This Politico story says that Andrew Yang intends to start a new political party. Yang is publishing a book, “Forward: Notes on the Future of Our Democracy” on October 5, and the story says the book will explain more about the new party. Thanks to Political Wire for the link.
On September 9, four candidates for Mayor of Buffalo debated. They include India Walton, the Democratic nominee; independent candidate and incumbent Byron Brown; and two write-in candidates, Ben Carlisle and Jaz Miles. The debate was televised. It is very rare for a televised debate to include write-in candidates. UPDATE: watch the debate at this link.
On September 6, Adlai E. Stevenson III died at the age of 90. See this lengthy New York Times obituary. He was a former Democratic U.S. Senator, and the Democratic nominee for Governor of Illinois in both 1982 and 1986. In the 1986 race, however, the Lieutenant Governor nominee who emerged from the Democratic primary was a supporter of Lyndon LaRouche. In Illinois, parties have separate primaries for Governor and Lieutenant Governor. But in the general election, they run as a team.
Stevenson resigned from the Democratic ticket rather than run in November in tandem with a LaRouche supporter. That left the Democratic Party with no nominee for Governor and Mark Fairchild for Lieutenant Governor. That ticket of no one plus Fairchild received 6% of the vote. If it had received less than 5%, the Democratic Party would have ceased to be a qualified party in Illinois.
Stevenson then formed a new party, the Illinois Solidarity Party, and ran as its gubernatorial nominee, polling 40.0%. That made the Illinois Solidarity Party the first fully ballot-qualified third party in Illinois since 1924. The legislature, which had a Democratic majority, passed a bill to let a qualified party cease to exist, because after the 1986 election was over Stevenson had no use for the Solidarity Party. But Republican Governor Jim Thompson vetoed the bill, so the Solidarity Party remained ballot-qualified for the 1988 and 1990 elections. Activists from the New Alliance Party captured it, so that it nominated Lenora Fulani for president in 1988.
The government of Ohio has asked the U.S. Supreme Court for more time to respond to the cert petition filed by the Ohio Libertarian Party in the case over the composition of the Ohio Elections Commission. The law says there will be three members from each of the two largest parties, and one member who is not a member of any party. Therefore, no member of a minor party is ever eligible to serve. This is especially inappropriate, given that the State Elections Commission is responsible for setting up general election gubernatorial debates.
The Ohio response is now due October 15. Ohio Libertarian Party v Crites, 21-226.
The Third Circuit will hear Benezet Consulting v Boockvar, 20-2976, on Friday, September 24, at 10 a.m. The issue is the Pennsylvania ban on out-of-state circulators for primary petitions. The U.S. District Court had struck it down, but only as applied to the particular plaintiffs who had filed the lawsuit. The circulators had then appealed to the Third Circuit, arguing that the U.S. District Court should have struck it down for everyone.
The Third Circuit judges are Theodore McKee, a Clinton appointee; L. Felipe Restrepo, an Obama appointee; and Jane Roth, a Bush Jr. appointee.
