Republicans Sweep 16 of 19 State Commissioner Seats
State utility commissioner elections saw widespread Republican victories Tuesday. There were 16 Republican wins, 10 featuring incumbents, and three Democratic wins. That includes three Montana Republicans, who maintain leads but weren’t formally declared as of Wednesday afternoon. Four Republicans ran unopposed, as did a Democrat.
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The question of “how federalism will be applied” is a critical facet to consider after these elections, said National Regulatory Research Institute Principal Sherry Lichtenberg. NRRI is the research arm of NARUC, which has cautioned against federal overreach in a federal court case against the FCC on USF. Multiple NARUC proposals set for consideration in the next week express that concern (CD Nov 2 p12).
The statewide race for leadership of the Alabama Public Service remained close throughout election night initially. But Republican Commissioner Twinkle Cavanaugh unseated Democratic President Lucy Baxley, by about 8 percentage points at final count. Baxley is the last Democrat to hold statewide office in Alabama, Cavanaugh said. Incumbent Republicans in Georgia, Nebraska, Oklahoma and South Dakota held on to their seats. Commissioner Stan Wise won his District 5 Georgia Public Service Commission seat with more than 65 percent of the vote. Fellow Republican Commissioner Chuck Eaton also won his District 3 seat with more than 52 percent. Nebraska’s PSC Chairman Tim Schram and Commissioner Frank Landis won reelection, running unopposed. Republican Bob Anthony won a fifth election, unopposed, to serve on the Oklahoma Corporation Commission, as did Patrice Douglas, unopposed after being appointed to fill a vacancy in 2011. In South Dakota, Republican Chairman Chris Nelson won the fight to keep his seat on the Public Utilities Commission. Republican Commissioner Kristie Fiegen, appointed to fill a vacancy in 2011 on that PUC, also retained her seat. Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, reappointed Republican Public Utilities Commissioner James Tarpey on Monday (http://xrl.us/bnyd56). The commissioner’s new term lasts through January 2017.
New Republicans rose to power in North Dakota, Arizona and likely Montana, which was still processing results. State Sen. Randy Christmann carried the night with a strong lead over his two opponents for the one open North Dakota Public Service Commission seat. Republicans won all three open seats on the Arizona Corporation Commission in a statewide race of nine candidates, with incumbent Commissioner Bob Stump securing victory and incumbent Democrats Paul Newman and Sandra Kennedy losing. All five of Arizona’s commissioners will belong to the GOP after these results. Republicans also had the lead in three open Montana Public Service Commission seats in a race still too close to call. The results, as of Wednesday afternoon, would unseat Democratic incumbents Gail Gutsche and John Vincent. New Democratic commissioners won in New Mexico and Louisiana. Of the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission’s two open seats, Democrat Valerie Espinoza won in a District 3 without opposition and in District 1, Karen Louise Montoya won with 55 percent. Democrat Scott Angelle bested his Republican opponents in a heated fight for one open Louisiana Public Service commission seat.
Commissioner campaigns had said there were few telecom issues at stake (CD Oct 29 p3). “The commissioners do focus on telecom when they need to,” Lichtenberg said. She outlined the widespread state deregulation in a summer NRRI report, which remains a concern to the institute and factors into her new investigations on behalf of NARUC, she said. She'll present on service quality at NARUC’s Baltimore meeting within the next week and plans to conduct research on what’s happening in the states that have passed deregulatory legislation. Changes to USF, contribution reform and the transition away from copper to fiber will be huge issues to watch, she added. Telecom proceedings in Colorado and Maine show “how you can work with state legislators to craft the best possible rules,” she said.
Party lines don’t strictly determine outcomes on any telecom issues, multiple officials said. Municipal broadband is “something I would hope we see both sides agree on,” said Chris Mitchell, telecom director at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. State governments overall have “moved to either Republican or Democrat,” National Conference of State Legislatures Analyst Tim Storey told reporters Wednesday. “The South is clearly the Republican South” now that Arkansas has shifted, he added. Overall, legislatures shifted toward Democrats, he said.
Several state ballots had telecom significance. New Mexico voters approved constitutional amendments 2, 3 and 4. The first, which increased the minimum qualifications for public regulation commissioners, passed by a wide margin: 80 percent of the vote. The other two amendments narrowly passed and limit the PRC’s ability to manage the paperwork for corporations and ends the PRC’s regulation of insurance issues, which will be transferred to a state superintendent. Voters in Burlington, Vt., voted in favor of refinancing its bonds, by 72 percent. This ballot question addressed the city’s downgraded credit rating and debt, directly connected to the municipally financed Burlington Telecom.