State elections

FILE - In this Sept. 28, 2018 file photo, Texas Governor Greg Abbott smiles before a gubernatorial debate against his Democratic challenger Lupe Valdez at the LBJ Library in Austin, Texas. Decisions about health care and education will top the agenda in many state capitols as lawmakers convene in new sessions in 2019. Abbott and the Republican-controlled Legislature will be wrestling with whether to tap as much as $5 billion from the state’s rainy-day fund to pay for the recovery from Hurricane Harvey, which swamped the southeast portion of the state in August 2017. (Nick Wagner/Austin American-Statesman via AP, Pool)

FILE - In this Nov. 7, 2018 file photo Republican Mark Harris speaks to the media during a news conference in Matthews, N.C. The North Carolina board investigating allegations of ballot fraud in a still-unresolved congressional race between Harris and Democrat Dan McCready could be disbanded Friday, Dec. 28 under a state court ruling in a protracted legal battle about how the panel operates. The state Elections Board has refused to certify the race between Harris and McCready while it investigates absentee ballot irregularities in the congressional district stretching from the Charlotte area through several counties to the east. Harris holds a slim lead in unofficial results, but election officials are looking into criminal allegations against an operative hired by the Harris campaign. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton, File)

FILE - In this May 25, 2016, file photo, a man holds up a sign for then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump before the start of a rally at the Anaheim Convention Center, Wednesday, May 25, 2016, in Anaheim, Calif. Republicans are holding onto a steady share of the Latino vote in the Trump era. With a president who targets immigrants from Latin America, some analysts predicted a Latino backlash against the GOP. But it hasn’t happened. Data from AP’s VoteCast survey suggests Republicans are holding on to support from Latino evangelicals and veterans. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 31, 2008, file photo, then-Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., arrives at a rally in Des Moines, Iowa, Friday, Oct. 31, 2008. Barack Obama’s earliest supporters in Iowa are setting aside the wistful romance of his surprise 2008 caucus victory and focusing on who can seize the presidency from Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 5, 2018, file photo, Leslie McCrae Dowless Jr., poses for a portrait outside his home in Bladenboro, N.C. State investigators have described Dowless as a “person of interest” in their probe into 2018 voting irregularities involving absentee ballots. (Travis Long/The News & Observer via AP, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 5, 2018 photo, Leslie McCrae Dowless poses for a portrait outside of his home in Bladenboro, N. C. N.C. Board of Elections Executive Director Kim Strach warned in a January 2017 letter obtained by The Associated Press that those involved in illegally harvesting absentee ballots in rural Bladen County would likely do it again if they weren’t prosecuted. (Travis Long/The News & Observer via AP)

FILE - In this Dec. 5, 2018, file photo, Leslie McCrae Dowless Jr., poses for a portrait outside his home in Bladenboro, N.C. State investigators have described Dowless as a “person of interest” in their probe into 2018 voting irregularities involving absentee ballots. (Travis Long/The News & Observer via AP, File)

Rochelle Thuy Nguyen greets her daughter Hannah Lay at their home, Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018, in Las Vegas. Nevada became the first state in the U.S. with an overall female majority in the Legislature on Tuesday when county officials in Las Vegas appointed Nguyen and another women to fill vacancies in the state Assembly. (AP Photo/John Locher)

FILE - In this Nov. 13, 2018, file photo, U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin, R-Maine, speaks at a news conference in Augusta, Maine. Poliquin, who has disputed his loss in the first ranked-choice congressional race in U.S. history is dropping his request for a recount. Poliquin challenged the system in federal court, and a judge ruled against him on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018. He also requested the recount, which has been taking place in Augusta. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, files)

Oleg Kozhemyako, acting governor of the far eastern region of Primorsky Krai stands as he waits to get his ballot at a polling station in Vladivostok, Russia, Sunday, Dec. 16, 2018. Russians living in the far eastern region of Primorsky Krai cast their votes Sunday for a new governor in a tightly watched election, with Kozhemyako reported to be leading the vote. (Igor Novikov, Governor and Administration of Primorye Territory press service via AP)