Missouri Representative Peggy McGaugh has introduced HB 1871, to restore presidential primaries in Missouri. Candidates would qualify by paying a fiing fee of $5,000. All qualified parties would be able to have presidential primaries.
Missouri state Senator Sandy Crawford (R-Buffalo) has filed a similar bill, SB 836.
The Georgia Libertarian Party is currently challenging the Georgia campaign law that lets individuals contribute more to some gubernatorial candidates than other gubernatorial candidates. The U.S. District Court had dismissed the case on standing, because the party at the time didn’t have a gubernatorial nominee. But the party nominated Chase Oliver at its state convention last weekend. The party has notified the Eleventh Circuit of this development. The case is Libertarian Party of Georgia v Attorney General, 25-12553.
Georgia holds a special election on Tuesday, March 10, to fill the vacancy in the U.S. House, 14th district. In Georgia special elections, there are no party nominees. Candidates qualify by paying a filing fee; there is no petition. Seventeen Republicans, three Democrats, one Libertarian, and one independent are on the ballot. If no one gets 50%, there will be a run-off on April 7. See this story, which lists all the candidates.
On January 21, the two South Carolina bills that would have switched the state from open primaries to closed primaries failed to advance. See this story. Scroll down to “Closed primary bills hit snag over GOP infighting.”
On January 21, a New York state trial court invalidated the boundaries of the Eleventh U.S. House district. He ruled that the boundaries violate the New York State Constitution, which protects racial and ethnic minorities in districting. The Eleventh District includes Staten Island and part of Brooklyn. The judge ordered the redistricting commission to draw new boundaries that would put Staten Island in with southern Manhattan. Williams v Board of Elections of the State of New York, New York County Supreme Court, 164002/2025.
The Eleventh District currently has a Republican incumbent. The state will appeal. If the decision stands, it is likely that Republicans would lose the seat. Here is the 18-page decision.
