Welcome to the Monday, November 14, Brew.
By: Samuel Wonacott
Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- Five states elected a U.S. Senator and governor from a different party (so far)
- An update on SCOTUS and federal vacancies
- Intern at Ballotpedia—and get paid to provide critical information to voters!
Five states elected a U.S. Senator and governor from a different party (so far)
Twenty-six states held elections for governor and U.S. Senate on Nov. 8. As of this writing, we have results for 23 of them. Races in Alaska and Arizona are, as of this writing, uncalled. The U.S. Senate race in Georgia is headed for a Dec. 6 runoff and isn’t included in this analysis.
Five of those 23 states elected a U.S. Senator and governor from a different party:
- Kansas: Incumbent Gov. Laura Kelly (D) and incumbent U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran (R) won re-election.
- Wisconsin: Incumbent Gov. Tony Evers (D) and incumbent U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson (R) won re-election.
- New Hampshire: Incumbent Gov. Chris Sununu (R) and incumbent U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan (D) won re-election.
- Vermont: Incumbent Gov. Phil Scott (R) and U.S. Senate candidate Peter Welch (D) won their elections.
- Nevada: Incumbent U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D) and gubernatorial candidate Joe Lombardo (R) won their elections.
The chart below shows the share of the vote that the winning U.S. Senate and gubernatorial candidates won in each of the states that voted for both offices.
In states where members of the same party won both offices, Senate candidates on average won a higher percentage of the vote than candidates for governor—59.4% to 57.9%.
Across all 23 states, nine had a gap of less than two percentage points between the winning gubernatorial and senatorial candidates, seven had a gap of between two and five percentage points, and seven had a gap of more than five percentage points.
The five states with the largest ticket-split gap were:
- Kansas: Gov. Kelly (D) won with 49.4% and U.S. Sen. Moran (R) won with 60.2% (10.8% gap).
- Ohio: Gov. Mike DeWine (R) won with 62.8% and J.D. Vance (R) won with 53.3% (a gap of 9.5%).
- Oregon: Tina Kotek (D) won with 47.0% and U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D) won with 56.0% (9.0% gap).
- Oklahoma: Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) won with 55.5% and U.S. Sen. James Lankford (R) won with 64.3% (8.8% gap).
- Hawaii: Josh Green (D) won with 63.2% and U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz (D) won with 71.2% (a gap of 8.0%).
The five states with the smallest ticket-split gap were:
- Nevada: Joe Lombardo (R) won with 48.9% and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D) won with 48.8% (a gap of 0.1%).
- Idaho: Gov. Brad Little (R) won with 60.5% and U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo (R) won with 60.7% (a gap of 0.2%).
- Alabama: Gov. Kay Ivey (R) won with 67.4% and Katie Britt (R) won with 66.8% (a gap of 0.6%).
- Wisconsin: Gov. Evers (D) won with 51.2% and U.S. Sen. Johnson (R) won with 50.5% (a gap of 0.7%).
- Maryland: Wes Moore (D) won with 62.2% and U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D) won with 63.3% (a gap of 1.1%).
You can read more about split-ticket voting at the link below.
An update on SCOTUS and federal vacancies
The wheels of justice don’t stop turning—even for midterm elections. So, here’s some news on the federal judiciary.
U.S. Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) is currently in its 2022-2023 term. On Nov. 4, the court granted review in the following cases:
- Amgen Inc. v. Sanofi originates from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and concerns federal patent applications.
- Abitron Austria GmbH v. Hetronic International, Inc. originates from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit. The case involves the Lanham Act and trademark infringement claims.
- Arizona v. Navajo Nation (Consolidated with Department of the Interior v. Navajo Nation) originates from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit and concern a water rights dispute over the Colorado River.
To date, the court has agreed to hear 39 cases this term.
SCOTUS heard arguments in five cases last week.
Nov. 7:
- Axon Enterprise, Inc. v. Federal Trade Commission concerns whether federal courts can hear constitutional challenges to the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) structure. Axon, a body camera company, acquired a competitor. The FTC ordered Axon to undo the acquisition on antitrust grounds. Axon sued the FTC for violating its right to due process, alleging the acquisition did not violate antitrust law and that the removal protections for the FTC’s administrative law judges are unconstitutional.
- Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) v. Cochran concerns the subject-matter jurisdiction of U.S. district courts and questions whether the courts can concurrently hear constitutional challenges to the SEC’s administrative law judges in cases where the SEC has yet to issue a final decision.
Nov. 8:
- Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway Co. concerns the 14th Amendment’s due process clause and whether a state can require a corporation to agree to personal jurisdiction in order to do business in that state. Personal jurisdiction refers to a court’s authority to issue rulings over the parties in a case. The parties must have minimum contact with the court’s forum—the state—in order for the court to exercise this authority.
- Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County, Indiana v. Talevski involves the U.S. Constitution’s Spending Clause, allowing Congress to raise taxes and spend money.
Nov. 9:
- Haaland v. Brackeen (Consolidated with Cherokee Nation v. Brackeen, Texas v. Haaland, Brackeen v. Haaland) concerns the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA), governing the removal of out-of-home placement of American Indian children, and the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
The court will next hear arguments on Nov. 28, when its December argument sitting begins.
Federal judiciary vacancies
As of Nov. 1, 87 of 890 active federal judicial positions were vacant. There were two new judicial vacancies since our Oct. 1 report. Including U.S. territorial courts, there were 89 federal judicial vacancies.
The two new vacancies were created when U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Judge Charles Norgle and U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut Judge Stefan Underhill assumed senior status.
Here’s how President Joe Biden’s (D) Article III judicial appointments compare to his predecessors at this point in his presidency.
- Presidents have appointed an average of 77 judges through Nov. 1 of their second year in office.
- President Bill Clinton (D) made the most appointments through Nov. 1 of his second year with 128. President Barack Obama (D) made the fewest with 43.
- President Donald Trump (R) made the most appointments through four years with 234. President Reagan made the fewest through four years with 166.
Click below to learn more about federal judicial vacancies.
Intern at Ballotpedia—and get paid to provide critical information to voters!
Applications are now open for Ballotpedia’s spring 2023 internship program! Come help us build the digital encyclopedia of U.S. politics.
Paid internship opportunities are available in the Editorial and Communications departments. And did we mention these opportunities are remote?You just need a computer and an internet connection.
Here are a few things you’ll do as an intern:
- As an Editorial intern, you’ll directly assist staff on one of our various teams—ballots, elections, marquee, news, etc.—with writing about federal, state, and local elections, researching candidate stances and biographies, tracking the news, and conducting research for special projects.
- As a Communications intern, you’ll help the team create social media posts and graphics, assist with various email products, from daily and weekly newsletters to special campaigns, handle communications from a variety of external sources, and coordinate and plan webinars, briefings, and other events.
Interns will work 10-20 hours per week from Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, to Friday, May 5.
Here are a few testimonials from past interns—one of whom now works here in a full-time role!
“Being an intern at Ballotpedia gave me a fascinating look at political research from a completely neutral, fact-based perspective—ever important in our digital age. The editorial team was smart and kind, and I felt as though I fit right in. Working for Ballotpedia truly feels like working for a better future.” – Hunter Wasser, 2021 Summer Editorial Intern
“Participating in the editorial internship program was an exceptional learning experience that prepared me for my current role as a staff writer. Through the internship, I received extensive training on preventing bias, learned how to code the website, and worked on challenging projects, all with the support of helpful and encouraging Ballotpedia staff.” — Janie Valentine, 2019 Spring Intern and current Ballotpedia Staff Writer
If you’re interested in applying, or know someone who might be, you can find more information and a link to the application below. You can also email editor@ballotpedia.org if you have further questions.
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