On April 20, Rhode Island Governor Daniel McKee signed HB 7049, which moves the 2026 primary from Tuesday, September 8, to Wednesday, September 9. The change only applies for 2026. The change was made because September 7 is a holiday, and elections officials need more than one normal working day to set up the polling places.
Gary Swing has this op-ed in Tucson’s daily newspaper, the Arizona Daily Star, advocating that Arizona’s ballot access laws be eased. Among other things, he advocates that small qualified parties be allowed to nominate by convention instead of by primary.
The Virginia vote on the April 21 proposed constitutional amendment passed with 51.23% of the vote, with almost all votes counted. See the results here. This means Virginia will change its U.S. House district boundaries for 2026. The new boundaries are expected to help Democratic nominees win up to four additional seats.
On April 20, the Tennessee House Finance, Ways & Means Committee defeated HB 886, the bill to convert primaries from open to closed. See this story.
On April 20, Betty Yee, former California Controller, dropped out of the gubernatorial race. See this story. She did not endorse any other Democrat but said she will endorse someone soon. Her name remains on the ballot.
Also on April 20, an Evitarus Poll was released, showing: Hilton 16%, Blanco 14%, Becerra 13%, Steyer 13%, Porter 10%, Mahan 5%, Villaraigosa 2%, Yee 1%, Swalwell 1%, other 2%, undecided 20%. See here. This poll was commissioned by the California Democratic Party.
