In a truly horrible week of imaginable tragedy for America, we’re also dealing with Tom Petty’s sudden and untimely death.
So here’s a look at what’s sucking (and not sucking) in the states.
Into the Great Wide Open: Fresh off of a $3 billion giveaway to Foxconn, the GOP-controlled Wisconsin legislature quickly pivoted back to screwing the state up.
Fun fact! Wetlands reduce pollutants in groundwater and waterways, reduce flooding and erosion, and are a unique and inimitable ecosystem for fish and wildlife.
Stop Draggin’ My Vote Around: But maybe there’s hope for Wisconsin yet. The main reason Republicans have the unchecked power to do things like kill environmental protections is the extreme partisan gerrymandering they executed in 2011.
Fun fact! Even though Republicans received only 48.6 percent of Assembly votes statewide in 2012, they won 60 of the 99 seats in Wisconsin’s lower chamber.
- Now their gerrymandered maps are under scrutiny by the U.S. Supreme Court in Gill v. Whitford. Oral arguments were held on Tuesday, and “swing” Justice Anthony Kennedy’s questions indicated he might side with the liberal justices against shadily executed and GOP-biased district lines.
- Ruling extreme partisan gerrymandering unconstitutional would be a game-changer not only in Wisconsin but in state legislatures all across the country (and Congress, too).
- Some of the more extreme partisan gerrymanders are in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina. A ruling that results in new, fairer maps in time for the 2018 or 2020 elections could give Democrats majorities in these chambers just in time for the 2021 round of state and congressional redistricting.
Mary Jane’s Last Vote: In addition to being extremely gerrymandered, Michigan is one of 15 states that places term limits on its legislators. Term limits are problematic for a number of reasons:
- Legislators aren’t able to serve long enough to gain expertise on complex policy issues.
- Because legislator lack that expertise, lobbyists and bureaucrats wield disproportionate power and influence over the legislative process.
- Legislators spend their limited terms legislating to position themselves for the next office they’ll run for, rather than legislating to govern the state effectively.
Also, legislators already have term limits. They’re called elections.
Anyway, Michigan is about to get slammed by its term limits (three two-year terms in the House, two four-year terms in the Senate)—HARD.
- In the state House, 24 of 110 seats will be open due to term limits. This turnover rate—almost 22 percent—is the second-highest for any lower chamber in the nation.
- In the state Senate, 26 of 38 seats will be term-limited. That’s over 68 percent of the chamber.
That’s a heckuva lot of n00bs in 2019.
- The Michigan Chamber of Commerce is reportedly considering pushing an amendment to the state constitution to revise these term limits, which were passed by 59 percent of the state’s voters in a 1992 referendum.
Runnin’ Down a Vote: Not all of this fall’s action is in Virginia and New Jersey. Washington is home to a key state Senate special election on Nov. 7. The winner of the race in District 45 will determine not only which party controls the state Senate, but also would give Democrats a trifecta (state House, state Senate, governor) here.
- Democrat (and Daily Kos endorsee) Manka Dhingra won August’s top-two primary election by 10 points, so Republicans are understandably freaked out. Dhingra’s Republican opponent resorted to running the following online ad:
The only heroine issue evident in Washington might be Dhingra’s candidacy.
- Assuming, obviously, that the Republican meant to hit Dhingra on her positions regarding the heroin epidemic, the ad grossly distorts her stance regarding safe consumption sites, which mostly entails relying on health professionals’ and communities’ input.
Keep an eye out for more desperate claims from the GOP in this key race.
I Won’t Back Down: Speaking of things to keep an eye on, the Republican Attorneys General Association is staffing up. This week, they announced the hire of their first-ever communications director.
Congrats!
- Ever since their (rumored to be acrimonious) split from the Republican State Leadership Committee in 2014, RAGA had stuck with the “gentleman’s agreement” of sorts they maintained with their Democratic counterpart that entailed not going after one another’s incumbents.
- Some “gentlemen” they are: RAGA has been going hard against Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring, who is up for re-election next month.
The Data (is the hardest part): This week’s data interlude features fresh new data from Kentucky and brings the number of states for which we’ve finished calculating the 2016 presidential results in all legislative districts to 45. You can find our master list of states right here. Also check out our colleague Daniel Donner’s visualizations of the “median district advantage” in every state Senate and state House that we have data for.
Well, I’m off to Breakdown to the sound of Tom Petty’s rocking grooves. Until next week, when maybe things will suck less.