The Legislature adjourned sine die on April 2, 2015, after the House finalized work on two bills passed by the Senate.

Photo of the Mississippi State Capitol by Shawn Lea on Wikimedia Commons.

Gov. Phil Bryant has announced a special election to fill an opening in the state House of Representatives. The election, for the House District 45 seat, will be May 5, with a runoff held on May 26 if needed.

The vacancy is a result of Rep. Bennett Malone resigning earlier this month and the winner will serve the last few months of his four-year term.

With the election occurring a month after the legislature adjourns, it is unlikely the new lawmaker will vote on bills.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld a Mississippi campaign finance disclosure law, reversing the district court’s ruling. The case, Justice v. Hosemann, focused on a law requiring persons or groups who spend more than $200 in support or opposition to a ballot initiative to register and report contributions and expenditures.

The district court ruled this unconstitutional, however, the Fifth Circuit, applying an “exacting scrutiny” standard, found the disclosure requirements were substantially related to the state’s interest of keeping the voters informed.

Plaintiffs in the case have until November 28 to seek a rehearing before the full Fifth Circuit or until February 12 to seek review by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Mississippi Supreme Court has sided with Sen. Thad Cochran, ending a protracted legal battle over the results of the Republican primary runoff election. Chris McDaniel challenged Cochran’s victory in a lawsuit filed in August, claiming Democratic voters illegally participated in the Republican primary.

The court dismissed the suit because it was past the 20 day deadline imposed by common law to challenge an election result. Though the state election laws have changed since the case creating the deadline, the McDaniel campaign argued no such requirement was ever codified.

The state Supreme Court was not persuaded and concurred with the lower court’s dismissal.

Seal of the Judiciary of Mississippi by Connormah on Wikimedia Commons.

A special election will be held on November 4 to fill the vacant state senate seat for District 17. Gov. Phil Bryant issued a Writ of Election after Sen. Terry Brown passed away earlier this month.

The deadline to qualify is October 6 and should a runoff election be necessary, it will be held November 25. The newly elected senator will complete Sen. Brown’s term ending January 2016.

Changes to current election procedures are being considered following an extremely close Senate race. State Sen. Chris McDaniel narrowly lost to incumbent Sen. Thad Cochran in a June 24 runoff election. A legal battle is still underway after McDaniel claimed thousands of illegal crossover votes were cast for Cochran.

A 51 member panel of academics and community leaders, assembled by Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, will consider if changes to the way voters register for primaries are needed and whether early voting and online registration should be allowed. Currently, voters do not register with a party prior to a primary election and state law states that a voter should only vote in a primary if they intend to support a candidate later.

The panel will make its recommendations to the state legislature for consideration during next year’s session.

The state of Mississippi is challenging a lower court ruling affecting its campaign finance laws. In September, 2013, U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock ruled the state’s campaign finance registration and reporting requirements unconstitutional for people or groups spending money to support or oppose a ballot initiative.

Under Mississippi law, groups seeking to support or oppose statewide ballot issues must register as political committees if receiving or making expenditures in excess of $200 during a calendar year. Moreover, campaign finance reports must include the name and address of any person donating more than $200 to a ballot issue committee.

The state argues the disclosure requirement provides transparency and is, therefore, substantially related to a sufficiently important government interest. Others claim the extensive and confusing regulations regarding political committees impose an undue burden and chill First Amendment speech.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit will hear the case September 3.

State Sen. Chris McDaniel is questioning the integrity of Mississippi’s GOP Senate primary runoff. McDaniel refuses to concede the election to U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran and claims some election activity was unfair, unethical, and illegal.

Evidence suggests hundreds, if not thousands, of voters crossed party lines between primary and runoff elections. Mississippians who voted in the Democratic primary illegally cast votes in the Republican primary runoff.

State election law experts speculate the election results will stand because it is impossible to assume all the irregular votes went to Cochran. Additionally, a strong public policy interest exists in accepting the finality of the runoff election; questioning the integrity of or redoing elections is a slippery slope.

Nevertheless, a conservative group known as True the Vote filed suit in federal court on Tuesday, July 1, against the Mississippi secretary of state and the Republican Party of Mississippi to challenge the results of the runoff.

In a tight race Tuesday, Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran secured the GOP Senate nomination with 50.8 percent of the vote. Cochran battled tea party candidate Chris McDaniel in a federal runoff after neither candidate carried enough votes in the June 3 primary to capture the nomination.

Although McDaniel’s campaign has not made a decision whether to challenge the results, Cochran’s win ends a somewhat bizarre and expensive political battle between the two candidates.

In November, Cochran will face Democrat Travis Childers; if elected, Cochran will serve a seventh consecutive Senate term.

A June 24 federal runoff has been scheduled for the Mississippi Republican Senate primary. Incumbent Sen. Thad Cochran and state Sen. Chris McDaniel will battle again in a tea party vs. establishment showdown. With 49 and 49.5 percent respectively, neither candidate earned enough of the June 3 vote to secure the party nomination.

McDaniel, running on a platform of change, hopes to unseat the longtime incumbent. Cochran’s congressional tenure began in 1972; he then served three consecutive terms in the House and six consecutive terms in the Senate.

The U.S. Senate primary between incumbent Sen. Thad Cochran and tea party challenger Chris McDaniel remains too close to call after the June 3 election date.

If neither candidate receives 50 percent of the vote, a runoff election will be scheduled for June 24.

The race was considered one of the few remaining chances for a tea party victory after a string of primary challenges ended in defeat.

Gov. Phil Bryant has called a special session of the Mississippi Legislature to begin May 8, 2014, to make appropriations for the state’s share of disaster relief for tornado damage.

The National Weather Service reported 23 tornadoes touched down in Mississippi on April 28, killing 14 people and damaging hundreds of buildings.

State and local governments are required to match one-eighth of federal aid dollars.

U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock ruled a portion of Mississippi’s campaign finance law unconstitutional as applied to a group of five Oxford, Mississippi residents backing a ballot initiative. The group desired to pool funds to purchase posters and advertising supporting a 2011 initiative, but determined doing so would trigger political committee registration under state law.

The group filed suit, alleging Mississippi’s $200 threshold unduly burdened their First Amendment rights. Judge Aycock agreed, finding the $200 threshold was “simply too low” for the “significant and onerous burdens on persons attempting to join together to raise or expend in excess” of the threshold.

Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood indicated he may appeal the ruling, while Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, whose office enforces the state’s campaign finance laws, did not immediately issue comment on the case.

Lawmakers will return to Jackson on Friday, April 26, for a special session.

The session will likely focus on economic incentives for an automobile manufacturer considering building a manufacturing plant in Clay County, but Governor Bryant would only say it relates to the state’s automobile corridor.

The state’s Medicaid reauthorization will be addressed in a separate special session.