Hawaii Representative Mahina Poepoe (D-Molokai) has introduced HB 1716. It would provide that parties that have been on the ballot continuously for twenty years would remain ballot-qualified, as long as they continue to run a candidate in every election. Parties would still be free to dissolve themselves if they wished. If the bill passed, it would affect the Green and Libertarian Parties.
The Kansas House Elections Committee has introduced HB 2447, to restore presidential primaries for parties that have primaries. In Kansas, only the Republican and Democratic Parties have primaries. Other qualified parties nominate by convention, so the bill will have no effect on them if it passes.
The New York Times of january 28 has a story “Shootings pose conservatism debate”. At the very end of the article, it mentions libertarians and the Libertarian Party, in a most deceiving fashion. First it says that libertarians are critical of how ICE treats protesters in Minneapolis, quoting Walter Olson of CATO. But then it says, “But even among libertarians, there is disagreement. Angela McArdle, a former chair of the Libertarian Party, argued this weekend that the nation was in crisis mode and that now was not a time for libertarians to stick so strictly to their ideology. It quotes her as saying, “The threat of mass migration is civilizational. If we don’t deport illegal aliens and stop Democrat fraud we will be Canada in less than ten years.”
The reporter completely ignored the position of the Libertarian Party, issued by current national chair Stephen Nekhaila on January 24. It says that ICE should be abolished.
On January 27, a Missouri House legislative committee deleted provisions for the return of presidential primaries from an omnibus election law bill. The sponsor of the bill, Representative Peggy McGaugh, said she will try to restore the provision when her bill, HB 1871, is being debated on the House floor.
Primaries would cost $9,000,000, and some legislators don’t want to spend the money. Missouri stopped holding presidential primaries in 2022.
Last year, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville announced he is running for Governor of Alabama in 2026. President Trump endorsed him for that position on January 22. However, the Alabama Constitution rquires Governors to have lived in the state for seven years, and many believe that he does not meet that qualification. See this story.
