The United States has nearly 5,000 independent state and locally administered retirement systems. Each system is administered by state and local officials elected into office by constituents, underscoring the critical importance of voter turnout in the midterm elections. Public pension systems across the country face potential changes as voters decide who will enter office in 2027 and shape retirement policy.
Court Strikes Down Anti-Labor Attack in Arizona
Following the Arizona legislative session, it appeared pension advocates there would have to spend the fall fighting off HCR2040, a ballot initiative that would have created penalties criminalizing teachers involved in organized workplace actions. One version of the bill penalized teachers by revoking state pension benefits for participating in a union. The Arizona proposal appeared to be a response to the 2018 “Red for Ed” teacher walkout, when tens of thousands of educators rallied for higher pay and increased school funding.
HCR2040 would have literally punished educators, including losing their jobs and stealing their pensions. In July, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Gregory Como ruled the measure was killed, saying it would have illegally targeted all public sector bargaining.
Ranked Choice Voting and the Alaska Governor’s Race
The August 18 primary results in Alaska–one of two states, along with Maine, that employ Ranked Choice Voting–sent a clear message to state leadership. As Governor Mike Dunleavy prepares to exit office, he leaves a legacy that includes vetoing critical pension legislation after failing to cajole lawmakers into supporting a gas pipeline.
Two former state lawmakers who have publicly supported the campaign to reintroduce defined benefits (DBs) to public employees, Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins and Tom Begich, took over 43% of the vote in the non-partisan primary, coming in first and second, respectively, ahead of pension opponents Bernadette Wilson and former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson at third and fourth. Begich has since withdrawn from the Alaska governor’s race, endorsing Kreiss-Tomkins, or JKT as he’s known, as labor’s best hope for a rehaul of the state’s faltering retirement plan.
The consolidation around JKT was itself a tremendous victory for labor and the pension cause. Thursday, the state AFL-CIO met and endorsed Kreiss-Tomkins.
The DB restoration has been a predominant issue in the race to Juneau, with legislative and gubernatorial candidates openly backing the pension. JTK’s pension promise continues to gain support from labor organizations statewide.
Parallel to the gubernatorial contest, each chamber of the legislature is also up for reelection. House Majority Leader Chuck Kopp is running for reelection, and if successful, will likely find himself in leadership in a coalition caucus forged around labor priorities. This summer, Representative Kopp joined Dan Doonan of NIRS on the Retirement in America podcast, forecasting the pension outlook in 2027.
Connecticut Labor Agreement Hinges on Governor Approval
Public pensions are also a publicly debated issue in the Connecticut gubernatorial race. The Hartford Courant reports the next Governor must decide what to do when the collectively bargained contract guaranteeing pensions and other benefits to thousands of present and retired state employees expires next June. Governor Ned Lamont says he expects to reach an amicable agreement with unions next spring.
Labor is accusing Lamont of austerity. Unions allege the fiscally moderate, multi-millionaire governor is leaving major agencies understaffed and redirecting budget funds from vital programs to reduce debt. They’ve also received measly raises, with on 4% annually since 2021.
Midterm elections are fast approaching, and pensions are on the ballot from coast to coast. From Arizona to Alaska and from Kansas to Kentucky, Americans can choose this year to support public sector workers and ensure public services remain reliable and robust.
Kansas Faces the Loss of Pension Protector Governor Laura Kelly
Governor Laura Kelly has been a fierce ally for public workers and their retirement security. Though her budgeting tactics have been called into question in the past, Kelly, who has reached her maximum term limit, has remained a reliable friend of labor. Now Kansans will choose between gubernatorial hopefuls Cindy Holscher and Ty Masterson as their next state leader–a choice that could have major implications for the state’s retirement system.
State Senator Holscher began her political career when she was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives in 2017, after the disastrous Brownback-era tax cuts, and has earned a 100% on the AFL-CIO’s legislative scorecard.
Meanwhile, Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson has taken a clear anti-pension stance throughout his legislative career. As Chair of the Senate Ways and Means committee, Masterson held much-needed pension bonds hostage, saying he would not issue any bonds “without creating a 401(k)-style pension plan for new public employees”. He has also faced harsh criticism for his mission to reduce taxes for the wealthiest state residents.
Ohio Faces a Troubling Potential Lame Duck Session
In November, Ohio voters will choose between Vivek Ramaswamy, former DOGE co-lead and founder of Strive Asset Management, and Amy Acton, former Director of the Ohio Department of Health.
Though he stepped away from his position as Executive Chairman at Strive to focus on his run for governor, Ramaswamy’s economic alignment with private equity is troubling. Staunchly anti-ESG, anti-DEI, and pro-free market, he publicly supports privatizing Social Security and has called the creation of Medicare and Medicaid a “mistake.”
Both the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System (OPERS) and the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio (STRS) have substantial sums of public money invested with private equity firms. With 14% of the OPERS DB Fund and 9.5% of STRS funds committed to Alternative Investments (an umbrella term that often veils private equity funds), roughly $20 billion of public retirement money has been infused into under-regulated, potentially adverse financial management. While Ramaswamy’s Strive holds no contracts with Ohio’s retirement systems, as Governor he would be unlikely to take measures to protect public dollars from the volatility and moral ambiguity private equity investments are subject to.
Ohio faces a whole different predicament if the Democratic nominee, Amy Acton, wins the governorship–a lame duck session. Ohio’s current slate of lawmakers is capable of slipping anti-worker policy across the governor’s desk in the cover of darkness. If Acton is elected, Ohioans could see legislators reconvene in attempts to push damaging pension legislation or diminish the Governor’s authority over the pension systems before she takes office.
Oklahomans Opt for an Anti-Pension Gubernatorial Candidate
Oklahoma Republicans last week voted in a rare runoff primary election, ultimately selecting former State Senator Mike Mazzei as the GOP candidate for the gubernatorial election in November. The narrow win—Mazzei secured 50.3% of the vote over state Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who got 49.7%—could mean devastation for workers in the Sooner State.
Mazzei’s past anti-worker platform presents a major threat to the retirement security of Oklahoma’s current and future public employees. As chair of the Senate Select Committee on Pensions, Mazzei was also instrumental in closing the pension system for new state employees, moving them to the 401(k)-style OPERS Pathfinder plan. He helped enact legislation that raised the retirement age for new teachers, pushed retirement eligibility further out of reach, increased firefighter contributions, and paused cost-of-living adjustments for retirees for 12 years.
Reports that Mazzei has attended only 10 of the 40 meetings of the Oklahoma Police Pension and Retirement Board since March 2023 have fueled speculation that his commitment to preserving public safety pensions is, at best, ambivalent. As chairman and CEO of Trinity Strategic Wealth, a wealth and investment management firm based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Mazzei’s so-called financial expertise falls short when it comes to preserving defined benefits. His official campaign website touts a proposed reduction in taxes by giving “large urban counties a more sustainable retirement model through 401(k) plans for county employees to save millions.” This ruse is likely just another step towards an attempt to eliminate pensions for more public-sector employees in Oklahoma. First he came for the state employees, and the municipal employees are next.
What lies ahead for Oklahoma’s public sector retirement is up to the workers and legislators to shape. In November, voters will choose between Democratic nominee Oklahoma House Minority Leader Cyndi Munson and Mazzei. Representative Munson was a vocal critic of a proposal to redirect money from the Teacher’s Retirement System to fund small educator pay raises earlier this year, stating that, “Our educators cannot afford instability in their retirement. And Oklahoma families cannot afford another short-term band-aid fix instead of a long-term plan.” She added, “I will never treat them like a budget-balancing tool.”
The Rule of 90 Plays a Role in Rhode Island Primaries
On September 9th, Democrats in the Ocean State will go to the polls to choose between incumbent Governor Dan McKee and primary challenger Helena Buonanno Foulkes, former President of CVS Pharmacy, as their candidate for November.
Several public mishaps have plagued the sitting Governor’s time in office, including the questionable handling of the Washington Bridge rebuild debacle, opening the door for Foulkes to take a lasting lead in the polls. McKee is fighting back, though, and he is gunning for the support of the thousands of public employees who saw their benefits slashed as part of former Governor Gina Raimondo’s 2011 pension reforms.
Endorsed by Rhode Island AFSCME Council 94, NEA Rhode Island, and the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals, McKee announced that he would include the Rule of 90 provision in his fiscal 2028 budget proposal, reversing the previous changes; McKee calls it a “promise that was taken away from our workers.” Earlier in 2026, the Rhode Island Senate Committee on Finance recommended holding RI S2543, a bill that would have reinstated the Rule of 90, for further study before advancing, presenting an opportunity for improvement that the incumbent Governor hopes to capitalize on.
In 2024, the National Institute on Retirement Security released a study that determined the 2011 pension reforms in Rhode Island brought about “demonstrable changes in public employee attrition,” and “increasing challenges in retaining experienced workers.”
Wyoming Loosens Its Freedom Caucus Chains
The Wyoming state legislature made history when voters ushered in the country’s first-ever Freedom Caucus majority for the 2024–2025 legislative session. The ultra-conservative caucus is facing an end to its time in the sun, however, as this year’s primaries overturned at least 14 Freedom Caucus incumbent seats, marking the inevitable demise of the underproductive political posse.
The Wyoming Freedom Caucus pushed an unpopular anti-ESG (Environmental and Social Governance) investment bill in 2025, despite pushback from State Treasurer Curt Meier and officials with the Wyoming Retirement System. Ultimately, the bill was dropped after repeated warnings that the legislation would have limited the system’s ability to make prudent, diversified investments, drive away top financial management firms, and result in up to $5 billion in losses.
Though some pension expansion legislation passed in 2026, loosening the Freedom Caucus’s grip on policy-making in Wyoming could open the door for state retirees to see their first cost-of-living increase since 2008.