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Political Cornflakes: The number of uncontested seats in this year’s midterm elections is the lowest it’s been in a generation

FILE - In this March 18, 2014 file photo, voters cast their ballots in Hinsdale, Ill. A new poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and MTV finds that most Americans ages 15 to 34 think voting in the midterm elections gives their generation some say about how the government runs, and 79 percent of this group say leaders from their generation would do a better job running the country. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File)

This year’s midterm elections are more vigorously contested than those in the past — mostly because more Democratic women are running for office. Another trend shows Democrats are challenging Republican incumbents far more often than Republicans are challenging Democratic incumbents. Among the 435 House seats, Democrats are running in 428, while Republicans are running in only 393. The number of contested seats has increased even more dramatically in state legislative elections, where this year’s uncontested rate is the lowest it’s been in 46 years. [WaPost]

Happy Wednesday.

Topping the news: Four women who say Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill’s office mishandled their sexual assault cases want the Utah Supreme Court to assign a special prosecutor to bring their cases to court — a way to remedy what sexual violence prevention groups describe as systemwide reluctance to charge sex crimes. [Trib] [Fox13]

-> Support for Proposition 2, Utah’s medical marijuana ballot initiative, has declined in recent weeks, according to a new poll by the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah. The survey found that 51 percent of people said they were voting for Prop 2 — a significant decline in popularity likely caused by a new compromise proposal pitched for a special legislative session in November. [Trib]

-> The Federal Election Commission did not back a claim U.S. Rep. Mia Love made during a debate on Monday night, saying it had not made a statement that the House candidate hadn’t violated any laws or rules by raising $1 million for a primary election that never occurred. [Trib] [Fox13]

Tweets of the day: From @kylegriffin1: “TORONTO (AP) — Retail marijuana sales begin in Canada, now largest country with legal national pot marketplace.”

-> From @RobynUrback: “I have a feeling that the legalization of marijuana will follow the Extremely Canadian™ path of things that we talk about ad nauseam until just after it happens and then just largely forget about (aside: BRING BACK THE PENNY)”

-> From @sgj3: “#utpol In a matter of days I will be asked to vote for Justice Himonas, Judge Griffin et al. How am I supposed to know if any of them ever threw ice at someone else whilst in school?”

Happy Birthday: To state Rep. Michael Noel, lobbyist Steve Barth and Kelli Lucero, constituent services director for Gov. Gary Herbert.

In other news: The American Civil Liberties Union of Utah is critiquing Operation Rio Grande, which seeks to reduce lawlessness around Salt Lake City’s homeless shelter, for making too many arrests without improving other programs to decrease homelessness and drug abuse. [Trib] [DNews]

-> The Utah Department of Workforce Services is planning to reallocate funds for underutilized after-school programs to help families on the brink of homelessness. [KUTV]

-> The fate of the Utah Science, Technology, and Research initiative — which helps support the pipeline that carries research innovations into for-profit commercialization — is still in question after the Legislature temporarily delayed a vote on the program on Tuesday following concerns about its efficacy. [DNews]

-> A measure passed in March that would make it possible for pharmacists to give birth control over the counter, provided that a patient has a two year standing order from a doctor prescribing it, still needs to be approved by the executive branch before it can be officially implemented. [DNews]

-> A private sector group is one step closer to resurrecting the Wingpointe Golf Course near the Salt Lake City International Airport, thanks to a bill signed into law recently by President Donald Trump. [Trib]

-> The Salt Lake City Council is considering a new ordinance that would prohibit pet stores from selling animals obtained from puppy mills, in the hopes of preventing animal cruelty and pet overpopulation. [Trib]

-> With a 5-1 vote, the City Council voted Tuesday to loosen rules on so-called mother-in-law apartments, which have been welcomed by some Salt Lake residents as a way of easing an ongoing housing crunch but opposed by others, who warn large numbers of new pocket dwellings could disrupt parking and quality of life in established residential areas. [Trib]

-> Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch joked in a tweet that he is 1/1032 T-Rex after Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, released her DNA test results on Monday in an effort to prove her Native American heritage. [KUTV]

-> The owners of The Complex, a well-known concert venue in downtown Salt Lake City, have been accused by federal prosecutors of drug trafficking and using the money earned to pay for concerts. The trial is set for December. [Trib] [ABC4] [KUTV]

-> The Unified Fire Authority took its next step Tuesday in determining whether to attempt recovering hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer funds that state auditors last year concluded were misused by its top administrators. [Trib]

-> Pat Bagley illustrates a member of the GOP indulging in incentives brought by stripping government programs away from those in lower income brackets. [Trib]

Nationally: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Tuesday with the Saudi Arabian king, the crown prince and other top officials to discuss the death of a prominent Saudi journalist in the country’s consulate in Turkey. Trump said that serious punishments would result should it be proven that the journalist was killed by the Saudi throne, but he doesn’t want it to affect U.S.-Saudi trade agreements. [NYTimes] [BBC] [CNN] [WSJ]

-> In key congressional races, Democratic candidates have been raising more funds than their GOP rivals, out-financing Republicans in 32 out of 45 of the closest House races. But conservative candidates have a lot of big checks coming in as well, keeping them financially competitive going into the midterm elections. [NYTimes]

-> Defense Secretary Jim Mattis sought to dismiss reports that his job is in danger and said he identifies as neither a Democrat or a Republican, one day after Trump suggested Mattis is a democrat. The defense secretary said he is “proudly apolitical” and was brought up to obey the elected commander in chief — “whoever that may be." [NYTimes]

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-- Taylor Stevens and Cara MacDonald

https://twitter.com/tstevensmedia and Twitter.com/carammacdonald