Gary Buchanan will try to get on the Montana ballot as an independent candidate for U.S. House. He is running in the Second District, in the eastern half of the state. See this story.

Montana has not had an independent candidate on the ballot for U.S. House since 1994. Montana has the most difficult petition requirement for independent candidates for U.S. House, in any state west of the Mississippi River. Buchanan needs 8,722 signatures by May 31. The formula is 5% of the winning candidate’s vote at the previous election.

On April 5, the U.S. House passed H.Res.831, to establish a Center for Democratic Resilience in NATO. Only 63 U.S. House members voted “no”. They are all Republicans.

Here is the roll-call vote. Among the 63 “no” votes were only 14 members from states in which independent voters could not vote in Republican primaries (Florida, Idaho, Kentucky, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania).

Many journalists routinely assert that closed primaries produce extreme politicians, whereas letting independents vote in primaries causes moderate politicians to be elected. This is not true; it has been rebutted in many political science studies.

This post does not take a position on whether H.Res.831 is good or bad policy. It merely points out that voting against strengthening democracy inside NATO is considered an “extreme” position, compared to the post-war consensus in the United States.

Betsy Johnson, an independent candidate for Governor of Oregon, has raised $5,100,000 for her campaign. According to this story, that is more than any other candidate for that office has raised so far. Johnson is a former Democratic State Senator.

Oregon last elected an independent governor in 1930, when Julius Meier won with 54.5% of the vote.