Lauren McLean, the incumbent, has been elected Mayor for the city of Boise once again.

McLean defeated Mike Masterson, the former police chief, after receiving more than 50% of the vote.

Masterson, who had spent over 40 years in policing, ultimately ended up conceded the race late last evening.

McLean also beat out candidates Joe Evans and Aaron Reis with neither garnering much of the vote.

Democrats were able to keep their legislative majority after Tuesday’s election.

They won a key race by recovering a South Jersey seat that was lost two years ago and were able to combat Republican takeover in various competitive races across the state.

Democrats won a majority of the 40 seat Senate and 80 seat Assembly races through campaigning on women’s issues and were able to capitalize on the backlash received from the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

House Republicans decided to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of Senate Bill 747 this past Tuesday.

This piece of legislation creates bipartisan election boards to establish early voting locations and certify election results.

Democrats worry the changes may lead to dysfunction in the 2024 election cycle, while Republicans argue these established boards will create a fairer election process by taking politics out of the equation.

The bill became effective on October 10.

The General Assembly passed House Bill 259 on September 22.

Gov. Roy Cooper has indicated he will not veto the bill and allow the bill to become law without his signature.

House Bill 259 increases the lobbyist and principal registration fee from $250 to $500.

It also establishes an expedited pass for lobbyists and liaison personnel to accelerate entry into the State Legislative Building and the Legislative Office Building during the hours these buildings are open to the public.

The Legislative Services Commission may charge lobbyists a fee of up two $2,000 and liaison personnel a fee of up to $1,000 per pass, for each regular session.

Gov. Kay Ivey announced the dates for a special election to fill the House District 10 seat vacated by Rep. David Cole after pleading guilty to a charge of voter fraud.

The primary election for the seat will be held on December 12, and if necessary, the primary runoff will be held on January 9, 2024.

The special general election will be held on March 26, 2024.

Gov. Glen Younkin has called the General Assembly to reconvene for a special session.

The session will address the state budget and will take up issues such as tax relief and investments for local families and businesses.

The special session will begin on September 6.

A special election has been called for Senate District 19 following the death of Sen. John Scott on August 13.

The primary will be on October 24 with a primary runoff occurring on November 7, if necessary.

The special general election will be held on January 2, 2024, just a week before the legislative session is set to begin.

U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom of the Southern District of Florida permanently halted a portion of the lobbying ban approved by voters in 2018.

The restriction barred public officials from lobbying, on issues of policy, appropriations, or procurement before governmental bodies or entities while in office.

Bloom determined the amendment language to be too broad and poorly defined, agreeing with the Plaintiffs in the case.

The six-year ban on lobbying pertaining to former state and local officers after leaving office was not blocked by Bloom and will continue to be in effect.

Gov. Kay Ivey announced the special election date for House District 16.

The seat was previously held by Rep. Kyle South, whose resignation went into effect June 30.

South will become the CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama.

The special primary election will take place on September 26.

If necessary, a special primary runoff will be held October 24.

The special general election will be held on January 9, 2024.

The Mississippi online campaign finance system has been disabled due to recent concerns over its reliability.

Issues have been reported with the filing system and include incorrect itemization, missing signatures, and no filings appearing to be filed with the Office of Secretary of State when they had actually been filed by the candidate or committee.

The office is currently working to replace the outdated system.

Candidates and political committees must now file their campaign finance reports via email, in person, mail, or through fax.

The next campaign finance report due date is July 10.

A special election will take place on November 7, 2023 for Senate District 42.

Senator Marlon Kimpson previously held the seat but resigned upon being tapped to join the Biden administration.

Sen. Kimpson was appointed to the Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations.

If necessary, a special primary election will be held on September 5 and the special election primary runoff on September 19.

This does affect reporting, and the next report will be due on October 23, 2023.

Gov. Kay Ivey has announced that she plans to call a special session.

The session is intended to address the congressional voting maps.

This follows a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that found the recent voting maps to be discriminatory towards black voters, and a deadline of July 21 was given to draft and approve new maps.

The special session is planned to take place from July 17 to July 21, 2023.

The State Board of Elections has selected a new employee to take over the role of elections administrator.

Jared DeMarinis was unanimously voted by the board to take over the position.

DeMarinis currently works as the director of the board’s candidacy and campaign finance division.

In order for him to take over the role, a confirmation hearing will be held at the next session of the state Senate.

If confirmed he will succeed the previous elections administrator, Linda Lamon, who will be retiring this summer.

Alabama lawmakers officially concluded the 2023 legislative session on June 6.

Legislation that passed included a grocery tax reduction, an exemption from state income tax for overtime work, and a tax rebate for both individual and married tax filers.

The $3 billion budget surplus ultimately gave way to what lawmakers called historic tax relief.