Good morning, it’s Monday, August 4, 2025. In today’s edition, NCSL kicks off legislative summit; Texas Dems flee to block redistricting; Mace to run for South Carolina governor:
Top Stories
SOCIAL MEDIA: Researchers at the Knight-Georgetown Institute will unveil a new toolkit for state lawmakers interested in writing bills to regulate social media feeds at this week’s NCSL Legislative Summit in Boston. The toolkit will illustrate alternatives to requiring chronological feeds for minors, similar to bills approved in California and introduced in New York. (Pluribus News)
We’re reporting live at NCSL’s Legislative Summit all week. Are you here? Come say hello!
REDISTRICTING: Texas House Democrats have left the state in an effort to deny Republicans the quorum they need to approve new congressional district map lines. Republicans set a vote today on proposed U.S. House district lines that would give them a chance to win five additional seats in Congress. Some Democrats headed to Illinois, while others were headed to meet New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D). (Texas Tribune)
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has launched a digital ad blitz targeting the absent Democratic lawmakers. (Dallas Morning News)
MORE: The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is calling on Democratic-led states to begin their own redistricting efforts to counter Texas. Republicans are considering expanding the redistricting campaign to Missouri, New Hampshire and Florida. (New York Times) Democratic governors endorsed mid-decade redistricting during a summer policy conference held by the DGA. (Wisconsin Examiner)
Realpolitik: Democrats are going to have a tough time making inroads through redistricting from a practical standpoint. Democratic legislatures control the process in states that account for just 35 Republican-held seats, while Republicans oversee the process in states that include 55 Democratic-held districts.
TRANS RIGHTS: Democratic officials from 17 states are suing the Trump administration for allegedly illegally intimidating health care providers into stopping gender-affirming care for transgender youth. The lawsuit comes after several major hospital systems in states where transgender health care is legal announced they would stop providing care, after the administration said it would investigate those systems for fraud. (Associated Press)
MORE: New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R) has signed legislation prohibiting doctors from administering puberty blockers or hormone treatments to minors. Ayotte also signed a bill barring gender-affirming chest surgeries. New Hampshire is the first New England state to limit gender-affirming care. (New Hampshire Public Radio)
VOTING: The U.S. Justice Department will ask all 50 states for election and voting information related to voter list maintenance. The National Association of Secretaries of State said the Justice Department plans to seek voter roll information under the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act. (Stateline)
In Politics & Business
SOUTH CAROLINA: U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R) will announce a run for governor this morning at The Citadel, the military college where she was the first woman graduate. She joins Rep. Ralph Norman (R), Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette (R), Attorney General Alan Wilson (R) and state Sen. Josh Kimbrell (R) in the GOP primary. (WCNC)
KANSAS: State Sen. Cindy Holscher (D) has expressed frustration with Gov. Laura Kelly’s (D) political team after they allegedly urged Holscher and other Democrats to stand aside in the race for governor. Kelly’s team preferred Lawrence attorney Chris Mann (D); Mann said he will run for Attorney General instead. (Kansas Reflector)
WISCONSIN: Susan Crawford has been sworn in as an associate justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, after she defeated conservative candidate Brad Schimel in the April election. Crawford’s swearing in gives liberals a 4-3 majority on the court after the most expensive judicial campaign in American history. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
OREGON: Three activists will begin circulating petitions aimed at repealing a new law requiring paddle-boarders and kayakers to pay state permit fees. The legislature approved a new law this year requiring permit fees for nonmotorized boats longer than ten feet; petitioners must gather 1,000 signatures to start the ballot title process, then 117,173 valid signatures to make the 2026 ballot. (Willamette Week)
2028: Democratic National Committee chairman Ken Martin said the party will begin discussing the 2028 primary calendar at a meeting later this month in Minneapolis. The DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee is formally in charge of setting the calendar. (The Hill)
By The Numbers
$27 million: The amount Elon Musk’s America PAC reported spending on “petition incentives,” the $100 checks it gave voters for registering opposition to “judicial activists” during a Wisconsin Supreme Court race earlier this year. (State Affairs)
11.3%: The drop in tourist visits to Las Vegas in June, compared to last year. The decline is driven by a drop in tourists from California, Sin City’s biggest tourism contingent. Southern Californians accounted for 30% of all visitors to Las Vegas in 2024. (Los Angeles Times)
Off The Wall
The California Department of Transportation has terminated a majority of employees at a Monterey maintenance station after a wild retirement party that included an exotic dancer and drinking inside a state building. The agency issued termination notices to 12 of the 15 employees assigned to the station. (Sacramento Bee)
Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe (R) has signed new legislation allowing bars to serve alcohol from 6 a.m. to 5 a.m. — 23 hours a day — during next year’s World Cup. Kansas City will be among the cities to host World Cup games, when the United States, Canada and Mexico co-host the tournament. (Kansas City Star)
Quote of the Day
“[P]eople increasingly see this court, and courts around the country, as an extension of the political branches. It is incumbent upon us to prove them wrong, to disabuse them of that notion.”
— Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Brian Hagedorn, a conservative, decrying the increasing amount of money spent on judicial races in recent years. (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)