First state in history to have competing abortion ballot measures on the same ballot

Welcome to the Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024 Brew.

Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

1. Nebraskans to vote on competing abortion ballot initiatives in November
2. Lowest percentage of contested state legislative primaries since 2014
3. Wesley Harris (D) and Brad Briner (R) running for North Carolina Treasurer

Nebraskans to vote on competing abortion ballot initiatives in November

Voters in Nebraska will decide on two competing abortion-related ballot measures this year. The Right to Abortion Initiative would create a state constitutional right to abortion. The Prohibit Abortions After the First Trimester Initiative would prohibit abortion in the second and third trimesters, with certain exceptions for medical emergencies or when a pregnancy results from sexual assault or incest. Abortion is currently legal up to the 12th week of pregnancy in Nebraska.

With the certification of these two measures, there will be 11 total abortion-related ballot measures on the ballot nationwide—the most on record.

Nebraska’s competing measures are notable for three key reasons.

1. This will be the first time in U.S. history that voters will decide on competing abortion-related measures on the same ballot.
2. This is the first time Nebraska voters will decide on abortion-related ballot measures.
3. This will be the first instance of competing ballot initiatives in Nebraska’s history.

The Nebraska Constitution states, “If conflicting measures submitted to the people at the same election be approved, the one receiving the highest number of affirmative votes shall thereby become law as to all conflicting provisions.” State law authorizes the governor to determine what provisions conflict.

In Nebraska, 10% of registered voters must sign a petition to qualify a constitutional amendment for the ballot. Nebraska is also the only state where petition sponsors cannot know the exact number of signatures required until they are submitted. As of July 1, the secretary of state reported that 1,234,652 Nebraskans registered to vote, meaning at least 123,465 voters had to sign the petition. Nebraska law also has a distribution requirement that mandates that petitions must contain signatures from 5% of the registered voters in two-fifths (38) of Nebraska’s 93 counties.

The campaign supporting the Right to Abortion Initiative

• Protect Our Rights, the campaign behind the right-to-abortion initiative, filed more than 136,000 valid signatures, and the petition met the distribution requirement in 47 counties.
• The ACLU, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Nebraska, Women’s Fund of Omaha, Nebraska Civic Engagement Table, and Nebraska Appleseed endorsed the measure.

The campaign supporting the Prohibit Abortions After the First Trimester Initiative

• Protect Women and Children sponsors the amendment to prohibit abortion after the first trimester. The campaign submitted 136,000 valid signatures. The petition also met the distribution requirement in 86 counties.
• Nebraska Catholic Conference, Nebraska Right to Life, and Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America endorsed the measure.

Nine other states will also decide on abortion-related measures: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, New York, Nevada, and South Dakota. Campaigns that describe themselves as pro-choice sponsor all nine measures.

Lowest percentage of contested state legislative primaries since 2014

This year, there are 1,742 contested primaries, meaning 16% of all primaries are contested. This data accounts for all 44 states holding state legislative primaries this year. That ties 2014 (16%) for the lowest percentage of contested primaries since Ballotpedia began gathering this data in 2010.

Looking at the data for partisan trends, Republicans have 400 more contested primaries than Democrats. This means that Republicans have had more contested state legislative primaries than Democrats each year since Ballotpedia began collecting this data in 2010.

Ballotpedia uses the number and percentage of contested primaries to help determine the overall competitiveness of an election cycle. A greater number of contested primaries indicates that more candidates are running for office, and voters must make more choices. A smaller number of contested primaries indicates fewer candidates and choices.

Highlights

• California (62.0%), Nebraska (60.0%), Washington (35.0%), Wyoming (34.4%), and Nevada (31.7%) have the five highest rates of contested state legislative primaries. California, Nebraska, and Washington conduct top-two primaries, meaning all candidates are listed on the same ballot. The top two vote-getters advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliations.
• Alaska (4.0%), Connecticut (4.5%), Maine (5.1), Pennsylvania (7.9%), and New York (8.2%) have the five lowest rates of contested state legislative primaries.
• There are 610 contested Democratic primaries, representing 12% of all possible Democratic primaries and a 27% decrease from 2020, the last time all 44 states held elections.
• There are 1,010 contested Republican primaries, representing 20% of all possible Republican primaries and a 15% increase from 2020.
• There are 122 contested top-two/four primaries, representing 41% of all possible top-two/four primaries and a 12% increase from 2020.
• The total number of contested primaries—1,742—is down 5% from 2020 (1,827).

Wesley Harris (D) and Brad Briner (R) running for North Carolina Treasurer

Throughout the year, we’ll bring you coverage of the most compelling elections — the battlegrounds we expect to have a meaningful effect on the balance of power in governments or to be particularly competitive. You can catch our previous coverage of other battleground races here.

Today, we’re looking at the Nov. 5 general election for North Carolina Treasurer. Wesley Harris (D) and Brad Briner (R) are running after each advanced from the Democratic and Republican primaries, respectively. Incumbent Dale Folwell (R) did not run for re-election and instead ran in the Republican gubernatorial primary on March 5, 2024.

North Carolina’s treasurer is the state’s chief financial officer, official banker, and a member of the Council of State. The treasurer manages the state’s pension and healthcare plans, investments, unclaimed property, and provides financial support to local governments.

The treasurer is the sole fiduciary or trustee of the state’s pension plan. According to the National Association of State Retirement Administrators, North Carolina is one of three states, along with Connecticut and New York, with a sole trustee model.

Briner’s experience and platform

Briner is an investment manager and a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill board member. Briner worked as a chief investment officer for Willett Advisors, which manages the assets of the Bloomberg family. Briner earned a bachelor’s degree from UNC Chapel Hill and a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School. He is running on his investment experience.

Briner completed Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection survey. In it, Briner said, “With my deep experience in managing large pools of capital, I can and will improve performance of the pension plans, which will free up billions for the State Legislature to return to taxpayers or to spend on essential services like education or infrastructure. Currently, we are funding ~$2.8 billion per year into the pension plans, or one in every six income tax dollars our state collects. Properly managed, we could reduce that to zero over time.”

Harris’ experience and platform

Harris represents the 105th district in North Carolina’s House of Representatives. Before holding public office, Harris earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master’s degree and Ph.D. in economics from Clemson University. Harris worked as a college professor and consultant. He is running on his background as an economist and his experience in state government.

In an interview with The News & Observer, Harris said, “The pension plan is underperforming, the State Health Plan is seeing benefits decrease, and the Local Government Commission has become too politicized. I plan to invest more of our pension plan to boost returns instead of holding cash, negotiate with health care providers for lower costs by promoting more preventative care, and focus on the financial aspects of a local government’s investments instead of my political leanings.”

Briner also completed Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection survey. Click here to read his responses.

Briner wants to move away from the sole fiduciary and sole trustee model, while Harris wants to maintain it.

Briner said he wants to move away from the sole trustee model because he believes small groups make better investment decisions than individuals and because he believes the model enables corruption. In an interview with PBS North Carolina’s Kelly McCullen, Briner said, “It’s ironic, I’m running for office to diminish the power of the office ultimately but I think it’s the right thing to do for our state.”

Harris said he wants to maintain the sole fiduciary model and said eliminating it would give more power to the legislature, which he opposes. Harris said, “It’s about accountability. This is a position that is elected by the people. Not every treasurer is elected by the people, and so the people get the say, and that is something that I hold near and dear. That’s the backbone of our democracy and one person can be corrupted, so can a group of political appointees.”

Context about the debate over the sole fiduciary and sole trustee model in North Carolina

In 2023, the Republican-controlled North Carolina Legislature passed House Bill 750 by overriding Gov. Roy Cooper’s (D) veto. The bill enacted anti-ESG policies that (a) require fiduciary approaches to investing that focus only on financial factors and (b) prohibit selecting investments or awarding contracts based on “environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria.” North Carolina is one of three divided state governments, including Kansas and Kentucky, that have enacted legislation opposing ESG since 2020. All three of the states had a Republican-controlled legislature and a Democratic governor at the time the legislation was enacted.

Campaign finance

As of June 20, Harris raised $820,859, spent $551,882, and had $1,500 in loans. Briner raised $437,359, spent $921,601, and had $1.0 million in loans.

Both candidates completed Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection survey. To read those survey responses, click here. Here’s a sample of both candidates’ responses to one of the survey questions.

North Carolina is one of 48 states that has a treasurer and one of 10 states holding an election for treasurer in 2024. As of August 2024, 12 states have a Democratic treasurer, 24 states have a Republican treasurer, and 12 states have a nonpartisan treasurer.