Election Updates for the Week of September 27, 2021
As the 2021 elections get closer, the 2022 midterms continue to heat up. Below are the latest election updates.
State
In Minnesota, how the U.S. Supreme Court rules on abortion could have major impacts on the midterm elections, as with most other states.
The New York City Board of Elections had an embarrassing error that revealed who many people voted for, including New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s son. Also in New York City, there is concern that election officials hired political hacks for non-partisan jobs concerning elections.
In Florida, the special election to replace the late Congressman Alcee Hastings is coming up soon. Also in Florida, people are suing to block Florida’s new election security law. The plaintiffs argue that recently revealed text messages from State GOP officials show that the bill was passed for purely partisan reasons.
In Washington, the Secretary of State is warning that the new norm of filing lawsuits that allege election fraud could cause real damage to democracy.
In Indiana, the redistricting map advanced in the Indiana House’s committee without significant changes to the current map.
In Alaska, despite the fact that Alaska only has one congressional district, there is deep contention over redistricting in its state legislature.
In Virginia, former Governor Terry McAuliffe and businessman Glenn Youngkin continue to be in a tight race. Voting has started in Virginia; however, not all of the early voting locations are open in Richmond.
In Mississippi, civil rights advocates are challenging a law that disenfranchises certain felons from voting. The law was passed in 1890 to disenfranchise African Americans from voting. The state of Mississippi is defending the law.
In Ohio, Republicans are looking to limit drop boxes and early voting, but a new report claims that rural voters, who make up part of the Republican base, support more drop boxes and early voting.
Culture
The New York Times has a piece that details how Arizona’s election audit has led to similar audits in other states.
FiveThirtyEight released an article analyzing how much California’s recall could reveal about the 2022 midterm elections.
Similarly, many believe that the Virginia gubernatorial election will serve as a barometer of Democrats’ ability to turn out in midterm elections. Some also question whether Youngkin’s rejections of former President Donald Trump’s election conspiracy claims will depress GOP turnout.
Noted attorney and legal scholar John Eastman is facing outcry due to the revelation of a controversial legal memo he put forth to challenge the 2020 election in the days after the election. In Nevada, former Senator Dean Heller, who is attempting a comeback by running for Governor, faced criticism for refusing to say whether President Joe Biden won the 2020 election. MSNBC had a segment showing how many Republicans who believe in the “big lie” are running for positions like Secretary of State. The FBI has revealed that it is facing unprecedented threats against election officials.
Controversial attorney Sidney Powell is pushing a conspiracy about dead people voting in Georgia. A report this week revealed that the Trump campaign knew pretty quickly after the election that their claims on voting machines were not true, but they continued to push the claims anyway.
One group is spending almost $6 million dollars to push Democrats to pass the Freedom to Vote Act. Civil rights groups are worried that the opportunity to pass a voting rights reform bill is slipping away from the Democrats.
In Texas, Latinos are making their voices heard as the state designs its maps for redistricting. Similarly, in New Mexico, Native Americans are engaging in ways to increase their political power. Nationally, Democrats are concerned about the Latino vote, after the 2020 election and now the California recall, revealed that more Hispanics are voting Republican. Some people are also wondering that without Trump on the ballot, if young voters will remain as active.
With the retirement of Congressman Anthony Gonzales, who voted to impeach Trump and faced tough election odds, there is a real question over how many of the Republicans who voted to impeach Trump will make it through the midterms.
Corporate
The controversial CEO of MyPillow, Mike Lindell, is claiming that 100,000 ballots were changed in Alabama, due to hackings of the voting machines. State officials have refuted this claim.
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has taken the step of asking businesses for help in opposing the Republicans’ proposed voting laws.
A new poll shows that a majority of voters want laws that will limit the powers of big technology companies.
One Republican fundraiser is calling on the GOP to do more to gain small-dollar donors in response to the reality that big money is continuing to side with the Democrats.
Senate Democrats have introduced a constitutional amendment that will overturn Citizens United. Democrats have proposed this amendment in the past and there is no indication to believe that the amendment will have any more of a chance of passing now than in the past.
The state of Illinois is trying to attract Texas corporations to Illinois in response to the controversial abortion law in Texas. Cook County is following suit with a similar tactic.
Senator Marco Rubio has a bill that will empower shareholders to fight against corporations who take political stances.
K Street is lobbying the Democrats on their tax bill, hoping that the Senate will prove successful in making the tax plan less aggressive. Similarly, the Chamber of Commerce is running ads against moderate House Democrats who are on the fence about supporting the Democrats’ tax plan.
Rolling Stone has a piece out claiming that “dark money” played a big role in House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s rise to power.
Todd Carney is a writer based in Washington, DC. The views in this piece are his alone and do not reflect the views of his employer.
