Governor Tate Reeves has won the 2023 Mississippi gubernational election by a narrow margin against Democrat Brandon Presley.

Gov. Reeves secured a slim majority of 51.8% of the votes in Mississippi and his opponent secured 46.9% with 95% of votes having been cast.

Gov. Reeves was predicted to have an easy victory but faced steep competition from his opponent.

A late endorsement from former president Trump may have pushed Reeves ahead.

Gov. Brian Kemp called for a special legislative session to begin November 29 due to the recent striking down of Georgia’s legislative and congressional voting maps by a federal judge.

The judge stated the maps violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and has set a deadline of December 8 for state lawmakers to draw new ones.

The maps will be redrawn to include multiple black-majority districts including two new districts for the Senate and five for the House.

Gov. DeSantis called on the state Legislature to hold a special session to discuss further sanctions on Iran in response to Iran’s support of Hamas.

DeSantis wants to expand the number of industries on Florida’s existing scrutinized companies list and strengthen prohibitions against investing in companies that do business with states sponsoring terrorism.

The session is expected to convene on November 6 and adjourn on November 9.

A legislative panel is considering a bill to standardize local election dates.

The legislation would require all local elections to be held on one of three specific days in odd-numbered years.

These dates would fall in March, July, or November.

The purpose of the bill is to eliminate confusion caused by varying election dates across the state.

The bill passed the House earlier this year and will be considered in the Senate as early as next January when Legislature comes back into session.

A Sarasota commissioner has proposed an act to require lobbyist registration for any person hired for the purpose of lobbying.

The act is intended to diminish clandestine lobbying done in secret by private individuals.

This act will affect anyone paid to lobby the city on any matter and require them to disclose their client and the purpose of their lobbying.

The act will exempt those who are not compensated for lobbying activities or those lobbying on behalf of the community.

Finally, the act will establish a public database with a maintained list of lobbyists, their clients, and the subjects of their lobbying.

Matt Simpson, Chair of the Alabama House Ethics and Campaign Finance Committee, is expected to propose changes to the state’s ethics law during the next legislative session.

Changes will include clarification to the definition of lobbyist principal for purposes of gift rules.

Additionally, clarification is expected for how to determine what is a conflict of interest for officials.

The aim of these changes is to help public employees and officials avoid unintentional violations of the law.

The committee’s next meeting is on October 26.