On November 5, the Eleventh Circuit stayed the briefing schedule in Florida Decides Healthcare v Byrd, 25-12370. This is the lawsuit over Florida’s new restrictions on out-of-state circulators for initiative petitions. The government had asked for this delay because it says negotiations are desired. This may mean the legislature will rescind some of the restrictions.
On November 4, voters in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, elected the Labor Party nominee for an at-large seat on the County Council. Alex Rose received 178,857 votes; his Republican opponent received 138,937. Here is Rose’s campaign website.
There doesn’t appear to be an organized Labor Party in the area. Instead, Rose was essentially an independent candidate who chose “Labor” as his ballot label. Nevertheless, the outcome means that the Labor Party will be partially recognized within the county.
The reason no Democrat ran in this special election is that the county uses limited voting for this office. In regular elections, two seats are up, but no party can run more than one nominee. The purpose is to make sure that one party doesn’t win all the seats. Various other jurisdictions in Pennsylvania and Connecticut use limited voting in certain partisan elections.
In the case of this special election, because Democrats hold the other at-large seat, they couldn’t run anyone in this seat.
The Liberal Party, a split-off from the Libertarian Party, was the only minor party on the statewide Pennsylvania ballot. It ran Daniel Wassmer for Superior Court Judge. He polled over 50,000 votes, almost double what was needed to gain a few privileges in future Pennsylvania elections. It will be on the voter registration form, and in special elections it will be on the ballot with no petition needed. The Libertarian Party also has this status, and will retain it, even though it had no nominees on the 2025 statewide ballot.
On November 4, opponents of Alaska’s top-four system announced that they have collected 48,000 signatures for their initiative to restore the old election system, in which parties have nominees and their own primaries. See this story. The signatures will be submitted on November 6.
An Emerson California Poll released October 28 for the gubernatorial race shows: Steve Hilton (R) 16%; Katie Porter (D) 15%; Chad Bianco (R) 11%; Antonio Villaraigosa (D) 5%; Xavier Becerra (D) 5%; Tony Thurmond (D) 3%; Betty Yee (D) 2%; Ian Calderon (D) 1%; Stephen Cloobeck (D) 1%.
With seven Democrats of note in the race, and two Republicans of note in the race, there is a possibility that the two leading Republicans might place first and second. Under California’s top-two system, that would mean that in November 2026, there would be two Republicans on the ballot, and no one else. No write-in space is on California general election ballots for congress and partisan state office.
Steve Hilton is a television commentator; Chad Bianco is Sheriff of Riverside County.
