Consumer protection

Minnesota's midterm ballot features competitive races for three constitutional offices. Incumbent Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) faces attorney Ron Schutz (R) in a contest seen as a potential GOP breakthrough, as Republicans haven't won that office in 60 years. Secretary of State Steve Simon (D) faces former state Rep. Tad Jude (R), plus Green and Libertarian candidates, over election oversight and voter ID. For state auditor, Zack Filipovich (D) faces Scott Jensen (R) and a Forward Independence candidate to replace retiring incumbent Julie Blaha, who won in 2022 by the narrowest margin of any statewide race that year.

All three offices also serve as checks on the governor and oversee state retirement investments, raising their stakes beyond their core duties.

Michigan voters will pick new occupants for two open statewide offices in 2026, as Attorney General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson are term-limited. For attorney general, Washtenaw County prosecutor Eli Savit (D), known for progressive criminal justice reforms, faces Eaton County prosecutor Doug Lloyd (R), who favors a more traditional approach and has criticized Nessel's record. For secretary of state, Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist II (D) is running on election security and expanded voter access, against Macomb County Clerk Anthony Forlini (R), who emphasizes election integrity and voter roll accuracy. Both races will shape election administration and legal enforcement in a key swing state.

Republican Keith Faber and Democrat John Kulewicz, the two nominees for Ohio attorney general, have agreed to debate on Oct. 19 at Youngstown State University, becoming the first candidates in any of Ohio's nine statewide races to commit to facing off before the Nov. 3 election. The event, moderated by Tony Paglia of the Youngstown Press Club, follows a joint statement from both campaigns pledging a "free, fair, and informative" discussion for voters.

Faber, the current state auditor, has emphasized support for law enforcement, consumer protection, combating trafficking, and resisting federal overreach. Kulewicz has focused on consumer protection and price-fixing enforcement, arguing the office should prioritize state issues over national political lawsuits. Both candidates have outlined anti-corruption plans, and differ on continuing the prosecution of former FirstEnergy executives and on regulating license-plate camera technology. No debates have yet been scheduled in Ohio's higher-profile Senate or governor's races, where candidates have so far resisted or failed to arrange face-offs.

California's Legislature closed its session this week by sending Gov. Gavin Newsom a wave of bills spanning data centers, artificial intelligence, immigration enforcement, wildfires and local news. Newsom signed measures requiring tracking of data centers' energy and water use and protecting consumers from rising electricity costs, alongside more than 10 bills restricting how social media, AI and autoplay features can target young users.

More than 20 new laws curb immigration enforcement, banning electric shock gloves and face coverings for law enforcement while easing lawsuits against federal officials. Other legislation sets first-in-the-nation standards for testing and remediating wildfire-smoke-damaged homes and requiring insurers to cover related costs, two years after the Los Angeles firestorms. New AI-related employment rules bar employers from relying solely on automated systems for discipline or firing and mandate 60-day notice before AI-driven layoffs. California also created the nation's largest journalism relief program, offering tax credits to local news outlets based on journalist headcount. The laws test whether California still sets the national policy agenda.

Ohio spent years courting massive data centers with tax incentives, but now faces the question of who covers the cost of powering them. PJM Interconnection, which operates the regional electric grid, projects data centers will account for 30 of the 32 gigawatts of peak-load growth expected across its 12-state region by 2030, and has warned residential customers could face higher bills without new protections.

Ohio lawmakers have struggled to pass legislation creating a separate customer class for large electricity users like data centers, a measure intended to shield households from subsidizing industrial demand. The effort stalled in the Ohio House, and legislators adjourned without resolving it, with no return expected until after the election. Critics note lawmakers found time to pass a temporary suspension of the state's gas tax while leaving the data-center issue unaddressed, despite growing public concern over electricity and water use, tax breaks, and neighborhood impacts. Separately, federal regulators this week directed PJM to revise its plan for addressing a projected power shortfall, stressing that costs from large new electricity users should not be shifted onto existing customers.

Two Tennessee organizations, Abortion Care Tennessee and Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi, have filed lawsuits in Davidson County Chancery Court seeking to block sweeping records demands from the state attorney general's office. Neither group provides abortions or sells abortion pills; both offer information on legal options, including out-of-state care, which courts have found protected by the First Amendment.

The attorney general's office sent both groups requests on Sept. 3, alleging possible violations of consumer protection and other laws without specifying the alleged conduct. The demands sought communications on abortion pill providers, mail-order abortion assistance, and, in Planned Parenthood's case, identities of minors who received gender-affirming care since July 2023—a claim the group denies applies to it. The groups argue the requests are retaliatory, following a recent federal appeals court ruling striking down a state law criminalizing "recruiting" minors for out-of-state abortions, and call the demands unconstitutional intrusions on protected speech and patient privacy. The attorney general's office says it routinely requests information when possible law violations arise and will respond in court.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has signed Senate Bill 373, requiring Michigan landlords who offer multiple rent payment methods to include at least one option free of extra fees. Any lease terms violating the rule are void. Sponsor Sen. Mary Cavanaugh, D-Redford Township, framed the measure as part of a wider effort to address housing affordability, citing data showing nearly 310,000 Michigan rental households qualify as extremely low income. A companion bill, Senate Bill 1052 from Sen. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit, clarifies that certain Medicare/Medicaid-sponsored incentive arrangements won't be treated as kickbacks or bribery.

The rent-fee law is among several Michigan stories in brief: three boaters were rescued after their catamaran capsized in Lake Michigan near Coloma; the state House advanced a dam-safety overhaul six years after the deadly Edenville and Sanford dam failures; GOP congressional candidate Thomas J. Smith declined a candidate forum invitation ahead of his race against Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet; and a Bay County teen shot during a home invasion now faces charges for firing at his mother's vehicle.

Arizona's attorney general race is heating up as Democratic incumbent Kris Mayes and Republican challenger Warren Petersen, the state Senate president, faced off in their first televised debate. Mayes, who narrowly defeated Abe Hamadeh by 280 votes in 2022 in a recount-triggering finish, is seeking a second term against Petersen, who won the GOP nomination in July over Rodney Glassman.

The debate turned combative over law enforcement, with Petersen citing Mayes' past comments about masked immigration agents, which drew criticism from police groups and Gov. Katie Hobbs, while Mayes countered by pointing to Petersen's legislative voting record on police-related bills. The candidates also clashed over immigration detention facilities, including a $1.2 billion federally funded expansion in Florence, ICE's role in Arizona, and how to handle young migrants brought to the country as children. They split over data centers, with Petersen favoring expansion under local control and Mayes urging caution. Their sharpest divide remains relations with Washington: Mayes has filed more than 50 lawsuits against the Trump administration over mail-in ballot restrictions, tariffs, and vaccine rules, while Petersen, a strong Trump supporter, has pledged to drop those challenges if elected. Polling from AARP and Noble Predictive Insights shows Mayes with a modest lead, with about one in five voters still undecided.