It’s not a census year, but redistricting news dominated the week

In this week's edition of the State and Local Tap, catch up on the latest news in prominent redistricting cases and the National Democratic Redistrict [View this email in your browser]( [Ballotpedia](   [Facebook](   [Twitter](   [The Tap](   Good morning, readers! If you’ve been keeping up with redistricting news, you may feel like you’ve woken up in 2020, not 2018. It may not be a census year, but redistricting is at the top of our minds this week, with developments in several important cases. Get the down low in this week’s edition of the State and Local Tap. [Access the extended edition]( NDRC releases 2018 target list The [National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC)]( a group chaired by former Attorney General [Eric Holder]( that aims to position Democrats favorably for the post-2020 census round of [redistricting]( released Wednesday the list of 12 states it intends to target in this year's elections. - The states in Target Group A, which the NDRC describes as "States that were gerrymandered by Republicans after the 2010 elections," are Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin. The Target Group B states, which the NDRC describes as "States at risk of gerrymandering during 2021 redistricting," are Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, and Nevada. - According to The New York Times, "Holder said in an interview that the group was chiefly determined to deny Republicans so-called trifectas in state governments – places where a single party controls the governorship and an entire legislature, as Republicans do in Ohio and Florida, among other critical battlegrounds." "From my perspective, success is if you break a trifecta," Holder told the Times. "I don't think that in December of 2018, you measure success only by whether you have assumed control of a particular state." - Six of the NDRC's 12 targeted states are Republican [state trifectas](. Republicans currently hold a total of 26 trifectas nationwide, and Democrats hold eight.   [Map of state government trifectas]   --------------------------------------------------------------- SCOTUS denies Republicans' request for stay in Penn. redistricting case The Supreme Court of the United States on Monday denied Pennsylvania Republicans' request for a stay of a state [supreme court order]( striking down the state's congressional district plan as an illegal partisan gerrymander, allowing that order to stand. The state supreme court ruled in January that Pennsylvania's congressional district plan "clearly, plainly, and palpably violates the [Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania]( Attorneys for Republicans argued that the state supreme court overstepped its authority in striking down Pennsylvania's congressional district plan. David Gersch, an attorney for the voters who initially brought the lawsuit challenging the congressional district plan, said that Republicans were making inconsistent arguments, having claimed in a separate lawsuit that the matter should be addressed by state-level authorities. The state supreme court ordered lawmakers to draft a remedial map and submit it to the governor by February 9. The court set a deadline of February 15 for the governor to submit that remedial plan to the court. --------------------------------------------------------------- SCOTUS issues partial stay in North Carolina state legislative redistricting case The [Supreme Court of the United States]( issued a partial stay Tuesday against a federal district court order that implemented new [state legislative district maps]( in North Carolina. The stay applies directly to five revised state House district maps in Wake and Mecklenburg counties. The four remaining district maps adopted by the district court (in Hoke, Cumberland, Guilford, Sampson, and Wayne counties) were permitted to stand. For all remaining districts, maps drawn by the state legislature in August 2017 will apply in the 2018 election season. The order came after state Republicans filed a motion requesting that the Supreme Court intervene and stay the order issued on January 19 by a three-judge panel of the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina.   [Subscribe to the Ballot Bulletin](   --------------------------------------------------------------- Ohio Legislature advances constitutional amendment to revamp congressional redistricting process The Ohio House of Representatives on Tuesday adopted [Senate Joint Resolution 5]( a bill advancing a constitutional amendment establishing new procedures for the [redistricting]( of the state's congressional district boundaries. The House approved the proposed amendment by a vote of 83-10. The Ohio State Senate had approved the proposed amendment by a vote of 31-0 on Monday. The [amendment]( is scheduled to go before voters for final approval on May 8. If approved, the congressional redistricting process will be amended as follows: - Following completion of the United States Census, state legislators could adopt a new congressional district map if three-fifths of the legislature's total membership vote to approve, including one-half of the minority party members. This map would apply for 10 years. - If the legislature proved unable to adopt a new map, a commission could be formed to adopt a map. That commission would include the governor, state auditor, secretary of state, and four legislators, two of whom would have to come from the legislature's minority party. A majority of the commission's members, including two members belonging to the minority party, would have to agree on a map. The map would apply for 10 years. - If the commission proved unable to adopt a map, state legislators would be given a second chance to adopt a map. The map would have to be approved by three-fifths of the legislature's total membership, including one-third of the minority party's members. The map would apply for 10 years. - If the legislature failed a second time, the majority party of the legislature, without support from the minority party, could adopt a map that would apply for four years. - Maps drawn by the legislature could be vetoed by the governor or a veto referendum campaign. [Map of state legislatures in session] --------------------------------------------------------------- Court hears lawsuit over the recall efforts against two Democratic state senators in Nevada Clark County District Judge Jerry Wiese heard arguments Wednesday in the lawsuits over the recall efforts against state Sen. [Joyce Woodhouse]( (D) and state Sen. [Nicole Cannizzaro]( (D). Lawyers for Woodhouse and Cannizzaro filed lawsuits over the recalls in 2017, arguing that thousands of names on the two recall petitions should not be counted because those signatories have filed to have their names removed. If the judge rules that the names can be removed from recall petitions, it will most likely drop both petitions below the threshold to force a recall election. The judge’s ruling may come as early as next week. Democrats currently hold a 10-9 majority in the state Senate with one nonpartisan member caucusing with Democrats and one vacant seat that was previously held by a Democrat. Of the 11 Nevada State Senate seats up for election in 2018, Democrats hold four seats, Republicans hold six seats, and one seat belongs to a nonpartisan member. Nevada is one of 16 states under divided government. Democrats control the state legislature and the governor’s office is held by Republican Brian Sandoval. --------------------------------------------------------------- Texas Gov. Abbott endorses another primary challenger in a state House primary Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) endorsed a third primary challenger in the [state House Republican primaries]( Monday, aligning with Chris Fails in his challenge of incumbent Lyle Larson (R). Abbott previously endorsed two other primary challengers over Republican incumbents: Susanna Dokupil in her bid to unseat state Rep. Sarah Davis (R) and Mayes Middleton in his challenge of state Rep. Wayne Faircloth (R). Larson, Davis, and Faircloth were all critical of Abbott in the state legislature’s 2017 special session for not putting ethics legislation on the agenda. The Fails vs. Larson primary is one of 48 contested state legislative Republican primaries in Texas in 2018. Forty-one of these contested primaries are state House races, and the results of those races will decide whether Joe Straus’ allies or Republicans who oppose his leadership, including the Texas Freedom Caucus, hold more sway in the chamber in 2019. A new speaker will be elected in 2019 because Straus is not running for re-election.   [Subscribe to the Heart of the Primaries](   --------------------------------------------------------------- Party control of the Minnesota State Senate could be on the line in special election The Minnesota State Senate [District 54 special election]( Monday could [determine]( control of the chamber, which currently has a 34-32 Republican majority. With a Democratic victory, the Republican majority would shrink to 34-33, increasing the possibility of Democratic control in the Senate, pending a decision from the courts to determine whether or not State Senator [Michelle Fischbach (R)]( must resign after being appointed to the role of lieutenant governor. Should she step down from the Senate, her seat would be up for election. Candidates in Minnesota State Senate District 54 and Minnesota House of Representatives District 23B will face off in a special election Monday. The seats became vacant after former State Senator Dan Schoen (D) and former State Representative Tony Cornish (R) resigned in late 2017 following sexual misconduct allegations. In District 54, Karla Bigham (DFL), Denny McNamara (R), and Emily Mellingen (L) will face off for the two-year seat. In District 23B, Melissa Wagner (DFL) and Jeremy Munson (R) will compete for the one-year seat. --------------------------------------------------------------- Early voting period for primary likely to be delayed in Chicago Jim Allen, spokesman for the [Chicago]( Board of Elections, said Monday that the start of the city's [early voting period]( for the primary election would likely be delayed to February 21. Early voting for Illinois' primary elections was slated to begin Thursday in the [statewide primary election]( scheduled to take place on March 20. Allen attributed the likely delay to a series of pending candidate ballot challenges, which make it impossible to have the ballots finalized by the scheduled early voting start date. Allen referred specifically to Democratic attorney general candidate Scott Drury, whose name a judge ruled cannot appear on the ballot due to filing paperwork issues. --------------------------------------------------------------- Memphis City Council votes to hold veto referendum on the use of ranked-choice voting in city elections The Memphis City Council voted 11-2 Tuesday to schedule a referendum vote on the use of [ranked-choice voting]( (RCV) in city council elections. Voters will go to the polls on November 6 to determine the fate of the city's [RCV law]( which was adopted by voters via charter amendment in 2008. In July, the Shelby County Election Commission announced plans to implement the 2008 law beginning in October 2019. The city council voted unanimously in October to "instruct its attorney … to draft an ordinance that, if approved, would force another referendum vote in 2018 on whether to repeal" RCV for city council elections. Five states contain cities that have implemented RCV for municipal elections: California, Colorado, Maine, Maryland, and Minnesota. Another four states contain cities that have adopted but not yet implemented RCV for municipal elections: Florida, Michigan, New Mexico, and Tennessee. The Tap has thousands of loyal readers each week. Want to reach them? Advertise in this email! Contact ads@ballotpedia.org for details. The Lucy Burns Institute, publisher of Ballotpedia, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All donations are tax deductible to the extent of the law. Donations to the Lucy Burns Institute or Ballotpedia do not support any candidates or campaigns. [Donate Securely Online]( Decide which emails you want from Ballotpedia. [Unsubscribe]( or [adjust your preferences]( →   Ballotpedia The Encyclopedia of American Politics 8383 Greenway Blvd., Suite 600 Middleton, WI 53562   [Facebook](   [Twitter](