Robby Starbuck Newsom Voluntarily Dismisses His Case Against Tennessee Republican Party

Posted on by May 19, 2022
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On May 18, Robby Starbuck Newsom voluntarily dismissed his lawsuit to get on the Tennessee Republican primary ballot for Congress. Newsom v Golden, m.d., 3:22cv-318. The Republican Party of Tennessee had passed a rule saying no one could run for congress who had not voted in three of the last four Tennessee Republican primaries. Newsom could not comply with this because he hadn’t been living in Tennessee that long. Therefore, the party rule functioned as a duration of residency requirement.

The U.S. District Court had denied him injunctive relief, but the declaratory judgment part of the case was still alive. However, Newsom apparently didn’t wish to continue the case to settle the issue.

Idaho Holds Libertarian Primary for First Time Since 2002

Posted on by May 18, 2022
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On May 17, Idaho held primaries for the four ballot-qualified parties, Republican, Democratic, Libertarian, and Constitution. This was the first time Idaho had held a Libertarian primary since 2002. When there are no contests in a party’s primary, the state doesn’t print up primary ballots for that party, and everyone who filed for the primary is deemed nominated.

Here is a link to the Secretary of State’s website, showing unofficial 2022 primary results. Somewhat more than 700 voters used a Libertarian primary ballot. Back in 2002, there were 1,179 voters who chose a Libertarian primary ballot, but back then, Idaho didn’t have registration by party and any voter was free to choose any party’s primary ballot.

Somewhat more than 516 voters in 2022 used a Constitution primary ballot.

Los Angeles Times Associate Editor Writes on California’s Top-Two System

Posted on by May 18, 2022
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Nicholas Goldberg, an associate editor of the Los Angeles Times, has this analysis of California’s top-two system. The piece quotes three political scientists. Two of them believe it has been beneficial, and one of them does not. Ironically, all three of these political scientists expressed these opinions twelve years ago when the system was passed by the voters.

The article is balanced, but fails to mention the biggest impact that the California and Washington top-two systems has produced: a complete elimination of minor party candidates on the general election ballot, except in races in which one of the major parties doesn’t run anyone. Thanks to Eric Wong for the link. The piece has been published in many newspapers besides just the Los Angeles Times.

Kansas Supreme Court Says U.S. House District Boundaries Don’t Violate State Constitution

Posted on by May 18, 2022
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On May 18, the Kansas Supreme Court issued a two-page opinion, reversing the lower state court and upholding the U.S. House districts passed by the legislature earlier this year. The lower court had said the maps represent a partisan gerrymander which is prohibited by the Kansas Constitution. The State Supreme Court did not explain its reasoning, but says it will do that later. It is unclear if the decision was unanimous. Rivera v Schwab, case number 125092.

Alaska Bill, Easing Definition of a Qualified Party, Passes Legislature

Posted on by May 18, 2022
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On May 17, the Alaska House passed SB 161 by a vote of 37-2. It eases the definition of a qualified political party, from a group with registration equal to 3% of the last vote cast (approximately 11,000 members) to exactly 5,000 registered members. Assuming the Governor signs the bill, the immediate effect will be to restore the Libertarian Party’s qualified status. Obviously it will also make it easier for the Green Party to regain its status. The Green Party now has 1,490 registrants, but back in October 2002 it had 4,789.

The two representatives who voted “no” are George Rauscher and Sarah Vance, both Republicans.