On March 11, the Louisiana Senate Government Affairs Committee passed SB 49. It switches elections for Board of Elementary & Secondary Education out of the closed primaries, and into the old system in which every candidate runs on the state general election, and if no one gets 50% there is a runoff. Those elections are scheduled for 2027.
An identical bill, HB 529, is pending in the House.
On March 12, the University of Southern California and ABCChannel 7 in Los Angeles announced that they will host a California gubernatorial debate. Unlike all the other California gubernatorial debates held this year, some candidates are not invited even though they have been polling higher than one of the candidates who is invited. The sponsors are inviting Matt Mahan, yet they are excluding Antonio Villaraigosa and Xavier Becerra.
The latest poll, Emerson College, shows Mahan, Becerra, and Villaraigosa each at 3%.
The poll before that, Trudeot, shows Becerra 5%, Villaraigosa 4%, and Mahan at 3%.
The poll before Trudot, Global Strategy, shows Becerra 5%, Mahan 3%, Villaraigosa 2%.
And the poll before that, IVC Media, shows Becerra 3%, Villaraigosa 3%, Mahan 2%.
See this story, criticizing the debate sponsors. Mahan himself says in the story that the sponsors are being unfair.
On March 12, Brian Doherty died at the age of 57. He was the author of six books, including Radicals for Capitalism, a history of the Libertarian Party and the libertarian movement. He was also a reporter for Reason Magazine. His death seems to have been an accident while he was hiking in rugged terrain in Marin County, California. UPDATE: see this obituary at Reason.com.
On March 10, the Hawaii Senate decided not to vote on SB 2480, the bill to create a top-two system. Instead the bill was sent back to the Judiciary Committee.
On March 10, Hawaii HB 1716 passed the House. It says a party that has been on the ballot for the last eight years can remain on the ballot if it continues to run candidates, files campaign finance reports, and keeps the state informed of its officers.
