Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a special election to replace Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara in Senate District 33.

The special primary election will be held on March 26, and, if necessary, a special runoff election will be held on June 4.

Candidates that have announced their campaigns are Long Beach Councilmembers Lena Gonzalez and Al Austin, former Lynwood Mayor Leticia Vasquez-Wilson, and South Gate Councilwoman Denise Diaz.

Mayor Ethan Strimling announced he will propose changes to city elections, seeking public funding for local campaigns and new lobbyist disclosure rules.

Strimling’s new initiatives will demand elected officials disclose meetings with lobbyists and other influencers.

The initiatives will also reiterate calls to allow noncitizens living in the city legally the right to vote in local elections, as well as urge the city to implement ranked-choice voting in City Council and school board races.

Strimling said he plans to work with the City Council and other stakeholders to develop the details of his proposals over the year.

The challenge on Montana’s contribution limits has ended. The U.S. Supreme Court did not take up the case regarding campaign finance in Montana.

The 1994 law establishing the contribution limits was struck down in 2012 and 2015, but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the limits in October 2017.

Proponents of the case said the low limits violated the First Amendment, while opponents said the limits encouraged more civil engagement.

There will be a special election on March 12 to fill the vacancy in the Third Supervisorial District.

The vacancy was created when Todd Spitzer won last November’s general election to become Orange County District Attorney.

The district includes Orange, Yorba Linda, Villa Park, Tustin, and parts of Irvine and Anaheim.

The Georgia Secretary of State announced a special election on February 12 for House District 176.

The seat is vacant after Rep. Jason Shaw accepted an appointment to the Georgia Public Service Commission by Gov. Nathan Deal.

A special runoff election will be held March 12, if necessary.

A special primary election will take place on March 7 to fill a vacancy in Senate District 22.

Rep. Mark Green vacated the office to serve as U.S. Rep. for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District.

Senate District 22 represents Montgomery, Houston and Stewart counties.

Gov. Ned Lamont issued writs on Friday to set February 26 as the date for special elections to fill five vacancies.

The 3rd, 5th, and 6th Senate Districts as well as the 39th and 99th House Districts became vacant earlier this week when five members of the General Assembly resigned in order to accept jobs in Lamont’s administration.

There will be no primary elections to choose the nominees.

The Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission submitted four measures for introduction in the 2019 legislative session, proposing changes for Super PACs, candidate committees and electioneering communications.

Proposal CSC-01 (19) would change the disclosure date for electioneering communications to when the electioneering communication is publicly distributed rather than when the contract for the electioneering communication is executed. Additionally, the expenditure aggregate would be increased to $2,000, all mailings and not just those sent at bulk rate would be covered, and candidate and noncandidate committees would be required to file statements of information.

Proposal CSC-02 (19) would require candidate committees to file a first Preliminary General Report on October 1.

Proposal CSC-03 (19) would impose a $5,000 fine on Super PACs that received at least one contribution of more than $10,000 from any one person or spent more than $10,000 aggregate in an election period and would permit the fine to be up to three times the amount of the unlawful contribution or expenditure. The measure would also call for the fine to be paid from the personal funds of an officer of the noncandidate committee.

Finally, Proposal CSC-04 (19) would require candidates who do not intend to have more than $1,000 in activity to provide notice to the Commission of such intent by June 30 of an election year and to require noncandidate committees who do not intend to have more than $1,000 in activity to provide notice to the Commission of such intent by the fifth calendar day prior to the due date of the Preliminary Primary Report.

Irvine City Council unanimously approved legislation to strengthen its conflict of interest policy this week.

The bill adds a provision to contracts with the city that allows the city to cancel a contract and get reimbursed if a member of council or an employee of the city lobbied on behalf of a contractor, paid or unpaid.

Councilwoman Christina Shea said she brought the item forward after she learned former Councilman Jeff Lalloway helped a Los Angeles-based firm with an Irvine office try to get a contract for the Anaheim streetcar project.

State Senator Richard Ojeda introduced a bill that requires lobbyists to purchase and wear body-mounted cameras while at the Capitol.

Senate Bill 135 also prohibits lobbyists from making certain campaign contributions and places restrictions on lobbyists who are loitering in the Capitol.

The body-mounted camera video and audio recordings would be subject to inspection by the West Virginia Ethics Commission.

The Montana Commissioner of Political Practices received approval to increase the threshold amount a lobbyist can earn to trigger lobbyist registration with the state.

The threshold amount for 2019 is $2,600.

The Commissioner of Political Practices also updated its lobbying guide, which can be found on the states website.

Five Connecticut lawmakers have accepted jobs in Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration and have resigned from the General Assembly.

State Representatives Chris Soto and James Albis as well as Senators Beth Bye, Terry Gerrantana, and Tim Larson submitted their resignations to the secretary of state this week.

Gov. Lamont has 10 days to announce special elections to fill each vacancy.

The North Carolina State Board of Elections increased the contribution limit in the state to $5,400 for candidate committees and others that are subject to legal limits.

State law ties the amount to inflation based on the Consumer Price Index, which had a 4.7% increase from July 1, 2016, to July 1, 2018.

The new limit will remain in effect through December 31, 2020.

State Rep. Lou Lang announced his resignation from the 16^th District after 32 years in the Illinois House of Representatives.

Lang was formerly second-in-command to House Speaker Mike Madigan.

Lang has been hired by a consulting and lobbying firm registered with the state.

Because the state rarely contracts directly with lobbying firms, Lang’s lobbying work does not overstep the state’s revolving door provision.