Upset at the state house: Kentucky House Majority Leader defeated by teacher in Republican primary

Kentucky House Majority Leader defeated by teacher in Republican primary + John Conyers III removed from ballot in MI-13 Democratic primary Kentucky House Majority Leader defeated by teacher in Republican primary High School math teacher R. Travis Brenda defeated Kentucky House Majority Leader Jonathan Shell in the Republican primary in Kentucky House District 71. According to unofficial results posted by the Secretary of State’s office, Brenda defeated Shell by about 125 votes, 50.7% to 49.3%. Brenda challenged Shell in part because of legislation passed by the state legislature and signed by Gov. Matt Bevin (R) which modified pension benefits for teachers. Teachers in Kentucky staged rallies at the state capitol in April to protest the pension bill and also urged the state legislature to override the governor’s veto of the annual state budget. Brenda will face Democrat Mary Renfro, a county school board member, in November. [For a full rundown of last night's results, click here.]( We will be sending a special results edition of The Heart of the Primaries newsletter this morning, [please click here to sign up.]( [Forward This](mailto:?&cc=info@Ballotpedia.org&subject=Check out this info I found from Ballotpedia&body= [blank][Tweet This]( [blank][blank][Send to Facebook]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [blank] John Conyers III removed from ballot in MI-13 Democratic primary John Conyers III (D), the son of former U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D), was removed from the ballot in the race to replace his father in Michigan’s 13th Congressional District. Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett announced Monday that Conyers III did not collect enough valid signatures to run for the seat. Conyers III said he will appeal the decision. Garrett’s staff also recommended that Conyers III be dropped from the ballot for the concurrent special election that will fill the seat from November 2018 to December 2018 due to insufficient signature collections. Garrett has not announced a final decision yet. To qualify for the ballot as a major party U.S. House candidate from Michigan, you need to file an affidavit of identity and partisan nominating petition. This petition must contain at least 1,000 valid signatures and no more than 2,000 signatures total. The challenge to Conyers’ III candidacy was brought by his cousin, state Sen. Ian Conyers (D), who is also running for the seat. After Conyers Jr. resigned in December 2017 over sexual misconduct accusations, he endorsed his son over Ian, his great-nephew. News outlets reported that Conyers Jr. and his wife broke with Ian after he prematurely informed the press that Conyers Jr. would resign. Other Democratic candidates running include former state Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Weston Mayor Bill Wild, Detroit City Council President Brenda Jones, and State Sen. Coleman Young II. The winner will almost certainly go on to win the safe Democratic seat in the November general election. A major issue in the race is whether Conyers Jr., a Civil Rights leader and co-founder of the Congressional Black Caucus first elected in 1964, will be succeeded by another black Detroiter. Tlaib, the race’s fundraising leader and the favorite of progressive groups, is Arab and Wild, a suburban mayor and second-highest fundraiser, is white. Fearing that either might win due to vote-splitting among the black candidates, a group of Detroit clergy, labor union leaders, and Democratic Party activists met in March and agreed to consolidate their support behind Jones. [Learn more→]( --------------------------------------------------------------- South Dakota Initiated Measure 26, Drug Price Standards Initiative blocked from appearing on the ballot pending a final ruling South Dakota Initiated Measure 26, the Drug Price Standards Initiative, would require the state and state agencies to pay the same or lower prices for prescriptions drugs as the [U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs](. Last week, the measure was blocked from the ballot through a temporary injunction that could become permanent without additional arguments from the secretary of state. Here’s a timeline of events in this process: April 11: The secretary of state announced that enough signatures were found valid to qualify the measure for the ballot. Supporters submitted a total of 22,091 signatures, and 13,871 needed to be valid to qualify the initiative for the ballot. May 11: Joni Johnson, executive director of South Dakota Biotech, and South Dakotans Against the Deceptive RX Ballot Issue, opponents of the Drug Price Standards Initiative, filed litigation against South Dakota Secretary of State Shantel Krebs. The plaintiffs allege that circulators of the petition were not residents of South Dakota, rendering the 6,238 signatures submitted by them invalid. Plaintiffs also allege that petition circulators submitted 2,665 additional invalid signatures, for a total of 8,959 invalid signatures. Because of this, they argue that the proponents of the measure did not meet the valid signature requirement to qualify for the ballot. May 18: Judge Patricia J. Devaney of the South Dakota Sixth Judicial Circuit ordered that the Secretary of State, defendant Shantel Krebs, is prohibited from placing the initiative on the ballot and that Krebs must appear at a hearing on August 1 to show cause for why the initiative should be placed on the ballot. According to the most current reports available as of May 22, 2018, South Dakotans Against the Deceptive Rx Ballot Issue had raised $2,676,723.89– $2,600,000 in cash donations and $76,723.89 in in-kind services. The top five donors provided 63.52 percent of the contributions. The top five donors are Wyeth LLC; Johnson and Johnson Services, Inc.; Sanofi US Services Inc.; Allergan Inc.; and Novo Nordisk Inc. As of May 22, 2018, there was one ballot measure committee, South Dakotans for Lower Drug Prices, registered in support of the measure. The committee had raised $50,000 and spent $40,000. All of the funds were contributed by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. This measure is the third attempt at a Drug Price Standards initiative requiring state agencies to pay no more than the Department of Veteran Affairs for prescription drugs; similar initiatives were defeated by California and Ohio voters in 2016 and 2017, respectively. In the 2018 cycle, signatures were submitted for eight citizen initiatives in South Dakota, including Initiated Measure 26. Four of the petitions were found to not contain enough valid signatures. [Learn more→]( Ballotpedia depends on the support of our readers. 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. [Please click here to support our work→]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Follow on Twitter]( [Friend on Facebook]( Copyright © 2018, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Ballotpedia 8383 Greenway Blvd Suite 600 Middleton, WI 53562 Decide which emails you want from Ballotpedia. [Unsubscribe]( or [update subscription preferences](.