The state Ethics Commission unanimously approved Rebecca Stepto as its next executive director.

The decision comes after a six-week search involving 15 candidates.

Stepto, the current interim executive director, is the fifth person to hold the position.

Gov. Rick Scott has announced the dates for three special elections after state Sen. John Thrasher left his seat to become president of Florida State University. The other two elections are to fill the House seats of those seeking the open Senate spot.

Special primary elections will be held on January 27, 2015, and the special general elections on April 7, 2015. The affected House districts are Districts 17 and 24, while Thrasher vacated the Senate District 6 seat.

Tallahassee voters overwhelmingly approved a referendum creating a city ethics code and new campaign finance restrictions. An independent ethics board will be appointed by the city to assist with the development and enforcement of the code.

Additionally, the code creates a $250 cap on campaign contributions to candidates for city commissioner. Initial appointments to the board must take place within 90 days and the city has six months from election day to enact the ethics code.

The county has passed a proposal to employ the Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) for monitoring and enforcement of county ethics laws. However, even though Measure E passed with 56.5 percent of the vote, the FPPC does not currently have the authority to contract with the county.

Recent grand jury reports recommended the establishment of an ethics commission for Orange County and the last grand jury specifically recommended against hiring the FPPC. If a contract is authorized by the Legislature, Orange will become the second county behind San Bernardino to employ the FPPC.

Voters have approved an amendment to the Oakland City Charter to strengthen the authority, resources, and independence of the Public Ethics Commission. The commission now will have the authority to enforce the Oakland Lobbyist Registration Act and provisions of the state’s Political Reform Act.

Measure CC sets aside $500,000 in additional funding for the commission in order to hire more staff members and investigate violations. The seven-member commission now has the authority to impose penalties and fines when four members agree by vote.

Voters passed a constitutional amendment on the November 4 ballot to extend term limits for state lawmakers in exchange for strict ethics laws for lobbyists and corporations.

The Arkansas Elected Officials Ethics, Transparency, and Financial Reform Amendment of 2014 bans corporate and union contributions to political campaigns, prohibits gifts from lobbyists to legislative and executive officials, and extends term limits for legislators to at least 16 years.

The new provision allows lawmakers to serve 16 years in the same office, or even longer for senators winning special two-year terms after each decennial census and redistricting process.

The amendment is effective today, November 5, 2014.

The state’s Supreme Court has issued a stay allowing voters to choose a House District 114 candidate on November 4, as originally planned. The ruling suspends the recent decision by the State Election Commission to postpone the election for former House Speaker Bobby Harrell’s seat until December.

Although the vote will take place, there is still a possibility the results will not count. The court may rule on the underlying case by deciding to allow the results of Tuesday’s election or to throw out those results and side with the commission’s special election plan.

Independent candidate Tom Ervin suspended his campaign for governor this week and endorsed Democratic Sen. Vincent Sheheen. Ervin, a self-funded attorney and former judge, had the support of just 3.9 percent of likely voters, according to an October 1 Winthrop poll.

The poll also indicated Gov. Nikki Haley led Sheheen by a 43.6 percent to 33.6 percent margin. Haley, the state’s first female and Indian-American governor, beat Sheheen in 2010 with 51.4 percent of votes.

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.

The inaugural meeting of the Commission to Ensure Integrity and Public Confidence in State Government was held this week in Richmond. Gov. Terry McAuliffe assembled the commission amid recent political scandals involving state government officials, including the conviction of former governor Bob McDonnell on corruption charges.

The commission will focus on issues involving gifts, conflicts of interest, disclosure, oversight and enforcement, and public service restrictions. Congressional redistricting may also be on the agenda.

The governor has requested a report from the commission by December 1.

Days after election officials announced no special election would be needed to replace former House Speaker Bobby Harrell in House District 114, the State Election Commission unanimously voted to hold the special election.

The commission reversed the earlier ruling after Harrell submitted a signed affidavit contending he resigned on the nonpolitical grounds of family crisis, including the loss of his job after pleading guilty to ethics violations.

State law allows a political party additional time to field a new candidate if the party’s candidate steps down for nonpolitical reasons. If Democrats do not prevail on appeal, the Republican primary would take place on November 25, followed by a special election on December 9. If a runoff is necessary after the primary, the runoff would be December 9, with the special election pushed back to a date to be determined by the commission.

No special election will be held to replace former House Speaker Bobby Harrell in House District 114. Harrell, who recently pleaded guilty to ethics violations, will remain on the November 4 ballot, but will not be eligible to win the election.

The plea agreement requires Harrell to resign, not seek office for three years, and cooperate in other investigations. The race for House District 114 will be decided between Democrat Mary Tinkler and Green Party nominee Sue Edward.

On October 22, U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen upheld the Montana’s campaign finance law. Montanans for Community Development (MCD), a nonprofit organization, had brought the lawsuit challenging the law’s requirement to have the organization report its financial supporters.

According to Missoulian.com, MCD wanted to circulate political advertisements without disclosing the identity of its donors. Disagreeing with MCD’s argument, the court found the statutes were not too vague to be constitutionally valid. MCD’s legal representation included James Bopp, a frequent challenger of campaign finance laws.

The Hawaii State Senate convened a special session on Wednesday, October 22, to consider judicial appointments to the Circuit Court of the First Circuit and to the District Court of the Third Circuit.

Private attorney Jeffrey Crabtree and Family Court Judge Christine Kuriyama were both confirmed for 10-year appointments on the Circuit Court. Margaret Masunaga, a former deputy attorney general and private attorney, was confirmed for a six-year County District Court term.

Following the confirmations the Senate adjourned sine die on Thursday, October 23.