A special primary election in Alabama will be held to fill Darrio Melton’s vacant seat in the House of Representatives for District 67.

The vacancy is a result of Melton’s successful bid to be the mayor of Selma.

The special primary will be held January 31, 2017, and the special general will be held April 18, 2017, provided a runoff is not required.

New Progressive Party president Ricardo Roselló defeated David Brenier and two independent candidates for Puerto Rico’s highly contested gubernatorial seat. Rosselló, a college professor and scientist, ran on a platform supporting Puerto Rican statehood and pushing new ideas for economic recovery. He is the son of former Puerto Rican Governor Pedro Rosselló who also fought for statehood while in office from 1993-2001.

Puerto Rico, a commonwealth, does not have the right to vote in U.S. presidential elections nor do they have legislative representatives in the Senate.

Rosselló plans to hold elections for senators and representatives who will then go to Washington and demand statehood. This model was first followed by Tennessee who created a state constitution and presented it to Congress as a request to join the Union in 1796.

Photo of Ricardo Roselló by Edgardo Colon on Wikimedia Commons.

Voters in San Francisco overwhelmingly passed a city ballot initiative restricting lobbyist gifts and campaign contributions.

Local Ballot Measure T, passed with over 87 percent support, prohibits lobbyists from making any gift to a city officer, regardless of value, prohibits lobbyists from using a third-party to circumvent this restriction, and prohibits city officers from accepting or soliciting such gifts. The gift restriction specifically includes any gift of travel. The measure defines “Gift of travel” as payment, advance, or reimbursement for travel, including transportation, lodging, and food and refreshments connected with the travel.

The measure also requires lobbyists to identify which city agencies they intend to influence and imposes a duty on local lobbyists to amend and update their registration information and monthly reports within five days of any changed circumstances.

The initiative also prohibits a lobbyist from making contributions to or bundling contributions for city elected officials or candidates for city elective offices if the lobbyist had been registered to lobby the officials’ agencies within 90 days of the date any contribution is made.

The changes to the city’s lobbying laws becomes effective January 1, 2018.

Ann Arbor voters approved a ballot measure to increase terms for mayor and city council to four years (Proposal 1). The ballot proposal will have the mayor and five city council seats elected in even-numbered years coinciding with Michigan gubernatorial elections and the other five city council seats will be elected in even-numbered years coinciding with presidential elections.

Previously, half of the city council was elected on odd-numbered years.

The proposal will begin with 2018 elections and city council members elected in 2017 will serve a three-year term.

Democrat John Carney, Jr. defeated Republican Colin Bonini to become the new governor of Delaware. Carney has served as Delaware’s lone U.S. representative since 2011.

Before Carney’s terms in Congress, he served two terms as Delaware’s lieutenant governor.

Photo of John Carney, Jr. courtesy of United States Congress on Wikimedia Commons.

Campaign finance ballot measure 26-184 passed on November 8 with an 88 percent to 11 percent tally. The measure seeks to limit campaign expenditures and contributions and promote transparency by requiring heightened advertisement funding disclosures.

Measure 26-148 prohibits candidates from receiving more than $500 from any individual or political committee per election cycle and puts an independent expenditure cap at $5,000 for individuals and $10,000 for political committees per county candidate race. This ballot measure comes as a response to the recent increase in big money spending in Multnomah County elections.

Oregon is one of only six states in the country with no campaign contribution limits. The measure is set to be implemented by county ordinance no later than September 1, 2017.

With 51 percent of the vote, Republican Eric Greitens defeated Democratic Attorney General Chris Koster in Missouri’s gubernatorial race. Greitens will succeed Gov. Jay Nixon, who is term-limited.

Despite having no political experience, Greitens was a Rhodes scholar, a Navy SEAL, and a White House fellow. He is anti-abortion, supports gun rights, and opposes current healthcare policies.

Republican Eric Holcomb defeated Democrat John R. Gregg to become the new governor of Indiana. Holcomb, currently serving as the Lt. Gov., replaced Vice President-elect Mike Pence as the Republican gubernatorial nominee on July 27, 2016.

Additionally, Indiana voters approved the only ballot measure on the November ballot. Public Question 1, also known as the Right to Hunt and Fish Amendment, made it a constitutional right to hunt and fish. Indiana is the 20th state to establish hunting and fishing as a constitutional right.

Voters approved Amendment 6, also known as the Alabama Impeachment Amendment. Effective January 1, 2017, the Constitution of Alabama will require a supermajority, or two-thirds, vote of state senators present to convict and impeach a state official.

The current impeachment article did not specify how many state senators would be required for impeachment.

On November 8, Republican Christopher T. Sununu defeated Democratic candidate Colin Van Ostern to become the next governor of New Hampshire. With 97 percent of the precincts reporting, Sununu triumphed over Van Ostern with a vote of 49 to 47 percent.

Sununu is a son of former New Hampshire Gov. John H. Sununu and a brother of John E. Sununu, a past U.S. Senator from the state. The last Republican governor of New Hampshire was Craig Benson, who was last elected in 2002.

Photo of Christopher Sununu by Csununu on Wikimedia Commons.

On November 8, incumbent Republican Gov. Gary Herbert won his third election as Utah governor defeating Democratic challenger Mike Weinholtz 73.9 percent to 22.1 percent.

Herbert first became governor in 2009 when then-governor John Huntsman became the American ambassador to Singapore. Herbert was then elected in a special election in 2010, and again in the general election in 2012.

Utah, a Republican stronghold state, has not elected a Democratic governor in over 20 years.

Photo of Gov. Gary Herbert by 32ATPs on Wikimedia Commons.

Residents voted against an amendment to the Anne Arundel County Charter (Question C).

If passed, the ballot issue would have raised the current dollar amount of bids requiring competitive procurement for most procurement contracts from $25,000 to $75,000.

Bids under $75,000 would not be required to go through full competitive bidding.

Voters will be sending a familiar face back to Montpelier as current Lt. Gov. Phil Scott won the Vermont gubernatorial race. Scott, a Republican, will replace Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin, who declined to run for a fourth two-year term.

Scott will be the only Republican serving in statewide office. The race attracted more campaign spending than ever before, reaching $12 million thanks to PACs looking to influence the election.

Photo of Lt. Gov. Phil Scott by Phil Scott for Vermont campaign on Wikimedia Commons.

Despite strong support from democrats, Washington voters did not back Initiative 1464. The measure would have required new campaign finance disclosures, limited contributions by lobbyists and government contractors, and imposed a three-year waiting period on lobbying by former public officials and senior staff.

On the other hand, Initiative 735 was approved by 63.84% of voters. The measure will urge the state congressional delegation to propose an amendment to the U.S. Constitution regarding campaign financing. The measure also requests the state to ratify the constitutional amendment once passed by Congress.