Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a special election to be held on February 2, 2021 for City Council District 24.

The seat is vacant after Councilman Rory Lancman was appointed by Gov. Cuomo as Special Counsel for Ratepayer Protection at the Department of Public Service.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a special election date for public advocate to be held on February 26.

Tish James, the current public advocate, is vacating the seat after being elected state attorney general.

The New York City Council passed several bills designed to provide greater protections against workplace sexual harassment.

One measure requires annual training for all private employers with 15 or more employees.

Additionally, the City Council passed legislation establishing a Charter Revision Commission to draft a new or revised City Charter. The last Charter Revision Commission submitted changes to voters in November 1988.

The voter-approved amendments strengthened campaign finance and conflict of interest laws.

Mayor Bill de Blasio has 30 days to sign, veto the bills, or take no action.

New York voters rejected a ballot question calling for a constitutional convention. If passed, a constitutional convention would have been set for 2019 and would have allowed a total review of the New York Constitution. The question is automatically added to the ballot every 20 years.

On the other hand, voters approved a proposal revoking the pension of a public official convicted of a felony and another proposal creating a forest preserve land bank for qualifying local projects.

In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio won a second term as Mayor. De Blasio’s victory marks the first time in 32 years a Democratic mayor was re-elected in New York City.

Additionally, Democrat Byron Brown won his fourth term as Mayor of Buffalo.

The New York Legislature’s two-day special session adjourned sine die on June 29, 2017.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo called the special session to enact legislation extending mayoral control over the city of New York’s school district. The legislation extends city control over the city district for two years.

Barring another special session, the Legislature is set to return in January 2018.

The 2017 legislative session adjourned shortly before midnight on June 21, 2017.

Lawmakers adjourned the session without a deal to extend New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s control over New York City Schools. The current agreement lapses on June 30, 2017.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie stated there is no plan to return as the Assembly is comfortable with the bill they passed in May.

Heastie’s statement is available at http://assembly.state.ny.us/Press/20170622/.

Lobbying

Rhode Island: “Do R.I. General Assembly Grants Funnel Back into Lobbying?” by Patrick Anderson for Providence Journal

Campaign Finance

“G.O.P. Donors Shift Focus from Top of Ticket to Senate Races” by Nick Corasaniti and Ashley Parker for New York Times

California: “Tony Strickland Agrees to $40,000 Ethics Fine” by Taryn Luna for Sacramento Bee

New York: “De Blasio’s Elections Strategy, Under Scrutiny, Recalls Predecessor’s” by William Neuman for New York Times

Ethics

Arkansas: “Ark. High Court Rejects Lawsuit over Campaign Finance Ballot Measure” by Andrew DeMillo (Associated Press) for Baxter Bulletin

Hawaii: “Hawaii Ethics Commission Picks Interim Director” by Nathan Eagle for Honolulu Civil Beat

Hawaii: “Totto Tells Ethics Commission to Scrap ‘Silly’ Time Sheet Rules” by Nick Grube for Honolulu Civil Beat

Michigan: “Panel OKs Added Transparency for Governor, Legislators” by Jonathan Oosting for Detroit News

Elections

“A History of Insurgent Candidates’ Impact On Down-Ballot Races” by Louis Jacobson for Governing

Legislative Issues

“Chaos in House after GOP Votes Down LGBT Measure” by Cristina Marcos and Mike Lillis for The Hill

Councilwoman Maria Carmen del Arroyo has announced her plans to resign from the position effective December 31, 2015. Arroyo released a statement citing “pressing family needs” as her reason for stepping down, but it has been reported that the move has been made for a potential jump to the private sector.

Arroyo’s resignation will trigger a special election for the open seat. Mayor Bill de Blasio will have until three days after the vacancy to declare a date for a special election.

Here are articles from major news sources analyzing the election outcomes:

“5 things we learned from Election Night 2013” by Peter Hamby, Paul Steinhauser, Ashley Killough, and Dan Merica in CNN Politics.

“Election Day 2013: What happened, and what it all means” by Alia E. Dastagir in USA Today.

“2013 Election: State and Local Race Results” by Louis Jacobson in Governing.

“Now the Midterm Campaign Begins — With Both Sides on Offense” by David Hawkings in Roll Call.

“Markos Moulitsas: House in play in 2014” by Markos Moulitsas in The Hill.

Connecticut: “How Much Do State Politics Matter In Local Elections?” by Christine Stuart in CTNewsJunkie.com.

New Jersey: “Democrats retain control of New Jersey legislature” by Michael Linhorst (Associated Press) in The Record.

New Jersey: “Chris Christie Coasts to 2nd Term as Governor of New Jersey” by Kate Zernike and Jonathan Martin in The New York Times.

New York: “Democrat Bill de Blasio elected mayor of New York” by Jonathan Lemire (Associated Press) in the Times Union.

Ohio: “Lawmakers looking at tougher ballot-access thresholds for minor political parties” by Jeremy Pelzer in The Plain Dealer.

Virginia: “Terry McAuliffe, Democrat, Is Elected Governor of Virginia in Tight Race” by Trip Gabriel in The New York Times.

Democratic mayoral candidate William Thompson conceded and threw his support behind leading vote-getter and fellow Democrat Bill de Blasio.

However, because Thompson failed to withdraw from the race by the September 13 deadline, the mayoral runoff will continue to appear on the runoff ballot.

The runoff election is set for October 1, 2013.

De Blasio will face Republican Joe Lhota in the November 5 general election.

Photo of the New York City skyline by AngMoKio on Wikimedia Commons.