The California legislature will probably pass SB 970, which moves the primary in gubernatorial years from March to June. The bill passed the State Senate unanimously on June 11 and is moving forward in the Assembly.
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On July 10, Kanye West submitted a Missouri petition to be an independent presidential candidate.
The requirement is 10,000 signatures. See this story. The story does not say how many raw signatures he submitted. Thanks to Kyle Kneale for the link.
Concerning his Illinois petition, this story says he spent $30,000 to collect approximately 4,000 signatures. It is not possible to know if he will be on in Illinois until the challenge process is held in early August.
The Party for Socialism and Liberation presidential nominee, Gloria La Riva, will appear on the Illinois ballot this year. This is the first time a party with “socialist” or “socialism” has been on the ballot for president in Illinois since 1992, when the Socialist Workers Party was on. La Riva submitted approximately 4,500 signatures. The legal requirement is 2,500.
Monday, July 27, was the deadline for challenges, and no one challenged the PSL petition.
The Illinois State Board of Elections website is confusing. If a petition is submitted with a number of raw signatures below 10% of the requirement, the State Board removes the person on its own initiative, yet the Board still posts the names of candidates who file such inadequate petitions. The Board’s website lists Kyle Kopitke and Don Blankenship as presidential candidates who were not challenged, but both of them have already received a letter rejecting their candidacy because they had fewer than 250 signatures, so they will not be on the ballot, notwithstanding their being listed on the Board’s website.
The American Solidarity Party submitted a presidential petition for its nominee, Brian Carroll. It has more than 250 signatures, and no one challenged it, so Carroll will also be on the ballot.
Kanye West submitted approximately 4,000 signatures, but he is being challenged. The challenge process will proceed in August.
The Libertarian and Green Parties did not need to petition for president, due to having won a court case.
U.S. District Court Judge Joseph LaPlante held a hearing on Friday, July 24, in Libertarian Party of New Hampshire v Sununu, 1:20cv-688. He has still not ruled, but has called another hearing for Monday, July 27, at 2 p.m. This is the case over whether ballot access relief should be given due to the health crisis. UPDATE: the hearing only lasted ten minutes. A decision is likely on Tuesday, July 28.
Former Republican Congressman David Jolly, who represented Florida’s 13th district before 2017, says he may run for U.S. Senate in 2022, but that if he runs, it will not be as a Republican. He is currently a registered independent. See this story. Thanks to PoliticalWire for the link.