On September 7, the Maine Supreme Court ruled that parties are free to choose substitute nominees who are not members of that party. In July 2006, the Republican who had won the primary for State Senate, district 10, had resigned. The Republican Party then tried to replace him with John Arsenault, who was a Democrat (however, he was in the process of changing his registration to “Republican”). Maine’s Secretary of State, a Democrat, refused to allow the replacement. However, the Court ruled that no law prohibits a qualified party from choosing a non-member as a replacement nominee. Arsenault v Secretary of State, 905 A 2d 285.

The Court did not mention that in 1986, the US Supreme Court had said in Tashjian v Republican Party of Connecticut that the First Amendment protects a party’s right to nominate a non-member.