Good morning and welcome again to the DDHQ Morning News Spotlight. Today we’re watching the second day of Supreme Court confirmation hearings, the seemingly neverending Ohio redistricting story, and more. Let’s dive into the news.
Morning Headlines
- Day two of the confirmation hearings for Ketanji Brown Jackson will happen today. Day one was for the most part the normal, cordial affair that you would expect from the first day of a Supreme Court hearing.
- The Ohio Redistricting Commission met again yesterday evening. They decided on two mapmakers who they hope can come up with a consensus plan for state legislative maps. The National Redistricting Action Fund filed a new lawsuit against the Congressional maps restarting that legal battle in the Ohio Supreme Court. As of now, the Ohio primaries are still set for May 3.
- New allegations were made against former Missouri Governor Eric Greitens yesterday in a sworn affidavit filed by his ex-wife. In it, she alleges extremely disturbing physical violence against herself and their children by the former governor. Greitens is currently a candidate in the Missouri US Senate Republican primary.
- Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy is trying to work out a plan for how to navigate a marathon of elections under a new election system that needs to be planned in the wake of Rep. Don Young’s passing. His tentative schedule is holding a special primary on June 11 and having the special general on Alaska’s regularly scheduled primary date of August 16. Under Alaska’s newly passed system, the top-four candidates advance from a primary where candidates from all parties will run in and then advance to a ranked-choice contest in the general.
- Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb vetoed a bill yesterday that would ban transgender girls from playing girls’ school sports. He called it a solution for a problem that doesn’t exist in Indiana. Republicans have a supermajority in both chambers of the Indiana General Assembly and only need a simple majority to overturn a veto.
- ICYMI: Eric Cunningham reviewed the new North Carolina legislative maps over at Elections Daily.
- We’ll also have results tonight for two state legislative special elections in South Carolina and New York. First polls close at 7:00 p.m. eastern, join us at analysisdddhq.wpenginepowered.com for the election results.
Upcoming Elections
| Tues March 22 | SC State House 18 Special GOP Primary |
| NY State Assembly District 43 Special General | |
| Sat March 26 | LA State House 101 Special Primary |
| Tues March 29 | SC State Senate 31 Special General |
| Tues April 5 | SC State House 18 Special GOP Primary runoff (if necessary) |
| GA State House 45 Special General | |
| PA State House 19 Special General | |
| PA State House 24 Special General | |
| PA State House 116 Special General | |
| Milwaukee, WI Mayoral Special General | |
| CA US House 22 Special Primary | |
| CA State Assembly 11 Special Primary | |
| CA State Assembly 62 Special Primary | |
| CA State Assembly 80 Special Primary | |
| Thurs April 7 | NY State Assembly 20 Special Election |
| Tues April 19 | CA State Assembly 17 Special General |