On May 4, U.S. District Court Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, a Clinton appointee, refused to issue a Temporary Restraining Order in the New York redistricting situation. The highest State Court had ruled that the districts must be redrawn. Afterwards, some Democratic Party activists filed a federal lawsuit to derail the State Court process. But the judge was not sympathetic. DeGaudenar v Kosinski, s.d., 1:22cv-3534. See this story.
The New York Libertarian Party has issued this press release, pointing out the difference between the legislature’s inaction on the ballot access bills, compared with the extremely fast action on the bill to allow candidates to withdraw if they have been indicted.
J. D. Vance won the Ohio Republican primary with only 32.20% of the vote. Here is a link to the Secretary of State’s website, which has election returns.
On the afternoon of May 3, the Fourth Circuit heard arguments in Cawthorn v Amalfi, 22-1251. This is the case filed by Congressman Madison Cawthorn to stop North Carolina election officials from holding a hearing on whether he meets the qualifications to run for Congress. Cawthorn won in the U.S. District Court. The U.S. District Court Judge side-stepped the issue of whether states can judge the qualifications to run for Congress, and instead said that the “insurrection” language in the 14th amendment no longer applies because in 1872, Congress granted a blanket amnesty to anyone, past or future, who might be affected.
According to this story, neither side defended the decision of the U.S. District Court. Instead, James Bopp, an experienced election law attorney who is representing Cawthorn, maintained that state election officials can’t judge qualifications.
The three judges are James A. Wynn, an Obama appointee; Julius Richardson, a Trump appointee; and Toby Heytens, a Biden appointee. The news story says that Judge Wynn seemed incredulous that states cannot adjudicate residency, but there have been many congressional candidates in the last ten years who ran in states in which they did not reside.
On May 3, U.S. District Court Judge Brian M. Cogan enjoined the New York law that prohibits out-of-state petitioners. Schmidt v Kosinski, e.d., 1:22cv-2210. Here is the three-page preliminary Injunction. Out-of-state circulators must promise to consent to the jurisdiction of New York courts in case there is any dispute about their work.
