Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
Labor Commissioner elections, 2016
2017 →
← 2015
|
 |
| 2016 State Executive Elections |
| 2016 Top Ballot |
|---|
| Governor • Lt. Governor Secretary of State • Attorney General |
| 2016 Down Ballot |
| Agriculture Commissioner • Auditor Comptroller • Insurance Commissioner Labor Commissioner Natural Resources Commissioner Public Education Commission Public Service Commissioner Superintendent of Schools • Treasurer |
| Previous Elections |
| 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011 • 2010 |
One state held an election for labor commissioner on November 8, 2016.
Click here for more information on this battleground election>>
Partisan analysis
The following table describes the partisan break-down of labor commissioner seats across the country prior to the 2016 election.
| Office | Nonpartisan | Total seats | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor Commissioner | 0 | 3 | 46 | 49 | |
| Note: Texas has a nonpartisan, three-person council that performs the duties of labor commissioner, which is not counted in this total. | |||||
The partisan breakdown of labor commissioners remained unchanged after the 2014 elections, with Republicans retaining both partisan elected seats in Georgia and Oklahoma. Oregon held a nonpartisan election in which the incumbent was re-elected.
Heading into the 2016 elections, Republicans held all three labor commissioner seats. This created a partisan risk in that a disproportionate number of seats held by Republicans were being challenged compared to the actual partisan balance. Republicans therefore entered the November 2016 elections in a position of greater relative risk than Democrats.
Influence of voter turnout
Labor commissioner elections across the country coincided with what was a highly competitive presidential election, which drives up voter turnout down the ballot.[1] This increased turnout during presidential election years can significantly affect the partisan balance of state governments. In particular, offices elected during mid-presidential term elections disadvantage the party of the current president, a trend that has remained relatively constant since the Civil War. Presidential election years see aggregate gains for the party of the winning presidential candidate.[2][1]
Three states held Labor commissioner elections in 2014, equal to 75 percent of the four states in which it is an elected position. (One seat, Oregon, elects its labor commissioner in a nonpartisan election). That same year, voter turnout was the lowest recorded since 1942.[3] Indeed, voter turnout has dropped during mid-presidential term elections since the 1840s.[2] This means a large majority of publicly elected labor commissioners are elected during these midterm cycles that see significantly lower turnout.
2016 elections
North Carolina
North Carolina held an election for Labor Commissioner on November 8, 2016. Incumbent Cherie Berry (R) won election to her fifth term.
| Click [show] to view full details for this election.
Charles Meeker (D)
Cherie Berry (R)
General electionIncumbent Cherie Berry defeated Charles Meeker in the North Carolina labor commissioner election.
Primary electionsDemocratic primary election
Republican primary electionCherie Berry was unopposed for the Republican nomination and therefore did not appear on the March 15 primary ballot. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
About the office
The labor commissioner is a state-level position in all 50 states. The duties of the position vary from state to state, but their general role is to oversee the administration of state laws relating to labor and the workforce. Duties can include ensuring that all workers are treated fairly under the law, overseeing investigation of non-payment of wages, the state minimum wage, overtime, and prevailing wage disputes. The vast majority of the states with labor commissioners authorize the governor to appoint an individual to the office, but there are at least four states who have opted to have voters select the officeholders.[4][5]
| Quick facts about Labor Commissioners |
|---|
|
Elected vs. appointed
As it currently stands, the office of labor commissioner is filled either by statewide elections or gubernatorial appointment.
While the vast majority of the states that do have the statewide governmental position authorize the governor to appoint an individual to the office, there are at least four others who have opted to have voters select the office holders. These states include Georgia, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Oregon.
Governors in the other states are authorized to appoint individuals as labor commissioners. In Texas, there is a three-member Workforce Commission that deals with labor issues in the state. In Nevada and West Virginia, there are two offices handling labor issues in each state.
Past elections
2015
- Main article: State executive official elections, 2015
No commissioner elections were scheduled for the 2015 electoral cycle.
To view the full electoral history for labor commissioners, click [show] to expand the full section. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'labor commission election' OR 'labor commissioner election' 2016. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Campbell, J. E. (1987) "The revised theory of surge and decline." American Journal of Political Science, 965-979.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Pew Research Center, “Voter turnout always drops off for midterm elections, but why?” July 24, 2014
- ↑ TIME, "Voter Turnout in Midterm Elections Hits 72-Year Low," November 10, 2014
- ↑ Utah Labor Commission, "Utah Labor Commission," accessed April 13, 2015
- ↑ Nevada Office of the Labor Commissioner, "Labor Commissioner, accessed April 13, 2015
- ↑ Oregon Live, "2012 General Election Results," November 7, 2012
- ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "2012 General Election Results," accessed November 7, 2013
| ||||||||||||||