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Axios
5 days ago
- Politics
- Axios
Grim trend hits Senate as members flee for governors' mansions
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) is the third senator to officially run for governor this cycle, while at least four governors have turned down recruitment efforts to run for Senate. Blackburn joins Sens. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) in bucking D.C. for gubernatorial roles. Why it matters: Governors used to jump at the chance to be a senator. But Govs. Brian Kemp (R-Ga.), Gretchen Whitmer (D-Mich.), Andy Beshear (D-Ky.) and Chris Sununu (R-N.H.) have all passed on open races next year. In North Carolina, former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's bid for Senate is a notable exception, although he was term-limited out of the statehouse in 2024. In Maine, Democratic Gov. Janet Mills has yet to decide on challenging Republican incumbent Susan Collins. The big picture: From 1986 through 2024, 54 incumbent or former governors ran for Senate seats, an average of almost three each cycle, according to a Ballotpedia analysis.
Yahoo
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
With Burt Jones entering GA governor's race, here are who have announced campaigns for 2026
Governor Brian Kemp has ruled out a run for the U.S. Senate, and with his final term coming to an end next year, Georgia will soon have a new leader. So, who's in the running to replace him? Here's a quick look at the candidates who've jumped into the race and what to expect in the upcoming election. Republican: Burt Jones, born in Jackson, Georgia, has announced his entry into the 2026 governor's race. Elected in 2023, he is the 13th lieutenant governor of Georgia and a former member of the Georgia State Senate from 2013 to 2023, representing the 25th District. "I've also fought to deliver President Trump's agenda here in Georgia from day one–and even took arrows from the radical left for doing it," Jones wrote on X. "But just like President Trump, I won–and delivered for the people of Georgia, just like he is delivering for the American people in Washington." Democrat: Olu Brown is founder and lead pastor of Impact United Methodist Church in the East Point community of metro Atlanta. He is a native of Texas who came to Georgia to get his Master of Divinity degree from Gammon Theological Seminary of the Interdenominational Theological Center. "I believe it's time for a new face, a new voice, and a new generation of leadership who listens to Georgians," Brown said in a video on his website. "I need your help and I need your support." Democrat: Jason Esteves was elected as a state senator in 2023 for part of the metro Atlanta area, specifically the 35th district. He is a a former at-large representative and BoardChair of the Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education. "I've had enough of families working harder than ever but still struggling, and our kids falling behind instead of getting ahead," Esteves said in a video on his Facebook. "Georgia, it's time to fight back." Republican: Chris Carr has been attorney general of Georgia since 2016 and before that was commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development. He was also chief of staff for U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson. "Progressive activists are trying to radically transform our values and our economy," Carr said in a video on YouTube. "We will not rest until we secure the border and hold Washington accountable." Georgia will choose its next governor during the general election on Nov. 3, 2026, according to Ballotpedia. The exact dates for the candidate filing deadline and primary elections haven't been announced yet. A special election is set for November 4, 2025, to fill seats in Public Service Commission Districts 2 and 3. The primaries will take place on June 17, with a runoff, if needed, on July 15. If no candidate wins outright in November, a runoff will be held on December 2. Key dates for voters: May 19: Last day to register to vote for the primaries May 27: Early in-person voting for the primaries begins October 6: Deadline to register for the special election October 14: Early voting for the special election begins Democrat: While she has not officially announced her candidacy, Keisha Lance Bottoms has filed paperwork to raise funds for a gubernatorial campaign. Bottoms is a former mayor of Atlanta and was a senior advisor for public engagement under President Joe Biden. "I am honored and humbled by the encouragement I have received as I have considered running for governor," Bottoms wrote on Facebook on April 28. "I am taking an important administrative step in this journey by filing necessary paperwork to establish a Campaign Committee. I look forward to making an announcement in the coming weeks." Vanessa Countryman is the Trending Topics Reporter for the the Deep South Connect Team Georgia. Email her at Vcountryman@ This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Who is running for governor in Georgia? Here's who has announced campaigns
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Matt Woods wins special election to fill Senate District 5 seat
Rep. Matt Woods, R-Jasper, won election to Senate District 5 Tuesday night. As of 9:16 p.m. Tuesday, Woods had 7,707 votes (86%) in unofficial returns for the north central Alabama Senate district, which includes Lamar, Fayette, Walker, the northern half of Tuscaloosa County, and the western part of Jefferson County. Democratic nominee Ryan Cagle, a progressive faith leader and community organizer and the first Democrat to run for the office since 2010, conceded around 9 p.m. At 9:16 p.m., he had 1,238 votes (13.1%). Woods said in a statement that he looks 'forward to being a conservative voice for all of District 5.' 'We've got a lot of good things happening in Alabama and I'm going to work hard to ensure we remain a conservative, pro-growth, and pro-freedom state,' he said. Cagle in his concession statement congratulated Woods and said his 'heart remains full and the fight continues.' 'We were outnumbered and outfunded in every way, but we made incredible strides this campaign. In the face of insurmountable odds, we have planted seeds that I know are going to continue to grow and blossom,' he said in the statement. In a previous interview, Woods said he wants to continue and build on the district's conservative leadership and bring his experience in the House, where he focused on education policy, to the Senate. Cagle offered a different vision and campaigned on bringing change to the district, saying he believes that established politicians have long ignored it and are not attentive to and aware of the region's needs. More: One Democrat, one Republican qualify for House District 63 special election The seat was previous held by former Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Reed, R-Jasper, who resigned the seat at the start of the year to join Gov. Kay Ivey's administration as Senior Advisor to Workforce Transformation. As Senate leader, Reed was a strong ally of business interests, expanding tax incentives and workforce training. The seat is strongly Republican. Reed first won the seat in 2010 as a first-time candidate with 73.3% of the votes. Reed subsequently ran unopposed in the Republican primaries and was not challenged by a Democratic candidate in 2014, 2018 and 2022, according to Ballotpedia. David Boyett, probate judge in Lamar County, described the turnout as 'very low' and 'not a normal turnout by no means,' but that significantly more people showed up to vote compared to the Democratic primary held in March, where the county recorded 38 votes. 'We've been out and visited the majority of the precincts all day today, and I'm looking at a very low turnout. I'm seeing somewhere around 400 total votes cast so far,' Boyette said Tuesday afternoon. Woods also said he was seeing a low turnout earlier in the day, but that he expected more people to show up in the evening. 'We think there will be an uptick when people get off work,' he said in a text message. Cagle, when asked what kind of turnout he was seeing, said in a text message Tuesday afternoon, 'honestly, I don't know because I'm at work! #workingclassproblems.' This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Matt Woods wins special to election for seat in Alabama Legislature
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
How Beacon Hill bosses quietly buried reform bills that threatened their power
In case you're wondering, in our fractured times, what it takes to get Democrats and Republicans to agree on something, here's your answer. And it's not much: It's just the dire need to fix the famously opaque and almost entirely challenger-proof Massachusetts Legislature. And if you're thinking 'Hey, wait, we live in a blue state that's praised for being a bastion of progressivism. Whaddya mean the Legislature is opaque and uncompetitive?' consider just these three factoids: Ninety-nine percent of incumbents — both state and federal — who ran for reelection in Massachusetts in 2024 kept their jobs, according to an analysis by Ballotpedia. Two-thirds of incumbent state lawmakers ran without opposition during last year's campaign cycle, according to an analysis of state data by Commonwealth Beacon. Also, the state's public records law is among the least transparent in the nation. And efforts to get the majority-Democrat House and Senate to open their books — as state Auditor Diana DiZoglio (also a Democrat) has been experiencing firsthand — are nearly impossible. Enter the Coalition to Reform Our Legislature, a bipartisan coalition of good government advocates that can fit both former U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, a Democrat, and state Republican Party Chairperson Amy Carnevale under its big tent. On Tuesday, the group gathered at the Church on the Hill, across the street from the State House, to hold what it described as a 'People's Hearing' to shine a light on a pair of bills calling for reforms that it filed in January and that Beacon Hill's establishment has effectively banished to the Island of Misfit Legislation. 'Both the House and Senate failed to assign the bills to a committee for a hearing and consideration. Unfortunately, it appears our Constitutional rights were reduced to filing a bill in the bottom drawer of a file cabinet in the [House and Senate] clerks' offices,' Peter Enrich, an emeritus law professor at Northeastern University, who sits on the coalition's steering committee, said in a statement. The first of those bills, each of which has companion House and Senate versions, would reform how state lawmakers get paid. State legislators currently get a base pay of $82,000. But those who serve in leadership positions, which is nearly all of them, get thousands of dollars more in stipends tacked onto their salaries. The activist group argued that the current system gives powerful legislative leaders too much control over compensation for rank-and-file legislators, encouraging them to come to heel for better pay. 'In no other state are so many legislators dependent on their chamber leader for a large share of their pay,' Jonathan Hecht, a former lawmaker who represented parts of Watertown and Cambridge in the state House of Representatives, said in that same joint statement. All but 51 of the 200 members of the state House and Senate serve in some kind of leadership position, while legislative leaders control $5 million in taxpayer money to boost their pay, Hecht, who left the House in 2020, said. 'Most of these stipends were created in the last 25 years, and reward little or no work,' he added. The other bill would authorize the creation of independent legislative research and fiscal analysis bureaus — similar to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office — that would provide lawmakers with independent analyses of the blizzard of legislation they're called to vote upon in every two-year session. Advocates argued the bureaus would give lawmakers the tools they need to write bills that are 'based on objective data' instead of relying on special interests. The Legislature used to have such an office, but shuttered it in 1992 in the name of reducing waste, according to State House News Service. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Senate President Karen E. Spilka, D-Middlesex/Norfolk, pointed to efforts the upper chamber has made this year to boost public access and accountability. She specifically pointed to open meetings of a House and Senate conference committee that's still trying — more than four months into the current session — to get a deal on the joint rules that smooth the flow of legislation between the two chambers. She also pointed to the public posting of votes on the Senate clerk's website. " So we are working really hard," the Ashland Democrat said. But Spilka was noncommittal when she was asked about the proposals offered by those good government advocates. " We'll take a look at it," she said. A spokesperson for state House Speaker Ronald J. Mariano, D-3rd Norfolk, did not respond to MassLive's request for comment. The way the advocates see it, meanwhile, the need for reform remains urgent and long overdue. 'One of the questions that we are considering is whether to take one of these, one or both of these issues to the ballot,' Jay Kaufman, a former lawmaker, told State House News Service. 'There's some significant consequences to doing that, but we're actively weighing it.' He joked that he expects they'd 'get the same 72% that the auditor got last year, and the same greeting across the street,' referring to DiZoglio's successful push to audit the state Legislature. Eight months after voters overwhelmingly approved that ballot measure, DiZoglio is still no closer to auditing her former colleagues. Markey Warns: Rural health crisis looms if Big Beautiful Bill passes | Bay State Briefing Troops in the Streets, Questions in Congress: Mass. reckons with role of military in civil society Mass. governor's race intensifies as GOP candidates seize on LA protests | John L. Micek Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Independent and third-party voter registration is growing. Here's why and what's next.
The number of registered independents and third-party members is growing as voters are breaking from the two-party system at increasing rates, according to an NBC News analysis of voter registration data. As of 2025, 32% of registered voters across the dozens of states and territories with reported data chose not to affiliate with either the Democratic or Republican parties, up from 23% in 2000. The partisan affiliation data, compiled by Ballotpedia, is available for the 33 states, territories and districts that publish registration data by voter party affiliation. But the trend is also reflected in broader national exit polls. The 2024 election polls showed that for the first time, self-identified independents outnumbered Democrats and were equal with Republicans. Mary Ann Marsh, a political analyst in Massachusetts, said independent and third-party registrations are growing in number because of dissatisfaction with the major parties. 'I think people are just disappointed in politics and disappointed in party politics. And I think we're seeing it now,' Marsh said, pointing to June's nationwide 'No Kings' protests as a sign that people can organize without a major party. 'People are taking matters into their own hands.' The analysis shows the increase in the share of independents has come at the cost of the Democratic Party. Except during former President Barack Obama's 2008 election, the share of registered voters made up by registered Democrats has declined every year since 2000 across the jurisdictions with data. The decline has accelerated in recent years, as the party's share of the registered voters in jurisdictions with available data fell 1.2 percentage points from 2024 to 2025, among the largest one-year decreases since 1998. Republicans' voter share has also declined overall, although it has increased since 2021. Independents are growing more diverse as a voting bloc, both ideologically and demographically. About 56% of independents described themselves as 'moderate' (rather than 'conservative' or 'liberal') in 2024, up from 50% in 2012, according to an analysis of polls commissioned for NBC News by the bipartisan polling firms Public Opinion Strategies and Hart Research Associates. And 34% of independents were people of color, double the share from 2012. The two-party system still dominates in the ballot box, as most voters still consistently vote for candidates from one party. In the 2024 presidential election, independents broke 49% for Vice President Kamala Harris and 46% for Donald Trump. In North Carolina, the share of registered independents and third-party members has more than doubled since the turn of the century. 'The rise of the unaffiliated voter has been one of the major themes of American politics and North Carolina politics,' said Michael Bitzer, a politics and history professor at Catawba College in North Carolina. 'The children of polarized politics that have known nothing but the two parties at loggerheads are probably making a pretty profound statement by saying we're not going to register with either party.' This growth in share of independent and third-party voters isn't limited to moderate states. The share of people unaffiliated with Democrats or Republicans in West Virginia,which Trump won by 41 points last year, has more than tripled since 2000. Sam Workman, a political science professor at West Virginia University, said the state's primary rules, which allow independents to vote in party primaries, give voters a chance to cast a 'meaningful vote' for the Republican candidate likeliest to be elected. However, beginning in 2026, West Virginia Republican primaries will be restricted to registered Republicans. The decline in partisan registration puts parties in a difficult spot, said Christopher Cooper, a professor of political science and public affairs at Western Carolina University in North Carolina. If fewer younger voters hold partisan affiliation, the parties will eventually have a hard time fielding candidates. 'The parties need to do something more than just win the next election. They need to build a structure for the future,' Cooper said. 'They're not telling people why membership has its privileges. I think they need to be aware of this, or else they're going to have a real problem in the future.' This article was originally published on
