The New York General Assembly will convene for a one-day special session on December 22 to consider pay raises for lawmakers.

A special election has been scheduled to be held on February 21 in New Hampshire.

The special election is necessary after the Rochester House race between Republican David Walker and Democrat Rep. Chuck Grassie ended in a tie earlier this year.

As a result of a struggle over who holds a majority in the Pennsylvania state House, lawmakers scheduled special elections on two different dates to fill the same two vacancies.

Democratic leadership scheduled special elections to fill vacancies in House District 34 and 35 for February 7, 2023, while Republican leadership scheduled them for May 16, 2023.

A lawsuit filed by Republican representatives will likely determine when the special elections will be held and which party has the power to schedule them.

Two special elections have been scheduled for January 31, 2023, and February 7, 2023, to fill vacant seats in the Pennsylvania Legislature.

Senate District 27’s seat was vacated by Sen. John Gordner, who resigned on November 30 to become counsel to the interim Senate President Pro Tempore.

The winner of the January 31, 2023, special election will serve the remainder of the term set to expire at the end of 2024.

The House District 32 seat became vacant when Rep. Tony DeLuca won re-election on November 8 after he passed away in October before the election.

The winner of the February 7, 2023, special election will serve the remainder of the term set to expire at the end of 2024.

Lawmakers will convene for a special session of the Connecticut General Assembly on November 28.

Lawmakers will discuss extending the gas tax holiday and the continued suspension of fares on all public transit buses.

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey defeated Republican Geoff Diehl to become the state’s first female governor.

Healey will also be one of the country’s first openly lesbian governors.

Incumbent New York Gov. Kathy Hochul defeated Republican Lee Zeldin.

In a tighter than expected race, Hochul secures her first full term as governor.

Lt. Gov. John Fetterman won a tight race to become the Pennsylvania’s next U.S. Senator.

Fetterman, who suffered a stroke shortly before winning the Democratic nomination, defeated Dr. Mehmet Oz, a Trump-endorsed Republican.

Voters passed seven of 13 ballot questions including measures to establish a clean elections program, ranked-choice voting, an ethics commission, and a code of ethics.

The new campaign finance rules prohibit corporate contributions to candidates for city office and prohibit ballot question contributions or expenditures from any entity under foreign influence.

The city will use a proportional ranked choice voting method for elections in which more than one person is to be elected to a single office.

City Council will form an independent ethics commission and then adopt a code of ethics as recommended by the commission.

The special session of the Delaware General Assembly scheduled to convene October 26 was canceled.

Lawmakers planned to consider a bill related to health coverage changes for retired state workers, but a state superior court judge ordered a temporary halt to the state’s plan to switch insurance plans for retirees, rendering discussion of the bill moot.

Coverage under the current health plan extends for another year.

While the General Assembly as a whole will not convene, the Senate will hold a special session to consider the confirmation of several Gov. Carney appointees.

Delaware lawmakers will convene for a special session of the General Assembly on October 26.

During the special session, lawmakers will focus on easing the transition for retirees from a state-funded health care plan to a Medicare Advantage plan.

The special session comes in response to a lawsuit filed by a retiree advocacy group contesting the transition.

The Philadelphia Board of Ethics revised a regulation governing coordinated campaign expenditures.

Regulation 1 considers expenditures to be coordinated if they are made based on instructions received from a campaign.

A public communication from a campaign may constitute instructions if the communication includes a suggestion the electorate should be made aware of the information and the manner in which the information should be presented (e.g., “voters need to hear”).

The presumption of coordination can be refuted by demonstrating there was an independent basis for the expenditure.

The revised regulation took effect October 3.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit issued a ruling allowing trade associations representing banks to make campaign contributions.

The New Jersey state law prohibits banks from providing financial support to candidates, but the court found there is less risk of corruption when industry trade associations make the contribution because the member banks have varying interests.

The plaintiff in the case lacked standing to sue on behalf of individual banks, and the plaintiff’s First Amendment challenge to the law was rejected.

As a result, while banks cannot make political contributions to candidates in New Jersey, trade associations are now permitted to make such contributions.

Two special elections have been scheduled for November 8 to fill the vacant Philadelphia City Council seats in Districts 7 and 9.

Both seats were vacated when councilors Maria Quinones Sanchez and Cherelle Parker resigned last week to run for mayor.

The winners of the special elections will serve the remainder of the terms set to expire at the end of 2023.