Robert Yoon, Author at The Rapid City Post

FILE - People attend a candlelight vigil for former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, who were fatally shot, at the state Capitol, June 18, 2025, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Nikolas Liepins, File)

AP Decision Notes: What to expect in the Minnesota House special election

September 12, 2025

Control of the Minnesota House of Representatives will once again be at stake Tuesday in a special election to replace Melissa Hortman, the former Democratic state House speaker who was slain along with her husband at their home in June. The election takes place three months after the fatal shootings. The shooting suspect faces federal and state murder charges that could result in the federal death penalty. Republicans now hold a 67-66 edge in the state House. If Democrats hold Hortman’s seat in the heavily Democratic district, the chamber will once again be tied at 67 seats.

Democratic state lawmakers from across the U.S. and their supporters protest outside the Massachusetts State House on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025 in Boston. (AP Photo/Leah Willingham)

How closely do congressional delegations reflect how people vote? Not very

August 8, 2025

At the core of the fight in Texas over redrawing the state’s congressional districts is a debate over a time-honored right spelled out in the Constitution: Every two years, “the People” get to pick someone to represent their interests in the U.S. House of Representatives. But just how closely do those choices reflect the overall political leanings of the people? In many cases, not very closely at all, although that’s not always because of partisan gerrymandering. State congressional maps often produce House delegations that are much more lopsided in favor of one party than the state’s partisan demographics might suggest.

FILE - The Detroit skyline is seen, May 12, 2020, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Detroit’s mayoral primary

August 1, 2025

Detroit voters will take a key step toward choosing a new mayor in the municipal primary on Tuesday, when nine candidates will appear on the ballot in the city’s first open-seat mayoral race in a dozen years. The crowded field includes former police chief James Craig, city council member Fred Durhal, former city council president Saunteel Jenkins, Triumph Church pastor Solomon Kinloch, attorney Todd Perkins and current city council president Mary Sheffield. The top two vote-getters in the nonpartisan primary will advance to the November general election. Incumbent Mayor Mike Duggan is running for governor of Michigan as an independent.

A District of Columbia Board of Elections sign advertising a special election in the city's 8th Ward is pictured near the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge in southeast Washington, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Robert Yoon)

AP Decision Notes: What to expect in the Washington, DC, city council special election

July 14, 2025

Voters in southeast Washington, D.C., will fill a vacant city council seat Tuesday in a special election to replace former Councilmember Trayon White, who was expelled from office in February following his 2024 arrest in a federal corruption probe. Among the candidates to replace White on the council is White himself. The election will again give residents of the district’s 8th Ward representation on the council. The city faces a $1 billion budget shortfall stemming from the Trump administration’s massive cuts to the federal workforce, a separate billion-dollar budget fight with congressional Republicans and a possible clash between the Democratic mayor and the council over a proposed stadium deal with the Washington Commanders.

AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Arizona’s special congressional primaries

July 11, 2025

Eight candidates will go before southern Arizona voters Tuesday in special primaries to replace longtime Democratic congressman Raúl Grijalva, who died in March from complications from cancer treatment. The winners will represent their parties in a Sept. 23 special election to serve out the remaining 15 months of Grijalva’s term. The seat will not decide control of the U.S. House but could chip away at Republicans’ slender 220-212 majority in the chamber. The seat is one of three vacancies in heavily Democratic districts.

The New York City Democratic Mayoral Primary Debate at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in the Gerald W. Lynch Theater on Thursday, June 12, 2025 in New York City. (Vincent Alban/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

AP Decision Notes: What to expect in New York’s primaries

June 20, 2025

Voters across New York state Tuesday will pick nominees in municipal primaries that include high-profile comeback bids in New York City by a former governor and a former congressman who both left office mired in scandal. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo leads a crowded Democratic primary field for New York City mayor nearly four years after resigning amid numerous sexual harassment allegations. In New York City Council District 2, Democratic former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner looks to return to elected office more than a decade after multiple sexting scandals ended his congressional career and eventually landed him in federal prison.

AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Virginia’s primaries

June 13, 2025

Virginia Democrats will settle a crowded six-way primary for lieutenant governor on Tuesday as well as a contested nomination fight for state attorney general. Meanwhile, voters across the commonwealth will choose nominees for the state House of Delegates. The winners will advance to the general election in November, when Republicans will defend their seats for the three top statewide offices, including governor, while Democrats will try to cling to their narrow majority in the state House. In Virginia in the year following a presidential election, candidates from the president’s party historically have faced strong headwinds at the ballot box.

Robert Yoon.