This Week in Research: June 6-June 9

Highlights from the Week

1. Gun legislation has been at the forefront of the national debate for several weeks now, following multiple mass shootings across the country. The House of Representatives passed the “Protecting Our Kids Act” along party-line vote on June 8th, 2022. The bill, HR 7910, prohibits the sale or transfer of semi automatic firearms to individuals who are under 21 years old, subjects bump stocks to federal regulation, and prohibits the sale and manufacture of large capacity ammunition feeding devices. Click here to see statements from members of congress on gun policy, or click here to see statements from the executive branch on gun policy.

2. The Supreme Court has begun hearing arguments for the case Moore v. Harper, which will decide whether State Courts have the authority to strike down maps created by the state legislature that they deem to be gerrymandered. Currently, each state has their own policies surrounding redistricting and North Carolina’s new districts were drawn by the Republican-majority legislature and objected to by the Democratic minority. Click here to view statements from members of congress on elections, or click here to view statements on judicial matters.

3. Gas prices have skyrocketed across the world since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February as NATO and non-NATO countries alike boycott Russian products, including oil and natural gas. Voters of all parties have expressed frustration, and in April of 2022 President Biden ordered the largest ever release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in an effort to lower prices for consumers. Click here to see statements from members of congress on oil and gas, or click here to see statements from the executive branch on oil and gas.

Elections

By the Elections Research team (Noah, Sean, Seth, Nick, Caleb, & Anthony) and Elections Interns (Andres, Liam, Luke, Muzhi, Yuxi, Hugh, Riley, Mia, & Charles) Elections: Want to learn more about the candidates running in primary elections? You can see the full list of candidates running for various offices by state below:

• Alaska

• Congressional Primary Candidates

• Gubernatorial Primary Candidates

• State Legislative Primary Candidates

• Vermont

• Congressional Primary Candidates

• Gubernatorial Primary Candidates

• Statewide Primary Candidates

• State Legislative Primary Candidates

• Wyoming

• Congressional Primary Candidates

• Gubernatorial Primary Candidates

• Statewide Primary Candidates

• State Legislative Primary Candidates

Want to learn more about the results from the primary elections this week? Please click on the office you would like to view for the states below:

• California

• Congressional Primary Candidates

• Gubernatorial Primary Candidates

• State Legislative Primary Candidates

• Statewide Primary Candidates

• Iowa

• Congressional Primary Candidates

• Gubernatorial Primary Candidates

• State Legislative Primary Candidates

• Statewide Primary Candidates

• Mississippi

• Congressional Primary Candidates

• Montana

• Congressional Primary Candidates

• State Legislative Primary Candidates

• State Judicial Primary Candidates

• New Jersey

• Congressional Primary Candidates

• New Mexico

• Congressional Primary Candidates

• Gubernatorial Primary Candidates

• State Legislative Primary Candidates

• Statewide Primary Candidates

• South Dakota

• Congressional Primary Candidates

• Gubernatorial Primary Candidates

• State Legislative Primary Candidates

Biographies: Want to learn more about the candidates running in Georgia’s State Legislative Primary Elections? You can see the full list of candidates running here.

If you want to learn more about a candidate click on a candidate and go to their ‘Bio’ tab to learn more. Want to learn more about the candidates running in Alaska’s US House Special Primary Election? You can see the full list of candidates running here.

If you want to learn more about a candidate click on a candidate and go to their ‘Bio’ tab to learn more. Issue Positions/Political Courage Test:

Want to learn more about the candidates who are currently being tested and their responses to the Political Courage test? You can see the full list of candidates, their responses, and response rates running for various offices below:

• Alabama Congressional Primary Candidates

• Arkansas Congressional Primary Candidates

• California Congressional Primary Candidates

• Colorado Congressional Primary Candidates

• Georgia Congressional Primary Candidates

• Idaho Congressional Primary Candidates

• Illinois Congressional Primary Candidates

• Indiana Congressional Primary Candidates

• Iowa Congressional Primary Candidates

• Kentucky Congressional Primary Candidates

• Maryland Congressional Primary Candidates

• Mississippi Congressional Primary Candidates

• Montana Congressional Primary Candidates

• Nebraska Congressional Primary Candidates

• Nevada Congressional Primary Candidates

• New Jersey Congressional Primary Candidates

• New Mexico Congressional Primary Candidates

• North Carolina Congressional Primary Candidates

• Oklahoma Congressional Primary Candidates

• Oregon Congressional Primary Candidates

• Pennsylvania Congressional Primary Candidates

• South Carolina Congressional Primary Candidates

• Virginia Congressional Primary Candidates

• West Virginia Congressional Primary Candidates

Officials

By the Officials Research team: Thomas, Bibi, Eliana, Johanan, Neal, Jake, Craig, Israel, Wyatt, and Katie

Public Statements: 1,088 statements were added this week. See highlights from the week for notable statements.

Key Votes:

• States: 29 new votes were added, 12 bills were updated with new information.

• The California Senate passed SB 57, which allows the cities of San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Oakland to provide safe, clean locations for illicit drug users. These programs are intended to lower overdose rates by providing sterile equipment and disposing of old equipment, monitoring drug users for overdose signs, and educating participants about harm reduction. The bill also makes accommodations for a “Good Neighbor Policy” that facilitates communication between the project and local residents/businesses.

• The Louisiana House of Representatives passed HB 37, also known as the Louisiana Firearm Safety Awareness Act, exempting certain individuals from laws that restrict the right to carry a concealed handgun. This bill removes the concealed handgun permit requirement for Louisiana residents and establishes an optional firearm safety class that will be free for state residents.

• The New York state legislature passed a bill, which was signed into law by the governor, prohibiting civilians from purchasing bullet-resistant vests. The bill establishes “eligible professions” that expose individuals to unsafe situations and should be allowed to buy body armor as a form of protection. Under the new law, any individual or corporation that knowingly purchases, sells, exchanges, or disposes of a body vest to an individual that is not known to be engaged in an eligible profession is subject to a class A misdemeanor.

Special Interest Groups

• There were 124 endorsements and 10 ratings released to the live web this week, which can be viewed here (organized by group). This year to date the SIGs team has rated 55,907 candidates and entered endorsements for 7,310 candidates.