Washington state’s legislature is in the ninth day of its third special session this year. The legislature has sat more days in 2015 than in any previous calendar year since Washington became a state in 1889. The extended sessions are mostly related to deadlock over the state budget. Special sessions are called when the regular legislative session can’t get its work done. Usually the work that doesn’t get done in regular sessions is passing the budget.

Washington has been using the top-two system starting in 2008. There were two special legislative sessions in 2010, two in 2011, two in 2012, three in 2013, and three this year. Prior to the onset of the top-two system, there had only been six years in Washington history that needed three special sessions. Here is the data going back to 1889.

Political scientist Boris Shor showed in August 2014 that Washington state has the nation’s fourth most polarized legislature. Here is a story about the current special session.

On June 26, the Pennsylvania Senate voted to confirm Timothy Reese as Treasurer of the state. He is a registered independent. Treasurer is an elected partisan statewide office in Pennsylvania. That office is on the ballot in presidential election years. It will be interesting to see if Reese runs for a full term next year, and if he runs as an independent candidate. Only one Senator voted against Reese. Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor, Tom Wolf, had nominated him back in April 2015, but it took the Senate quite a while to act on the nomination.

The West Virginia Secretary of State has released new voter registration data: Democratic 48.70%; Republican 29.08%; Libertarian .18%; Green (Mountain) .134%; independent and other 21.89%.

Just prior to the November 2014 election, the West Virginia percentages were: Democratic 50.61%; Republican 29.45%; Libertarian .15%; Green (Mountain) .129%; independent and other 19.65%. Thanks to Michael for the new data.