Jim Jones, a Republican former Attorney General (1982-1990) and former member of the Idaho Supreme Court, has this op-ed in the Idaho State Journal. He criticizes the state legislature for passing SB 1110 recently. It makes it virtually impossible for anyone to place a statewide initiative on the ballot. The Governor has not yet acted on the bill.
Run for Something, an organization formed in 2017 to encourage young citizens to run for public office, has released a study that shows the value of a party running for seats that it knows in advance it will not win. The study concerns Democrats in the south in 2020. When the party ran a nominee for state legislature, even though the seat was considered completely safe for the Republican legislative nominee, that boosted the party’s share of the vote inside that district for president and other statewide office. See this New York Times story.
Run for Something has a website, but unfortunately does not seem to display the study on its website. If any commenters knows how to find a copy of the study, please comment. UPDATE: here is the study. Thanks to Samuel Wang for the link.
On April 19, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order in Bognet v Degraffenreid, 20-740. The case had been filed by a Republican candidate for Congress in 2020, arguing that the U.S. Constitution does not permit state courts to alter rules for federal elections. The lower federal courts had denied the candidate any relief. The U.S. Supreme Court vacated the lower court decisions and said the case is moot.
The case had been filed in the U.S. Supreme Court on November 20, 2020.
On April 19, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Thompson v DeWine, 20-1072. This is the case in which initiative proponents had asked the government of Ohio for some petitioning relief during the health crisis. The U.S. District Court had granted it, but the Sixth Circuit had then reversed that.
The national leadership of the Communist Party has recommended that the party again run candidates. See this story. Thanks to Independent Political Report for the link.
