Jesse Battles, an independent candidate for State Senate in Alabama’s Tenth District, has been elected in a very close election against the Republican incumbent. See this story.
This is the first time an independent has been elected to the Alabama legislature since 2014, when Harri Anne Smith was elected to the State Senate.
Harvard Professor Danielle Allen has a substack titled “The Renovator.” The November 10 edition has this commentary on the strict Massachusetts ballot access requirements for primary candidates, especially U.S. House candidates. Massachusetts has the most severe primary petition requirement in the nation for U.S.House.
April Montgomery, an independent candidate for North Carolina’s 51st State House district, has won. Originally this was a three-way contest, but then the Democratic nominee withdrew, so Montgomery’s only opponent was a Republican. See this story.
She is the first independent to be elected to the North Carolina legislature since 2010, when Bert Jones won a house seat.
The 51st district is in the center of the state.
The Arizona No Labels Party lawsuit over whether it may change its name is moving ahead. See this story. Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission v Fontes, 2-ca-cv2026-0185. The government’s brief in response is due December 23.
Jennifer Brunner, the only Democrat on the Ohio Supreme Court, was reelected last week. Ironically, she had lost her lawsuit last month to remove the word “Democrat” from the ballot next to her name. She had filed the lawsuit in federal court in 2023.
Also last week, the Democratic nominee for another of the seats on the State Supreme Court won her election, defeating an incumbent Republican justice.
