Democratic landslide many had hoped for, all states to see big swings were to the left.

Colorado, New Mexico, and Virginia Cement Themselves as Blue States

Colorado, New Mexico, and Virginia were once hotly contested swing states. All had voted Republican in 2004 for George W. Bush, but ever since then, these three states have begun a steady (and rapid) transition into cementing themselves as Democratic strongholds. The 2020 presidential election solidified this standing.

Texas Is Undoubtedly a Swing State

For the longest time, Texas has been a solid Republican stronghold. It has always voted for the Republican presidential candidate since 1976, and as recently as 2012, it voted for the Republican by a safe margin (Mitt Romney won the state by a whopping 16 points that year). Ever since then, though, the state has been moving gradually toward the left. There is little doubt that the results of the 2020 election in Texas show that the state is a swing state.