The recall vote on Seattle citycouncil member Kshama Sawant is now virtually tied, after another day of counting ballots. See the King County election returns here.
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On December 8, the Ohio Supreme Court heard the lawsuit that challenges the Ohio legislative districts as partisan gerrymanders. The Ohio Constitution was amended by the voters in 2015 to say that districts must be fair to all political parties. See this story. It seems somewhat likely that the Court will invalidate the districts, even though the court has four Republicans and three Democrats.
On December 8, the North Carolina Supreme Court issued an order in Harper v Hall, 413P21, moving the 2022 primary from March 8 to May 17. The Court also closed candidate filing for the district offices. The Supreme Court also instructed the lower state court to rule on the constitutionality of the new U.S. House and legislative districts by January 11, 2022.
As a result of this order, the only 2022 state primary earlier than May is the Texas March primary. There is a fair chance that primary will be postponed as well.
An indirect consequence of the North Carolina order is that independent candidates now have until May 17 to submit their petitions, for 2022. Thanks to Political Wire for this news.
According to this story, Tim Walsh will seek the New Mexico Libertarian gubernatorial nomination. He was an advisor to former Gary Johnson on education, when Johnson was the state’s Republican Governor 1995-2003. He is also a retired school teacher.
The New Mexico Libertarian Party has never before had a gubernatorial nominee. It is the only state in which the party has never had a gubernatorial nominee on the ballot, although the Rhode Island Libertarian Party has not had one since 1976. Thanks to Independent Political Report for the link.
On December 7, Seattle, Washington held a recall vote for city councilmember Kshama Sawant. Here are the early results, showing 53.1% in favor of the recall. Sawant has been on the city council starting in 2013, and is famous for being a socialist.