Reuters seems to have conducted to first poll for president listing Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee. When only Donald Trump and Harris are mentioned, Harris leaders Trump by two points. But when Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is included, Harris leads Trump by four points, with Kennedy at 8%. See here.
A New Jersey state trial court will hear Salmon v Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on Friday, July 26. This is a lawsuit filed by a New Jersey voter to keep Kennedy off the general election ballot as an independent. The challenger says that Kennedy can’t be on the ballot because he got some write-ins in the June 4, 2024 Democratic presidential primary, and therefore he is a “sore loser”.
Kennedy responds that he didn’t file a petition to be on the June primary ballot and is therefore not a “sore loser”. He also says there are procedural objections to the lawsuit. Kennedy’s brief does not mention the fact that New Jersey’s sore loser law has been held not to apply to presidential primaries. Both Lyndon LaRouche (in 1992) and David Duke (in 1988) did petition to be on the Democratic primary ballot, and then also petitioned to be on the general election ballot as independents.
The case is in Mercer Superior Court, MER-L241-24.
On July 23, U.S. District Court Judge Bridget M. Brennan, a Biden appointee, issued an opinion in League of Women Voters of Ohio v LaRose, n.d., 1:23cv-2414. It strikes down a 2023 Ohio law that makes it a felony for anyone except a relative or a postal employee to take a voted absentee ballot and deliver it to an election office or a postal collection box. One of the plaintiffs is a disabled person who wanted her caregiver to deliver the ballot. The opinion finds the law to violate the federal Voting Rights Act.
On July 22, No Labels filed its brief in the Ninth Circuit in No Labels Party v Fontes, 24-563. This is the case on whether a party has a freedom of association right to block anyone from running in its primary for offices for which the party doesn’t want candidates. No Labels only wanted a presidential candidate.
No Labels is no longer participating in elections, but both sides want the issue to be settled. This will be an interesting case on the constitutional rights of political parties.
On July 22, the Democratic National Committee said candidates seeking the party’s nomination need 300 signatures of delegates. There are about 4,600 delegates. The party also said it will choose the presidential and vice-presidential nominees in a virtual roll-call, but the date for that still isn’t settled. See this story.
