On November 5, six of the ward seats for the Council of the District of Columbia City were up for election.

Incumbent Brooke Pinto won re-election for Washington D.C. City Council Ward 2.

Meanwhile, Janeese Lewis George won reelection to her seat unchallenged for the City Council Ward 4 seat.

Wendell Felder won the Ward 7 current held by outgoing incumbent Vincent Gray, who endorsed Felder in the Democratic Party primary against nine other candidates.

Trayon White, currently a member of council representing Ward 8, also won reelection.

Additionally, the two at-large seats were won by Robert White and Christina Henderson.

On November 5, voters in Ohio rejected a ballot measure to create a 15-member Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission to draw congressional and state legislative districts.

Ohio will continue to use its current redistricting method led by state lawmakers and a commission of seven elected officials.

The state will keep its current state legislative maps through 2030 but the congressional map, approved without Democratic support, will be redrawn next year for the 2026 election.

As of this morning, the amendment failed 54% to 46%.

On November 5, Oye Owolewa won his third consecutive election as the District of Columbia’s Shadow Representative.

Unlike the District’s non-voting Delegate to the House, the Shadow Representative is not able to vote in both floor votes and committee votes and is not recognized as an actual member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Along with Owolewa’s goal to achieve statehood for the District, the underlying goal of all shadow representatives, he has expressed an objective of ending federal taxes for the District until it achieves full political representation.

Owelewa defeated the Republican Party candidate, Attorney Ciprian Ivanof.

On November 5, Ankit Jain was elected as the junior U.S. shadow Senator for the District of Columbia.

He defeated Republican Party candidate Nelson Rimensnyder.

Jain replaces Sen. Michael D. Brown, who chose not to run for reelection.

While not officially sworn in or seated with the U.S. Senate, the main goal is to seek voting representation in the U.S. Congress for the District.

The senior U.S. shadow Senator for the District is Paul Eric Strauss.

Neither Strauss nor Jain receives pay or have offices in the US Capitol.

On November 5, Democratic Party candidate Eleanor Holmes Norton won re-election to the district’s U.S. House Non-Voting Delegate seat for the District of Columbia.

Holmes, who has held the office since 1991, beat Republican Party candidate Myrtle Alexander and two other declared candidates.

In her position as a non-voting member of the House, Norton can perform most of the duties and responsibilities of members from states but may not vote for or against the final passage of legislation

Incumbent Gov. Greg Gianforte won reelection for a second term as Montana’s governor and defeated a challenge from his democratic opponent, a former businessman, Ryan Busse.

Gov. Gianforte was heavily favored to win reelection and won by receiving nearly 60% of the vote.

On November 5, voters in the District of Columbia approved a voter initiative to implement ranked choice voting in primary and general elections and to allow for open primary elections.

The ballot measure, Initiative 83, entitled the “Ranked Choice Voting and Open the Primary Elections to Independent Voters Act of 2024,” implements ranked choice voting to allow voters to rank up to five candidates according to their preference in each contest for any office, other than for political party offices.

The measure also permits any voter who is not registered with a political party to vote in the primary election of that voter’s choosing for all offices, again, other than for political party offices.

Ranked choice voting begins with the June 2026 primary election and remains in effect for all subsequent elections.

It will apply to any primary, special, and general election involving three or more qualified candidates.

This Initiative will not be implemented unless the D.C. Council separately chooses to appropriate funds for the projected costs.

Republican Rick Scott defeated his opponent Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell in the race for U.S. Senate 55% to 42%.

Scott, who served two terms as governor of Florida before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2018, will now serve a second term.

Voters in Florida rejected a ballot measure to the repeal the public campaign financing requirement for campaigns for statewide office.

The current law makes funds available to individuals who wish to run for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, chief financial officer and agricultural commission.

The original purpose of this law was to make funds available for anyone to run for office but also allowed those fully capable to fund raise for themselves to get additional funds from the state. .

Voters in Florida rejected a ballot measure to require candidates for school boards to pick a party if they want to run.

The measure was slightly controversial as some voters believed it would make the process of electing members of the school board more transparent while other voters believed it could disenfranchise them.

Republican Patrick Morrisey defeated his opponent Democrat Steve Williams in the West Virginia gubernatorial race 62% to 31%.

This race was without an incumbent as current Gov. Jim Justice is on his final term.

Patrick Morrisey has been the state’s attorney general since 2013.

Democrat Josh Stein defeated his opponent Republican Mark Robinson in the North Carolina gubernatorial race 54% to 40%.

This race was without an incumbent as Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper was term limited.

Stein is currently serving as the state’s attorney general.

Campaign Finance

Arizona: “Campaign Finance Laws Make Funding of Election Challenges Murky” by Kiera Riley for Arizona Capitol Times

Louisiana: “Private Calls and Campaign Cash: Louisiana regulators’ ties to the utilities they oversee” by Pam Radtke, Mario Alejandro Ariza, and Miranda Green (Floodlight) for Yahoo News

Elections

National: “Donald Trump Wins Presidential Election, Defeating Harris to Retake White House” by Isaac Arnsdorf and Josh Dawsey (Washington Post) for MSN

Ethics

California: “Former Huizar Associate Sentenced to Six Months Home Detention” by City News Service for The Eastsider LA

National: “Nearly a Decade After Pleading Guilty, ‘Fat Leonard’ Is Sentenced in Massive Navy Bribery Scandal” by Alex Riggins (San Diego Union-Tribune) for MSN

Maine: “‘A Recusal Issue Inside a Recusal Issue’: An ethics inquiry puts the Maine Supreme Court in uncharted territory” by James Keefe for Maine Monitor

Lobbying

Colorado: “Xcel Energy Ordered to Remove Investor Relations and Executive Salaries from Costs Passed on to Colorado Consumers” by Mark Jaffe for Colorado Sun

Procurement

Washington DC: “Contractor at Center of Bribery Scandal Dropped from Sports Gambling Deal” by Jenny Gathright (Washington Post) for MSN

I learned a long time ago people donate resources to three, five at the most, organizations. In my case, those three are the Greek Orthodox church, Kent State University, and United Way of Summit/Medina (UWSM) — not in that order.

Helping the United Way can be a great way to make a positive impact on your community. United Way works on various issues such as education, financial stability, and health, and they collaborate with local organizations to create long-term solutions.

Many companies partner with United Way to organize workplace giving campaigns. We have a great workplace giving program. If your workplace hosts one, you can get involved by contributing financially or helping to promote the campaign to your colleagues. I currently serve on the UWSM Executive Committee and in 2023/2024, I was the campaign chair helping to bring in new workplace campaigns.

Let me say State and Federal Communications’ work with United Way started decades ago. We had just hired Nola Werren to the staff and she asked why we didn’t donate to United Way. Her father, Chuck Hogan, had led the United Way in Trumbull County. I called Bob Kulinski, then president of United Way in Summit County and our program started.

We built our workplace campaign after speaking with other leaders in Akron. We learned from a past campaign chair about the Fair Share + Program. This took the UW Fair Share amount — average 1.5% of someone’s salary — and added $1 per paycheck. In our case, which would be $24 more a year.

The local United Way provided a free PTO day at Christmas if they brought in 100% participation. We adjusted it a bit and now provide the day before Thanksgiving off for 100% participation. We reached it most years, but we did not in 2024. It really is okay; our campaign exceeded all other goals.

There are a lot of ways to help United Way. Some include:

• Volunteering your time — United Way offers a variety of volunteer opportunities. You can help by participating in community service projects, mentoring, tutoring, or assisting with special events. My staff particularly likes Stuff the Bus and Read-to-Me day.
• Advocate — This is easily done by spreading awareness about United Way’s mission by sharing their work on social media, writing to local leaders, or organizing events promoting their initiatives.
• Join a committee — If you are interested in a leadership role, consider joining one of United Way’s committees or their board. This is a way to contribute your professional expertise to help the organization succeed.

State and Federal just finished its 14th Annual Donuts and Cider campaign. We started this to add to what we were pledging to UWSM. We take orders from the community and Joe May and Nicolette Koozer lead the team to set up our table on Halloween Day. We donate all sales to UW. It does not bring in a lot, but we usually donate $1,000 to UWSM and a lot of people enjoy delicious donuts and apple cider.

What can I tell you about our company’s campaign, which just ended:

• 43 people pledged $65,022
• 22 people pledged Fair Share +
• 30 people pledged at leader levels starting at $500

People have their thoughts about the United Way. All that is known is in Summit/Medina County we are making changes with our Bold Goals, which are:

1. Ready for Success — 65% of Akron Public School third graders read at or above grade level.
2. Youth Success — College and Career Readiness where 90% of APS high schoolers graduate in 4 years, with 60% college/career ready and Youth Opportunities and Success where 60% of Akron youth employed or active in extracurriculars.
3. Financial Empowerment — 11,000 people in Summit County and 2,500 people in Medina County.
4. Health Equity — Reduce the Black infant mortality rate in Summit County to 6 per 1,000 live births.

There are 11,000 United Ways in this country. Find yours and make a difference.

Thank you.
Elizabeth Z. Bartz
@elizabethbartz