Welcome to the Thursday, May 21, 2026, Brew.
By: Briana Ryan
Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- Missouri General Assembly puts two constitutional amendments on the Nov. 3 ballot
- Rep. Thomas Massie becomes the second U.S. House member to lose re-election this year
- Connecticut becomes the 37th state to allow absentee/mail-in voting without an excuse
Missouri General Assembly puts two constitutional amendments on the Nov. 3 ballot
On May 15, the Missouri General Assembly placed two constitutional amendments on the Nov. 3 ballot — one would create the Show-Me Prosperity Investment Fund and the other would require the election of county sheriffs in most counties.
Creation of Show-Me Prosperity Investment Fund for State Tax Reduction and Elimination Amendment
The Show-Me Prosperity Fund would be a state investment fund that would receive General Assembly appropriations, as well as grants and donations. The state treasurer would be required to invest it in exchange-traded funds tied to the S&P 500.
No money could be appropriated from the fund until its annual investment earnings are sufficient to replace revenue from all the state taxes listed in the amendment, which include the individual income tax, the state sales and use tax, the state corporate income tax, and all other state-imposed taxes. It would require that the fund's money be used solely to eliminate state taxes. After these taxes are eliminated, the amendment would prohibit reenacting them unless the fund is unable to meet its obligations.
State Sen. Adam Schnelting (R), who sponsored the measure, described the investment fund as operating like a sovereign wealth fund, which is a government-owned investment fund. According to the White House, 23 states manage an investment fund. Alaska has the largest fund, the Alaska Permanent Fund, valued at $86.3 billion annually. This was established in 1976 when voters approved Proposition 2.
Schnelting said, "My hope is that in, say, 100 years from now, or 125 years from now, Missouri doesn't tax its citizens whatsoever — at all. All taxes, whether of income, corporate income, sales and use, the state portion of the personal property tax or the real estate tax, all of them will be gone. That's the goal."
The amendment caps annual withdrawals from the fund at 3% of its average market value. Missouri collected $1.28 billion in taxes between April 2025 and April 2026.
Patrick Tuohey, a senior fellow at the Show-Me Institute, criticized the amendment, saying, "This appears to be a sovereign wealth fund-type thing, except there is no source of revenue. For example, Alaska has oil revenues external to the state budget. This looks like a sovereign wealth fund, but it would have to be funded by taxes. You can set this up now, but I don't imagine that the legislature, in the next few years, would be willing to set aside revenue that they can't touch for 100 years when they're having a budget crunch presently in order to provide basic services while reducing income taxes."
On March 23, the Missouri Senate passed the amendment as Senate Joint Resolution 95, 22-7. Twenty-two Republicans voted in favor, and seven Democrats opposed. On May 15, the Missouri House of Representatives passed it 85-56. Eight-five Republicans voted in favor, and 48 Democrats and eight Republicans opposed.
Require Election of County Sheriffs Amendment
The amendment would require the election of county sheriffs to four-year terms in most counties. It would also make sheriffs the chief law enforcement officers in those counties and limit the removal of sheriffs from office. The amendment also states that the attorney general can bring a quo warranto petition to remove the sheriff from office.
The amendment defines sheriffs as the chief law enforcement officers and would make them responsible for preserving the peace, suppressing riots and disturbances, and apprehending and jailing felons and traitors. They would also attend circuit court proceedings and carry out court orders and other legal processes, such as writing writs and attachments. They would also have the constitutional authority to hire deputies and employees.
In Missouri, most sheriffs are already elected. However, this amendment would make the requirement part of the state constitution.
The amendment creates an exception for St. Louis, St. Louis County, and St. Charles County. In St. Louis County, voters approved a 1955 measure replacing the sheriff's office with a county police department, while St. Charles County voters approved a county police department in 2012, reducing the sheriff's role as the county's primary law enforcement authority. Sheriffs are elected in St. Louis, but the city has a charter form of government.
On May 15, the state House passed the amendment, as Senate Joint Resolution 87, 95-46. That same day, the state Senate passed it 24-9.
Click here to read more about all the ballot measures Missouri voters will decide on this year.
Rep. Thomas Massie becomes the second U.S. House member to lose re-election this year
On May 19, voters in Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and parts of Arizona and New York headed to the polls. Here's a look at some noteworthy elections and where they stand as of May 20 at 3:00 p.m.
Kentucky
Ed Gallrein defeated incumbent Rep. Thomas Massie 55% to 45% in the Republican primary for the 4th Congressional District. Massie is the second member of the U.S. House of Representatives to lose re-election this year — the first was Rep. Daniel Crenshaw (R-Texas). So far, this is the only race in which President Donald Trump (R) endorsed a primary challenger to an incumbent Republican member of the U.S. House.
Andy Barr defeated 10 other candidates in the Republican primary for the state's open U.S. Senate seat. Barr won 61% of the vote to second-place finisher Daniel Cameron's 31%. Both Barr and Cameron previously worked with the incumbent they ran to succeed, Mitch McConnell (R). According to the University of Kentucky's Stephen Voss, this created a dynamic in which the candidates tried to appeal to voters who support McConnell and "voters' unhappiness with Mitch McConnell's old-school Reagan-Bush era Republicans."
Alabama
The general election for governor will be between former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones (D) and current U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R). This gubernatorial general election will be the first general election where a current or former Democratic U.S. senator faces off against a current or former Republican U.S. senator. In a field of six candidates, Jones won the Democratic primary with 79% of the vote. In a field of three candidates, Tuberville won the Republican primary with 86% of the vote. Jones and Tuberville previously ran against each other in the 2020 U.S. Senate general election in Alabama. Tuberville defeated Jones 60% to 40%.
In the Republican primary for the state's open U.S. Senate seat, Barry Moore and Jared Hudson advanced to the June 16 runoff election. In a field of six candidates, Moore won 39% of the vote, and Hudson won 26%. Although Trump endorsed Moore, his past endorsements in the state's U.S. Senate primaries have produced mixed results. Trump's preferred candidate lost in 2017 and won in 2020. In 2022, Trump withdrew his endorsement of Mo Brooks (R) and endorsed Katie Britt (R), who went on to win the Republican primary.
Georgia
Houston Gaines defeated two other candidates in the Republican primary for the open 10th Congressional District. Gaines won 67% of the vote to second-place finisher Ryan Millsap's 18% in an election that Hoodline's Bella Cruz wrote"test[ed] whether Republicans in the 10th favor an outsider [Millsap] with money and theatrical messaging or stick with [Gaines] who has climbed the statehouse ladder."
Jasmine Clark defeated five other candidates in the Democratic primary for the 13th Congressional District, which became vacant following the death of incumbent Rep. David Scott (D). Scott, who filed to run before his death, still appeared on the ballot. Clark won 56% of the vote to second-place finisher Heavenly Kimes' 21%. A special general election to fill the vacancy is scheduled for July 28.
Keisha Lance Bottoms won the Democratic primary for governor, while Burt Jones and Rick Jackson advanced from the Republican primary to the June 16 runoff election. In a field of seven candidates, Lance Bottoms won 56% of the vote in the Democratic primary to second-place finisher Jason Esteves' 19%. In the Republican primary, which included eight candidates, Jones won 38% of the vote, and Jackson won 33%.
In the Republican primary for the open lieutenant governor's office, Greg Dolezal and John F. Kennedy advanced to the June 16 runoff election. In a field of eight candidates, Kennedy won 27% of the vote, and Dolezal won 23%.
In the nonpartisan general election for three seats on the Georgia Supreme Court, the Court's seven-member Republican-affiliated majority remained unchanged. Incumbent Justice Charlie Bethel defeated Miracle Rankin 51% to 49%, and incumbent Justice Sarah Hawkins Warren defeated Jen Jordan 59% to 41%. Incumbent Justice Ben Land ran unopposed.
Pennsylvania
Christopher Rabb defeated three other candidates in the Democratic primary for the open 3rd Congressional District. Rabb won 45% of the vote to second-place finisher Sharif Street's 29%. This was the first U.S. House primary this year where the retiring incumbent's endorsed candidate lost. Incumbent Rep. Dwight Evans (D) endorsed Ala Stanford. So far this year, there have been nine primaries in which the district's incumbent endorsed a candidate to succeed them.
Bob Brooks defeated three other candidates in the Democratic primary for the 7th Congressional District. Brooks won 42% of the vote to second-place finisher Ryan Crosswell's 21%. Brooks will now face incumbent Rep. Ryan Mackenzie(R) in the general election in a district that had the smallest margin of victory (MOV) in the 2024 U.S. House general elections in Pennsylvania and the eighth smallest nationwide. That year, Mackenzie defeated then-Rep. Susan Wild (D) 50.4% to 49.4%.
Oregon
Oregon voters defeated Referendum 120, a veto referendum, 17% to 83%. This was the fourth-largest repeal margin among Oregon's 68 veto referendums. A veto referendum is a citizen-initiated measure that asks voters whether to uphold or repeal a law that has been enacted. A majority of voters voted "no" and repealed the law. Referendum 120 targeted five sections of House Bill 3991 that would have increased the state's gas tax, vehicle title fees, and transit payroll taxes to increase state transportation funding. HB 3991 was passed during the special legislative session in September 2025 along party lines, with the Democratic majority supporting the measure and Republicans opposing it.
Click here to check out all the election results from May 19.
Connecticut becomes the 37th state to allow absentee/mail-in voting without an excuse
On May 19, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed a bill removing the requirement that voters provide an excuse to request an absentee ballot.
Connecticut is now one of 29 states that allow any eligible voter to request an absentee/mail-in ballot, while eight states conduct all-mail elections. Thirteen states require voters to have a valid excuse to vote by mail.
HB 5001 removed the requirement that voters meet one of five criteria to request an absentee ballot, including being in active military service, being absent from their city or town, or having an illness or physical disability. The bill also allows voters to request to automatically receive absentee ballot applications for each election.
The bill also establishes a cure process for voters who fail to sign the statement on their absentee ballot return envelope. Previously, Connecticut was one of 17 states that did not have a cure period, a timeframe during which officials must notify voters and allow them to correct issues with their absentee/mail-in ballot.
Other provisions in the bill prohibit law enforcement from being within 250 feet of election sites and require local election officials to notify the state attorney general and secretary of state if they receive a subpoena or warrant for election-related materials.
In 2024, voters approved a constitutional amendment 58% to 42% that removed excuse requirements for absentee voting from the state constitution and authorized legislators to enact no-excuse absentee voting.
The state House passed an amended version of the Democratic-sponsored bill 101-49 along party lines on April 23. The state Senate approved the bill 25-11 along party lines on May 6.
One other state has passed legislation this year that would move it from an excuse-required to a no-excuse-required absentee/mail-in voting state. Delaware SB 3 would amend the state constitution to establish no-excuse absentee voting. The legislation was passed in both chambers of the Legislature in 2026, but the constitutional amendment must be approved again next session to take effect. Delaware is the only state where the legislature can amend the constitution without voter approval.
Nationally, 12 states have enacted 18 bills this year related to the absentee/mail-in voting process. In 2025, states enacted45 bills related to absentee/mail-in voting. They enacted 31 such bills in 2024.Click here for more information about absentee/mail-in voting.
