RandySF
RandySF's JournalTornado warnings delay Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate debate
Breaking on my phone via the Journal Sentinel.
North Dakota Supreme Court weighs potential statewide vote on term limits change
The North Dakota Supreme Court heard arguments Thursday over whether proposed changes to voter-approved legislative term limits voters should go to voters in November.
Lawmakers in 2025 adopted the proposal, Senate Resolution 4008, to give lawmakers more freedom over how they spend their terms.
The resolution refers a constitutional amendment to the 2026 general election ballot. If voters approve it, the amendment would alter the legislative term limits created in 2022 that bar state lawmakers from serving more than eight years in the House and eight years in the Senate.
But two backers of the term limits amendment, Article XV, say Senate Resolution 4008 shouldn’t be put before voters.
https://northdakotamonitor.com/2026/04/02/north-dakota-supreme-court-weighs-potential-statewide-vote-on-term-limits-change/
Virginia civil rights leaders decry 'misinformation' in redistricting fight
(VIRGINIA MERCURY) - Civil rights leaders in Virginia on Wednesday denounced a political campaign opposing the state’s April 21 redistricting referendum, accusing it of spreading misinformation and exploiting civil rights imagery to sway voters.
At a news conference at Maggie L. Walker Memorial Plaza in Richmond, leaders with the NAACP Virginia State Conference sharply criticized mailers distributed by the Justice for Democracy PAC, a group opposing the referendum that has drawn scrutiny for its messaging and funding.
“On this April Fool’s Day, don’t be fooled into voting ‘no,’” Gaylene Kanoyton, political action chair of the NAACP Virginia State Conference said.
She emphasized that the campaign’s messaging relies on misleading claims and selective historical references, including mailers invoking the civil rights movement and quoting former President Barack Obama out of context.
https://www.12onyourside.com/2026/04/02/virginia-civil-rights-leaders-decry-misinformation-redistricting-fight/
From Blockbusters to Boring? Previewing Wisconsin's 2026 state Supreme Court race
Wisconsin’s Supreme Court elections are among the most closely watched springtime contests for election nerds, even as they have, as of late, produced relatively lopsided results that don’t necessarily reflect the state’s typical purple character.
But next week’s contest feels different from the blockbuster court races that have defined the past several cycles. In fact, even for those of us who follow elections closely, it has been easy to forget that Wisconsin is having a state Supreme Court race at all.
One reason for the sleepier nature of the 2026 court race could be the fact that control of the 7-member body is not up for grabs this time. While these judicial seats are nominally nonpartisan, they have increasingly taken on a two-party feel, with Democrats endorsing and campaigning for liberal justices and Republicans doing the same with conservatives. With 10-year terms and a 7-member court, a Supreme Court race is on the ballot most but not all years in Wisconsin.
Liberals currently hold a 4–3 majority on the court; they won control of the court with a key flip in 2023 and held their majority in last year’s very high-spending race. Since the 2023 election, the court has acted as something of a counterweight to the GOP-controlled legislature, although it has not given national Democrats everything they’d have liked. For instance, the court ordered that the state’s legislative lines, which were favorable to Republicans, be redrawn ahead of the 2024 elections. But it has not thrown out the state’s U.S. House map. During the 2025 campaign, conservatives warned that if liberals were allowed to keep the majority, Republicans would lose two House seats in the state—while Wisconsin might be able to redistrict mid-decade depending on the results of this year’s elections (more on that later), the current map, where Republicans currently enjoy a 6-2 advantage, appears locked in for 2026.
https://centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/from-blockbusters-to-boring-previewing-wisconsins-2026-state-supreme-court-race/
Wisconsin Supreme Court race draws money from every county, state
Next week’s Wisconsin Supreme Court election has attracted far less money and national attention than the two previous races for the state’s highest court. But campaign finance reports show there really is no part of the state — or country — sitting this one out.
Election Day is on Tuesday and conservative Maria Lazar and liberal Chris Taylor, who are both currently judges on the state appeals court, are competing for an open seat on the bench.
Overall, Taylor raised over four times more than Lazar in the most recent reporting period, but the money is a far cry from the record spending in last year’s Wisconsin Supreme Court election, where roughly $115 million was spent, according to a WisPolitics analysis. That race, and the state’s 2023 high court race, each subsequently broke nationwide funding records for judicial elections.
Yet money for both candidates in this year’s election has flowed from all corners of the state. Taylor received donations from every Wisconsin county, and Lazar received donations from all but two counties (Forest and Menominee), according to a Cap Times analysis of campaign contribution data. For the purposes of the analysis, the Cap Times excluded in-kind donations and looked at all contributions from reports filed since either candidate announced their campaigns.
https://captimes.com/news/government/wisconsin-supreme-court-race-draws-money-from-every-county-state/article_5ad596f4-5420-42d2-bd80-7fb6cc5c227a.html
How to watch: Wisconsin Supreme Court debate between Maria Lazar (R) and Chris Taylor (D)
MILWAUKEE — Appeals Court Judges Maria Lazar and Chris Taylor will take the debate stage Thursday night, April 2, ahead of the state Supreme Court election on April 7.
Thursday's debate from WISN 12 News will air live at 7 p.m. on Catchy Comedy. The debate will also be available via livestream in the video player above.
There will be no audience for the event.
The debate was previously scheduled for last week but was postponed after Taylor woke up feeling unwell and was eventually diagnosed with kidney stones.
https://www.wkow.com/livestream/wkow-livestream2/how-to-watch-wisconsin-supreme-court-debate-between-maria-lazar-and-chris-taylor/article_94491f0d-a250-4269-af01-6c237833a7a5.html
Eric Holder holds closed event in Milwaukee ahead of Supreme Court election
Just minutes after former President Barack Obama took the rare step of endorsing a candidate in a state Supreme Court race, his former attorney general was in Milwaukee on April 1 to meet with community leaders ahead of the April 7 election.
Eric Holder held a closed event with Congresswoman Gwen Moore at the Wisconsin African American Women’s Center, located near 30th and Vliet in Milwaukee, which was attended by approximately 40 community leaders, including elected officials, a judge, and state Democratic Party leadership.
Tuesday’s election pits liberal Chris Taylor against conservative Maria Lazar, following the decision by incumbent conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley not to seek reelection.
The court currently has a 4-3 liberal majority, and liberals will keep control of the court regardless of the result of the election, which may be one reason why early voting is down 59% compared to the 2025 spring election.
https://milwaukeecourier.com/news/2026/04/02/eric-holder-holds-closed-event-in-milwaukee-ahead-of-supreme-court-election
Wisconsin's Judicial Swing
Wisconsin voters are about to make a 10-year commitment. And the consequences could be far-reaching, for the state and for the nation.
Next week, voters will elect a new judge to the seven-member state Supreme Court. The candidates, Maria Lazar and Chris Taylor, are both currently judges on the Wisconsin Appeals Court. While the election is officially nonpartisan, Lazar is backed by Republicans, and Taylor, a former state representative, is backed by Democrats. At stake is a term that will not end until 2036.
Liberal judges currently have a 4-3 majority on the court, which they won in 2023 and held onto in last year’s election, by far the most expensive state supreme court race in history. That race drew intense ad spending from the right and the left, as Republicans worked to restore a conservative majority to the court. Elon Musk, then a “special government employee” heading up President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, wrote $1 million checks to some voters who participated in the election. Democratic donors, including billionaire George Soros, spent millions on the race as well.
This year’s race is a snooze by comparison. Total ad spending by independent political groups hadn’t even cracked $1 million a few weeks prior to election day, according to local reports. In a tough year for Republicans, with household costs still rising and dissatisfaction with Trump’s job performance at an all-time high, Taylor, the Democratic-backed judge, is expected to win, expanding the liberal majority to 5-2. Even if she doesn’t, liberals will still have a majority on the court. But the decisions could be more delicat
https://www.governing.com/politics/wisconsins-judicial-swing
GA-SEN: Inside the blame game roiling Georgia's GOP Senate primary
Republicans once saw Georgia as the crown jewel of their Senate pickup opportunities. They’re now blaming each other as the GOP primary unravels into an intraparty brawl that could cost them their chance of defeating Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff.
The party is grappling with a crowded field, no dominant front-runner, no endorsement from President Donald Trump — and the reality that the May 19 primary will very likely extend into an expensive, bruising mid-June runoff.
Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.), a close Trump ally, leads in public polling, with fellow Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) and Gov. Brian Kemp-endorsed former football coach Derek Dooley battling for second. But a large share of voters remain undecided, underscoring how fluid the race is. Meanwhile, incumbent Ossoff — who faces no primary challenge of his own — is keeping his powder dry and has amassed a formidable eight-figure campaign war chest ready to deploy in the general election.
“If Ossoff could write a playbook for how he wants this primary to go, this is exactly it,” said a GOP operative, who, like others interviewed for this story, was granted anonymity to speak candidly about the race’s dynamics. They said that Georgia is like a “red-headed stepchild” not getting any attention from Washington.
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/02/georgia-senate-ossoff-trump-republicans-00854884?experience_id=EXYF89KVT5UQ&template_id=OTJIR2CRKUD6&variant_id=OTVPVBAUA2YMK&is_login_link=true
4.9 earthquake in the Bay Area.
Nice little jolt followed by swaying. Epicenter one mile from Boulder Creek, CA. Everyone should be fine.
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: Detroit Area, MI
Home country: USA
Current location: San Francisco, CA
Member since: Wed Oct 29, 2008, 02:53 PM
Number of posts: 84,339