RandySF
RandySF's JournalBallotpedia publishes analysis of 2025 school board elections
Ballotpedia’s 2025 School Board Election Data Analysis examines candidate participation, election methods, and incumbency outcomes in school board elections across the United States. The report analyzes elections held in 187 school districts across 29 states, representing a total of 4,877,739 students.
Ballotpedia tracked 546 school board seats up for election in 2025 and 990 candidates who ran for those positions. Of those candidates, 375 were incumbents and 615 were non-incumbents. Races averaged 1.8 candidates per seat, and 36% of seats were uncontested. Incumbents seeking another term won re-election in 84% of races.
The report compares 2025 results with school board election data from 2022 through 2024 and includes state-level breakdowns and analysis by election method.
https://news.ballotpedia.org/2026/02/02/ballotpedia-publishes-analysis-of-2025-school-board-elections/
Janesville, Wisconsin, voters to decide Nov. 3, 2026, initiative requiring approval for development projects exceeding $
Voters in Janesville, Wisconsin, will decide on a ballot initiative on Nov. 3, 2026, that would require voter approval before a proposed $8 billion data center can be developed.
On Feb. 9, 2026, the Janesville City Council voted to include the ballot initiative on the general election ballot. No Janesville Data Center organized the petition drive. Petitioners were required to collect signatures equal to 15% of the 26,082 votes cast in Janesville in the most recent gubernatorial election, resulting in a requirement of 3,915 signatures. On Jan. 21, the clerk's office certified 3,927 signatures.
The ballot initiative would require voter approval before the City of Janesville could approve development on undeveloped portions of the GM/JATCO site if the project’s cost exceeds $450 million. Approval would require a majority vote at a general or special election. If voters reject the proposal, any new development plan or agreement for the site would require a new referendum.
The GM/JATCO site is city-owned property, formerly known as the Janesville Assembly Plant, located at 1000 General Motors Drive and 544 Kellogg Avenue. General Motors operated the Janesville Assembly Plant from 1919 to 2008.
https://news.ballotpedia.org/2026/02/12/janesville-wisconsin-voters-to-decide-nov-3-2026-initiative-requiring-approval-for-development-projects-exceeding-450-million-at-gm-jatco-site-such-as-proposed-data-center/
Voters to decide 12 ballot measures at March 3 Town Meeting Day in Montpelier, Vermont
Voters in Montpelier, Vermont, will decide on 12 measures on the Town Meeting Day ballot on March 3, including a measure that would advise the mayor and city council to adopt a pledge to "join others in working to end all support to Israel's apartheid regime, settler colonialism, and military occupation."
Town Meeting Day is held at Montpelier City Hall on the first Tuesday of March. Polls are open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Vermont law makes Town Meeting Day a holiday for employees of the state and allows other employees in the state to take unpaid time off to attend.
At the Town Meeting, voters elect local officials and cast votes on ballot measures concerning the city budget and other policy issues.
https://news.ballotpedia.org/2026/02/13/voters-to-decide-12-ballot-measures-at-march-3-town-meeting-day-in-montpelier-vermont/
Twenty-five states weigh legislation on foreign funding in elections
Lawmakers in 25 states are considering new state laws or constitutional amendments so far this year related to foreign funding in elections.
Federal law prohibits federal, state, and local candidates from soliciting, directing, or receiving contributions from individuals who are not citizens or permanent residents of the United States. The law also bans contributions from foreign governments, political parties, corporations, organizations, or groups whose principal place of business is in a foreign country.
Federal courts, however, have established that the federal ban does not apply to issue advocacy, such as lobbying or spending in ballot measure campaigns. The Federal Election Commission has affirmed that foreign individuals, corporations, and governments can contribute to ballot measure campaigns.
https://news.ballotpedia.org/2026/02/13/twenty-five-states-weigh-legislation-on-foreign-funding-in-elections-2/
Indiana becomes the third state, after Alabama and Tennessee, to advance a bail-related constitutional amendment to vote
The Indiana General Assembly approved a constitutional amendment related to bail for the Nov. 3, 2026, statewide general election ballot. Lawmakers passed the amendment on Feb. 17, 2026.
Introduced as Senate Joint Resolution 1 (SJR 1), the constitutional amendment would provide that offenses, other than murder or treason, are bailable "unless the accused poses a substantial risk to any other person or the community" if the presumption is strong and the state proves that no condition of release will protect the community.
In the Indiana State Senate, SJR 1 passed 43-2, with four members not voting. In the Indiana House of Representatives, SJR 1 passed by a vote of 75-11, with 14 members not voting. Republicans, along with 23 Assembly Democrats, supported SJR 1, while the remaining 17 Democrats either opposed it or abstained.
State Sen. Erich Koch (R-44), who authored SJR 1, said "this resolution moving forward is a great step forward ensuring our communities are protected from those who pose a threat." State Rep. Chris Jeter (R-88) stated that SJR 1 is "a public safety amendment to the Indiana Constitution" and that, currently, "every criminal defendant is authorized to be released on bail, unless it is determined for treason, even if (they are) a substantial risk to the public. This amendment would change that to allow anyone who's deemed a public safety threat to be held indefinitely."
https://news.ballotpedia.org/2026/02/18/indiana-becomes-the-third-state-after-alabama-and-tennessee-to-advance-a-bail-related-constitutional-amendment-to-voters-in-2026/
New Mexico voters to decide amendment changing appointment process for university boards of regents in Nov. 2026
New Mexico voters will decide on an amendment relating to the appointments to members of the Board of Regents on Nov. 3, 2026. The amendment passed both chambers of the state legislature.
The amendment, House Joint Resolution 1 (HJR 1), was introduced in the New Mexico House of Representatives by Rep. Christine Chandler (D). On Feb. 6, HJR 1 passed the House by 67-0, and on Feb. 17, the Senate approved the amendment by 34-7. Constitutional amendments do not need the governor’s signature to be referred to the ballot.
The amendment would change the way appointments to the Board of Regents, the governing bodies that manage public universities in the state, are made. Seven state universities—Eastern New Mexico University, New Mexico Highlands University, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, New Mexico State University, Northern New Mexico College, University of New Mexico, Western New Mexico University—are governed by a Board of Regents.
The duties of the Board of Regents include providing fiduciary oversight, management, and establishment of policies to state universities. Currently, the members of the Board of Regents are appointed by the governor with approval by the Senate. They serve staggered six-year terms, except for the student regent, who serves a two-year term.
https://news.ballotpedia.org/2026/02/19/new-mexico-voters-to-decide-amendment-changing-appointment-process-for-university-boards-of-regents-in-nov-2026/
Maine legislators weigh expanding state's ranked-choice voting system
On Feb. 10, Maine legislators approved a bill requiring the use of ranked-choice voting to elect the governor and members of the state legislature. Before advancing the legislation to Gov. Janet Mills (D), the legislature is waiting for advice from the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.
In the ranked-choice voting system currently used in Maine, a candidate who wins a majority of first-preference votes is the winner. If no candidate wins a majority of first-preference votes, the candidate with the fewest first-preference votes is eliminated.
Ballots that ranked an eliminated candidate as their first or highest choice, depending on the round, are then reevaluated and counted as first-preference ballots for the next-highest-ranked candidate in that round. A new tally is conducted to determine whether any candidate has won a majority of ballots. The process is repeated until a candidate wins an outright majority.
In 2016, voters approved the Maine Ranked Choice Voting Initiative, which authorized the use of RCV for all congressional, state legislative, and gubernatorial elections.
https://news.ballotpedia.org/2026/02/21/maine-legislators-weigh-expanding-states-ranked-choice-voting-system/
Greeley voters to decide fate of project that includes minor league hockey arena
GREELEY • The fate of the Cascadia development — and quite possibly the future direction of the city — is in the hands of Greeley voters this Tuesday during a special city election on whether the landscape-altering project should be halted.
Cascadia is a master-planned community designed to integrate housing, recreation, jobs, and quality-of-life amenities. Those include an 8,600-seat multiuse arena and ice center that will be the home of the Colorado Eagles, a popular minor-league affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche, a full-service conference hotel, an indoor waterpark, and housing.
Residents opposed to the City Council-approved expansion petitioned the stoppage onto the ballot that will be be decided on Election Day. Ballots were sent out to registered voters starting Feb. 3 and must be returned by 7 p.m. Feb. 24.
Ballot Question 1A, a yes-or-no proposition, asks: “Shall Ordinance 30, 2025 authorizing changes to the zoning map of the City of Greeley establishing the Cascadia Planned Unit Development (PUD) for a property located North of US Highway 34 and East of Weld County Road 17 including approximately 834 acres to create a master-planned community, be repealed?”
https://www.coloradopolitics.com/2026/02/21/greeley-voters-to-decide-fate-of-project-that-includes-minor-league-hockey-arena/
Public voter lists show ID, address and party, fueling debate over election privacy
Abilene, Texas — Some Taylor County residents are raising privacy concerns about a Texas law that requires counties to publicly post daily early voting turnout information, including voter ID and party affiliation.
Taylor County Elections Administrator Freda Ragan said her office is required to make the information available online under Texas Election Code Section 87.121. “We are required by law to post that information on our websites, and we have to have it out there by 11 a.m.,” Ragan said.
Ragan said the county typically provides a link to the Secretary of State’s website because the county uploads the information nightly. “Every night we upload that information at people who have voted or who have returned a mail ballot, we upload that information to the Secretary of State, and they post that on their website,” she said.
The issue drew attention after a resident posted online that they learned early voting results are being posted each day on the county’s website, including voter ID number, names and addresses. The post sparked mixed reactions, with one resident saying they were proud to share their political affiliation publicly and another saying that decision should remain private.
https://ktxs.com/news/local/public-voter-lists-show-id-address-and-party-fueling-debate-over-election-privacy
'Super drunk' judge Tom Ludington (R) belligerent, slurring, video shows
U.S. District Judge Thomas Ludington appeared to have urinated on himself after crashing his wife's Cadillac last fall and is accused of repeatedly lying to Michigan State Police troopers about whether he drank alcohol and failing field sobriety tests before registering a 0.27 blood-alcohol level ― high enough to be considered legally "super drunk," state police records show.
“A, B, C, D, E, F, U,” Ludington, 72, said when asked to recite part of the alphabet during one sobriety test, according to body camera footage from the incident obtained by The Detroit News through a public records request.
The footage shows a belligerent judge slurring words, failing to follow orders and calling one trooper a "stupid son of a b----." The video and a police report detail a rare criminal case against a federal judge in Bay City who was appointed for life to handle criminal and civil cases for a large portion of the eastern half of Michigan.
During the Oct. 3 arrest, Ludington volunteered that he was a federal judge before being handcuffed on the side of the road in Northern Michigan. The stop was prompted by a witness who called 911 after watching the Republican-nominated judge crash into two signs along a curved road in Springvale Township, east of Petoskey.
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2026/02/20/super-drunk-judge-tom-ludington-belligerent-slurring-video-shows/88775103007/
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