New Progressive Party president Ricardo Roselló defeated David Brenier and two independent candidates for Puerto Rico’s highly contested gubernatorial seat. Rosselló, a college professor and scientist, ran on a platform supporting Puerto Rican statehood and pushing new ideas for economic recovery. He is the son of former Puerto Rican Governor Pedro Rosselló who also fought for statehood while in office from 1993-2001.

Puerto Rico, a commonwealth, does not have the right to vote in U.S. presidential elections nor do they have legislative representatives in the Senate.

Rosselló plans to hold elections for senators and representatives who will then go to Washington and demand statehood. This model was first followed by Tennessee who created a state constitution and presented it to Congress as a request to join the Union in 1796.

Photo of Ricardo Roselló by Edgardo Colon on Wikimedia Commons.

Ann Arbor voters approved a ballot measure to increase terms for mayor and city council to four years (Proposal 1). The ballot proposal will have the mayor and five city council seats elected in even-numbered years coinciding with Michigan gubernatorial elections and the other five city council seats will be elected in even-numbered years coinciding with presidential elections.

Previously, half of the city council was elected on odd-numbered years.

The proposal will begin with 2018 elections and city council members elected in 2017 will serve a three-year term.

Democrat John Carney, Jr. defeated Republican Colin Bonini to become the new governor of Delaware. Carney has served as Delaware’s lone U.S. representative since 2011.

Before Carney’s terms in Congress, he served two terms as Delaware’s lieutenant governor.

Photo of John Carney, Jr. courtesy of United States Congress on Wikimedia Commons.

With 51 percent of the vote, Republican Eric Greitens defeated Democratic Attorney General Chris Koster in Missouri’s gubernatorial race. Greitens will succeed Gov. Jay Nixon, who is term-limited.

Despite having no political experience, Greitens was a Rhodes scholar, a Navy SEAL, and a White House fellow. He is anti-abortion, supports gun rights, and opposes current healthcare policies.

Republican Eric Holcomb defeated Democrat John R. Gregg to become the new governor of Indiana. Holcomb, currently serving as the Lt. Gov., replaced Vice President-elect Mike Pence as the Republican gubernatorial nominee on July 27, 2016.

Additionally, Indiana voters approved the only ballot measure on the November ballot. Public Question 1, also known as the Right to Hunt and Fish Amendment, made it a constitutional right to hunt and fish. Indiana is the 20th state to establish hunting and fishing as a constitutional right.

Voters approved Amendment 6, also known as the Alabama Impeachment Amendment. Effective January 1, 2017, the Constitution of Alabama will require a supermajority, or two-thirds, vote of state senators present to convict and impeach a state official.

The current impeachment article did not specify how many state senators would be required for impeachment.

On November 8, Republican Christopher T. Sununu defeated Democratic candidate Colin Van Ostern to become the next governor of New Hampshire. With 97 percent of the precincts reporting, Sununu triumphed over Van Ostern with a vote of 49 to 47 percent.

Sununu is a son of former New Hampshire Gov. John H. Sununu and a brother of John E. Sununu, a past U.S. Senator from the state. The last Republican governor of New Hampshire was Craig Benson, who was last elected in 2002.

Photo of Christopher Sununu by Csununu on Wikimedia Commons.

On November 8, incumbent Republican Gov. Gary Herbert won his third election as Utah governor defeating Democratic challenger Mike Weinholtz 73.9 percent to 22.1 percent.

Herbert first became governor in 2009 when then-governor John Huntsman became the American ambassador to Singapore. Herbert was then elected in a special election in 2010, and again in the general election in 2012.

Utah, a Republican stronghold state, has not elected a Democratic governor in over 20 years.

Photo of Gov. Gary Herbert by 32ATPs on Wikimedia Commons.

Voters will be sending a familiar face back to Montpelier as current Lt. Gov. Phil Scott won the Vermont gubernatorial race. Scott, a Republican, will replace Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin, who declined to run for a fourth two-year term.

Scott will be the only Republican serving in statewide office. The race attracted more campaign spending than ever before, reaching $12 million thanks to PACs looking to influence the election.

Photo of Lt. Gov. Phil Scott by Phil Scott for Vermont campaign on Wikimedia Commons.

Elections

“Donald Trump Is Elected President in Stunning Repudiation of the Establishment” by Matt Flegenheimer and Michael Barbaro for The New York Times

“News Media Yet Again Misreads America’s Complex Pulse” by Jim Rutenberg for The New York Times

“Republicans Keep Control of Congress”  by Eric Bradner for CNN

“GOP Dominates Democrats in Governors’ Races” by Michael J. Mishak and Ben Wieder for The Center for Public Integrity

Missouri: “Missouri Supports Voter ID, Campaign Limits” by the Staff of St. Joseph News Press

Rhode Island: “R.I. Ethics Commission’s Jurisdiction Over Assembly Is Restored” by Alex Kuffner for Providence Journal

South Dakota: “The Latest: Voters choose to allow public campaign finance” by The Associated Press for The Sacramento Bee

Campaign Finance

“Panel Upholds ‘Soft-Money’ Ban but Sends GOP Campaign Finance Challenge to Supreme Court” by Spencer S. Hsu for The Washington Post

Alaska: “Federal Judge Rejects Lawsuit Challenging Alaska’s Limits on Campaign Donations” by Nathaniel Herz for Alaska Dispatch News

Several citizen’s initiatives were approved by Maine voters last night. Ranked-choice voting will replace the current election system (IB 2); a tax surcharge will be imposed on certain households to increase funding for public schools (IB 3); minimum wage will be raised to $12 an hour by 2020.  Maine will be the first state to institute ranked-choice voting.

The new system ensures the winning candidate in a multicandidate race receives the majority vote because voters rank candidates in order of preference.

If a candidate does not receive 50 percent of first-choice votes, then the lowest scoring candidate is eliminated and votes are retabulated.

As the country votes, news outlets everywhere will be breaking down and analyzing results state by state and county by county. If you’d like to join in on the fun and test out your own theories, there are some great interactive tools to draw your own electoral maps.

Check out a few of our favorites below and see if you can predict each candidates path to 270 electoral votes!

ABC News

CNN

Real Clear Politics

270 to win

It has been a long time coming, but Election Day 2016 has arrived and we can start on 2017 elections.

My real intention for this column is to remind everyone—family, friends, vendors, and your community—that they need to vote today, November 8. Take them with you. For the past 10 years, I have taken my parents to vote early so they do not have to stand in long lines on Election Day. It also helps because they can sit and think about the vote at that time. Sometimes I get asked a question and happy that I can help out.

This is it! This is the time! Stand up and vote! WOW! This is exactly what we scream at Cleveland Cavaliers’ games. It is very true right now. We need to be #ALLIN16.

And, you can count on State and Federal Communications to provide the needed information about the ballot issue questions affecting lobbying and campaign finance. Plus, we will soon work on our 2017 Inauguration Guide.

See how important #ALLIN16 is right now.