The Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen officially resigned on January 7 amid criminal charges.

Peterson’s resignation comes three months after he was charged with an international adoption fraud scheme.

The county board of supervisors appointed longtime county administrator Bill Wiley to oversee the Assessor’s Office.

Ahead of the 2020 legislative session, the Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission has submitted six measures to the Senate President and the House Speaker for introduction.

The proposed measure relating to campaign finance reports clarifies that the increased fine for the late-filing of preliminary reports only applies to the reports due 10 days before a primary, general, or special election.

This proposed change is due to the additional preliminary reports mandated by the Legislature last session.

Other proposals include legislation introduced but not passed last session, such as House Bill 164 relating to electioneering communications.

The measure includes:

• Changing the disclosure date of electioneering communication
• Adding advertisements sent by mail to the definition of electioneering communication
• Rewording an exception to that definition to make it clear that candidate committees rather than noncandidate committees are required to file statements of information

The 2020 Legislative session is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, January 15.

On January 13, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order denying review of an appeal concerning the legality of a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) pay-to-play rule, allowing that rule to stand.

Previously, on June 18, 2020, a federal appellate court had affirmed a lower court’s finding that the pay-to-play rule was legal.

In New York Republican State Committee v. SEC, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found the SEC’s Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Rule 2030 constitutional.

The rule prohibits a placement agent from accepting compensation for soliciting government business from certain candidates and elected officials within two years of having contributed to such an official’s electoral campaign or to the transition or inaugural expenses of a successful candidate.

The New York Republican State Committee and the Tennessee Republican Party had argued the SEC did not have authority to enact the rule, the order adopting the rule was arbitrary and capricious because there was insufficient evidence it was needed, and the rule violated the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.

At a joint meeting of the councils from Whatcom, Skagit, and San Juan counties, Alex Ramel was selected to replace Rep. Jeff Morris in the 40th Legislative District.

Rep. Morris resigned from the Washington legislature to take a position with Schneider Electric.

Ramel was sworn in on the same day Rep. Morris officially resigned.

Commissioner Nick Fish passed away on January 2, creating a vacant council seat.

The Portland City Council chose the May 19 municipal primary election date for a special election to fill the vacancy.

Potential candidates would have to wait until March 10 to file for Fish’s position.

If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, the top two vote-getters would face each other in a runoff election on November 3.

Rep. Duncan Hunter sent a letter of resignation to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Gov. Gavin Newsom after pleading guilty to conspiracy to misuse campaign funds.

Hunter will officially step down from his 50th Congressional District seat on January 13.

Gov. Newsom decided not to call a special election so the seat will remain vacant until the November election.

House Speaker Mike Turzai scheduled special elections for March 17 to replace three lawmakers that won higher office in last November’s election.

Rep. Tedd Nesbit of Grove City and Rep. Justin Walsh of Rostraver, Republicans who represented the 8th and 58th House Districts, respectively, were both elected to county judgeships.

18th District Rep. Gene DiGirolamo, a Bensalem Republican, won a seat on the Bucks County Board of Commissioners.

A lawsuit filed by the Illinois Opportunity Project over Montana Gov. Steve Bullock’s executive order on dark money in elections has been dismissed.

The Illinois-based conservative advocacy group filed the lawsuit in U.S. federal court in Helena objecting to Executive Order 15-2018.

The Executive order requires organizations receiving large state contracts to report political contributions that exceed $2,500, even if the disclosures are not required under federal election laws.

Judge Charles C. Lovell ruled the Illinois Opportunity Project could not prove it had been harmed by the executive order because current or potential donors refused to contribute money because they would be named.

The advocacy group has until January 21 to file an amended complaint.

The Seattle City Council is considering legislation limiting the ability of Super PACs to spend unlimited amounts of money in Seattle elections.

Council Member Lorena González introduced the Clean Campaigns Act to reduce the amount of money Super PACs funnel into elections.

The proposed legislation would limit Super PACs from receiving more than $5,000 per year from any single individual or corporation.

The act would also block multinational corporations, defined as companies with more than one percent ownership from a single foreign national or more than five percent ownership from multiple foreign nationals, from spending money on local elections.

Another proposed change would require all political advertising outside of election years to follow similar reporting requirements to current rules for election advertisements.

The Clean Campaigns Act is currently being considered in council chambers and could see a full council vote as early as next week.

A special election has been called for Senate District 11 to fill the seat vacated by Sen. Martin Sandoval, effective January 1, 2020.

Sandoval resigned amid a federal corruption investigation.

The primary will be held on March 17 and the general election will be November 3.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has scheduled a special election to be held on March 24 for Queens borough president.

The seat became vacant when President Melinda Katz, a Democrat from Forest Hills, resigned to become Queens District Attorney.

The New Mexico state ethics commission opened on January 2.

The commission was created by a constitutional amendment passed in November 2018.

The seven member-structure was specified in a bill signed last March by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

Former Judge William F. Lang was appointed by Lujan Grisham to be the commission’s first chairman.

The commission will issue advisory opinions regarding campaign finance, government contracts, and lobbying disclosure law and will investigate complaints of potential violations.

The alleged offense must have occurred after June of 2019, and all accusations will be confidential until the commission decides to hold a public hearing.

The commission has the authority to impose civil penalties and can recommend disciplinary action, including impeachment.

Rep. Jennifer Williamson resigned from her Oregon House of Representatives District 36 seat to focus on her campaign for secretary of state.

Multnomah County Democrats can forward three to five names to the Multnomah County Commission for a replacement.

The commissioners will hold a public hearing on January 16 to decide which of the Democratic Party’s several nominees to select to fill the vacancy.

The Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, announced a special election for February 4 for Senate District 13.

The seat is vacant after Sen. Greg Kirk died in December after a battle with cancer.

A runoff election is scheduled for March 3 if no candidate receives a majority of the vote during the special election.