The South Carolina Senate will convene for a special session on October 12.

Senate President Harvey Peeler hopes to limit the session’s scope to federal COVID-19 funding and redistricting, as provided in the adjournment resolution passed in May.

Leaders in the state House have not announced any plans to convene.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has announced a special election for House District 165 to coincide with the November 2 municipal elections.

If needed, a runoff will be held on November 30.

The House District 165 seat became vacant upon the passing of Rep. Mickey Stephens in August, who had held the seat continuously since 2009.

Mississippi Rep. Abe Hudson Jr. has resigned effective August 30.

Hudson has held the 29^th District seat since winning a special election in 2016.

Gov. Tate Reeves will set a special election to fill the District 29 seat until the term ends in January 2024.

This is the third vacancy in the Mississippi Legislature to be filled in 2021.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has announced a special primary election for House District 76 will be held on November 16 with runoff elections held on December 14, if necessary.

The special general election will be held on March 1, 2022.

The seat was previously held by Rep. Thad McClammy who passed away on August 21.

Sen. Doug J.J. Peters has resigned effective July 30 to accept a position on the University of Maryland’s Board of Regents.

Sen. Peters had previously announced he did not plan to seek reelection marking the end of his 15-year tenure in the Maryland Senate.

A successor will be appointed to serve the remainder of his current term with elections for the 23^rd District’s Senate seat schedule for 2022.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has announced a special primary election for House District 63 will be held on October 19 with runoff elections held on November 16, if necessary.

The special general election will be held on February 1, 2022.

The House District 63 seat has been vacant since former Rep. Bill Poole took over as state finance director on August 1.

The Board of County Commissioners have adopted Ordinance 21-73 adding additional requirements to the registration and reporting of lobbyists communication with the Miami-Dade County.

The new requirements include requiring lobbyists to disclose the specific issues they are lobbying, lobbyist registration to be amended within 15 days to ensure accuracy, and requiring lobbyist expenditure reports to be filed even if there were no expenditures.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has appointed Rep. Bill Poole to succeed Kelly Butler as state finance director.

In June, Butler announced he would be retiring after over 30 years of public service due to health concerns.

Rep. Poole, who has chaired the House Ways and Means Education Committee since 2013, will begin his new position as head of the Alabama Department of Finance on August 1.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves has announced special elections for November 2 to fill the two Senate seats recently vacated after two Democratic Senators resigned on June 30.

If needed, runoff elections will be held on November 23.

Sen. Tammy Witherspoon of District 38 resigned to serve as the newly elected mayor of Magnolia and Sen. Sampson Jackson of District 32 retired.

North Carolina Senate Bill 722 became law without the governor’s signature on June 28.

The bill will delay certain municipal elections from 2021 to 2022 to accommodate delays in redistricting based upon 2020 Census data.

This delay will effectively extend the terms of current officeholders until the delayed elections can be held.

Winners of these delayed elections will serve their term as though they were elected in 2021 to return elections to their regular cycle.

Two Mississippi state senators have announced their resignations effective June 30.

Sen. Tammy Witherspoon of District 38 has resigned to serve as the newly elected mayor of Magnolia, whose term began July 1.

Additionally, Sen. Sampson Jackson of District 32 has decided to retire after serving 30 years in the Legislature.

Gov. Reeves is expected to announce special elections to fill the vacancies in the coming days.

On June 28, the Annapolis City Council voted unanimously to adopt campaign finance reforms.

Ordinance 15-21 requires any person making independent expenditures of $5,000 or more to register with the Board of Supervisors of Elections.

Once registered, such persons are required to file reports upon making independent expenditures of $10,000 or more.

Further, the reports must identify the person making the expenditure and any donors who have contributed $6,000 or more. Ordinance 15-21 is effective immediately.

The West Virginia Legislature held its second special session on June 24.

During the one-day session, lawmakers approved adjustments of roughly $1.95 billion to the state budget, including the allocation of surplus federal relief funding.

The Legislature also considered and passed bills relating to regional jails and alcohol sales.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has called the General Assembly to convene a special session beginning August 2.

The special session will focus on judicial appointments and the allocation of over $4.3 billion in federal COVID relief funding.