Republicans retained control of the Iowa House, Senate, and governor’s office in Tuesday’s election.

However, Iowans flipped two U.S. House seats from Republican to Democrat.

Democrats Abby Finkenauer defeated incumbent Rod Blum for the District 1 seat and Cindy Axne narrowly defeated incumbent David Young for the District 3 seat.

Voters passed Amendment 10 proposing four changes to state and local government structure and operation.

The first proposal changes the regular sessions for the Legislature from March to January on even-numbered years.

The measure also created the Office of Domestic Security and Counter-Terrorism within the Department of Law Enforcement and requires the Legislature to provide for a Department of Veterans Affairs within the executive branch.

The last proposal passed by the measure ensures elections for the county offices of sheriff, tax collector, property appraiser, supervisor of elections, and clerk of the circuit court.

The changes relating to the election of county officers will take effect January 5, 2021, except for Miami-Dade and Broward Counties which will take in January 7, 2025.

North Dakota Voters passed a constitutional measure to establish an ethics commission.

Initiated Constitutional Measure 1 addresses the transparency of funding sources, lobbyists, conflicts of interests, and the establishment of an ethics commission.

The measure further restricts lobbyists ability to give gifts and campaign contributions.

The legislative assembly is directed to pass laws that provide electronically accessible public disclosure of funding that attempts to influence state-wide elections and ballot measures.

Voters approved Amendment 12, titled Lobbying and Abuse of Office by Public Officers.

The amendment expands restrictions on lobbying for compensation by former public officers, former justices, and judges.

Effective December 31, 2022 the measure bans state and local officials from lobbying for a period of six years after leaving public office.

The prohibition includes individuals serving as a statewide elected officer, member of the Legislature, a county commissioner, school superintendent or board member, elected municipal officer, and the agency head of an executive branch department of the state government.

The measure also prohibits abuse of a public position to obtain a personal benefit.

The Legislature will establish penalties for violations of the prohibition against abuse of a public position to take effect December 31, 2020.

State Republicans are celebrating a victory today following a successful gubernatorial election.

Mike Dunleavy, a former state senator from Wasilla, was elected governor, defeating Democratic candidate Mark Begich and current governor Bill Walker, whose name remained on the ballot despite a late withdrawal from the race.

With 98 percent of the precincts reporting, Dunleavy triumphed over opponent Begich with about 52 percent of the vote.

After four years of having an Independent in office, this is a win for the Alaska Republican Party. The last Republican governor of Alaska was Sean Parnell, who was elected in 2010.

Nearly 62 percent of Missourians voted in favor of Amendment 1, placing tighter restrictions on lobbying and campaign contributions.

Amendment 1 will prohibit former state legislators and Missouri General Assembly members from becoming paid lobbyists for a period of two years instead of six months, set a $5 limit on meals and other lobbyist gifts to legislators, and open legislators’ emails to public records requests.

Political candidates and their campaign committees also face more strict contribution limits: $2,500 for a state senator and $2,000 for a state representative.

The measure will become state law once the election results are certified later this year.

In Tuesday’s election, Arizona passed Proposition 306, placing limits on the state’s Clean Elections Commission’s rulemaking ability among other things.

The voter created Arizona Clean Elections Commission was established in 1998 and runs a public-financing system for candidates and enforces financial-reporting rules for campaigns and groups that spend money in elections.

Proposition 306 requires the Commission’s rules to be approved by the Governor’s Regulatory Review Council comprised of political appointees. Opponents argued it was a way to limit the Commission’s ability to police dark money spending in Arizona.

The measure also prohibits candidates who receive public financing from paying money to political parties or private tax-exempt groups that try to influence elections.

Proposition 306 passed with 56 percent of the vote.

South Dakota voters did not pass a constitutional amendment to create a campaign finance and government accountability board but passed a measure to ban out of state donations on ballot questions.

Amendment W would have had the power to regulate campaign finance and lobbying laws and create a government accountability board. The measure failed by a margin of 45 percent in favor with 55 percent against.

Initiated Measure 24 bans out of state campaign donations for ballot question committees by nonresidents, out of state political committees and other groups not filed with the Secretary of State. The measure passed by a margin of 56 percent in favor and 44 percent against.

South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley predicts that passage of Initiated Measure 24 may be challenged as an unconstitutional violation of free speech and ultimately a financial burden to tax payers.

Colorado voters defeated Amendment 75, keeping campaign spending limits in place.

Amendment 75 would have allowed candidates to accept five times the level of individual contributions to their campaign as is normally allowed ($1,150 for statewide offices and $400 for local races) if another candidate submitted $1 million or more to his or her own campaign or to a third-party committee.

Only about 33 percent of voters supported the measure. The amendment needed 55 percent of votes to pass.

New Mexico voters approved a constitutional amendment to Article 5 of the state’s constitution.

Constitutional Amendment 2 creates an independent ethics commission with jurisdiction to investigate, adjudicate and issue advisory opinions concerning civil violations of laws governing ethics, standards of conduct and reporting requirements.

The commission will have jurisdiction over state officers and employees of the executive and legislative branches, lobbyists, and seekers or holders of government contracts.

In order to be a functional commission the Legislature must pass laws granting the commission all of its powers and duties.

On Election Day, Massachusetts voters passed Question 2, paving the way for campaign finance reform.

The ballot measure establishes a citizen commission tasked with producing a report on the state of political spending in the Massachusetts and promoting an amendment to the United States Constitution. The commission would also report on whether the state can legally limit corporate contributions.

Proponents of the ballot question hope it will help in overturning the 2010 decision in Citizens United, while those against it argued the measure was a protest vote and created a new governmental body solely for symbolic gesture.

The measure passed 71.3 percent to 28.69 percent, with 81.8 percent of precincts reporting.

On November 6, voters gave Democrats the majority control of the U.S. House of Representatives while keeping Republicans firmly in control of the Senate.

With early elections results in, it appears clear Democrats have gained at least 26 seats, giving them more than the 218 seats required in the House for a majority.

In the Senate, Republicans gained two seats, ensuring their control of the Senate.

Republicans may possibly increase their majority in the Senate when the final votes are counted.

On November 6, Democrat incumbent Sen. Sherrod Brown handily won re-election for a third term as U.S. Senator from Ohio.

Brown faced off against three-term Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci. Before becoming a member of the U.S. House, Renacci was the mayor of Wadsworth, Ohio.

Renacci originally was campaigning to be the next governor of Ohio. However, after being asked by the White House to run against Brown for the U.S. Senate, Renacci left the governor’s race and began his campaign for senate.

Brown won with 53.2% of the vote compared to Renacci’s 46.8% of the vote, according to the New York Times.

Campaign Finance

Federal: “House Dem Candidates Snag Free Office Rent” by Scott Bland for Politico

Canada: “Alberta Tables Bill Proposing Changes to Municipal Elections” by Charles Lefebvre for Chat News Today

Alaska: “As Alaska’s Elections Come Down to Wire, Ads Test Limits of Campaign Finance Laws” by Zachariah Hughes for Alaska Public Media

Elections

National: “Forget the Russians. On This Election Day, It’s Americans Peddling Disinformation and Hate Speech.” by Craig Timnberg and Tony Romm for Washington Post

Florida: “Before Going to Prison, Former Opa-locka Commissioner Worked on Political Campaigns” by Jay Weaver and Maya Kaufman for Miami Herald

Ethics

Federal: “Newly Released Emails Suggest Zinke Contradicted Ethics Pledge” by Juliet Eilperin (Washington Post) for MSN

Federal: “China Greenlights Large Batch of Ivanka Trump Trademark Applications” by Gary Shih for Washington Post

Lobbying

National: “Industries Turn Freedom of Information Requests on Their Critics” by Elizabeth Williamson for WRAL