On April 23, Jay Jacobs, state chair of the New York Democratic Party, said he has changed his mind, and he no longer supports the creation of a “Fair Deal Party” that would cross-endorse Democratic Party nominees. He said this after receiving assurances from the Working Families Party that the WFP will support whomever the Democrats nominate for Governor.
On April 25, a Kansas state trial court issued a 209-page opinion in Rivera v Schwab, 2022-cv-89, 29th judicial district, Wyandotte County District Court. It finds that the new U.S. House boundaries violate the Kansas Constitution, because they were drawn for partisan advantage and they also diminish the voting power of Black voters.
Here is a newspaper story about the ruling.
On April 25, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Libertarian Party of Alabama v Merrill, 21-1288. This is the case over the Alabama law that gives the list of registered voters free to qualified parties, but charges an unqualified party that is petitioning $37,000 to get the list.
In 1970, the U.S. Supreme Court had summarily affirmed a U.S. District Court decision that said just the opposite. This is one more example of the Court back-tracking on its older favorable precedents. It also continues an unbroken 31-year habit of rejecting all election law cert petitions filed by a minor party or an independent candidate.
Law Professor Derek T. Muller has submitted this amicus curiae brief in Cawthorn v Amalfi, the Fourth Circuit lawsuit over whether Congressman Madison Cawthorn meets the qualifications to run for Congress. The brief argues that states may have no role whatsoever in determining whether congressional candidates are qualified. However, the brief says states may adjudicate qualifications for presidential candidates.
No Democrat will be on the ballot for U.S. House from South Dakota this year. See this story. Democrats didn’t run for the seat in 2020, either. In 2020, in a two-person race, the Libertarian nominee for U.S. House, Randy Luallin, polled 75,748 votes, 19.04%. Libertarians in South Dakota nominated by convention on April 23, and nominated Collin Duprel for U.S. House. The party has nominees for eleven federal and state offices.
