The Hawaii legislature adjourned on May 8, and HB 1716, the bill to ease the definition of a qualified party, failed to pass. It had passed both houses, but the two versions did not agree with each other. The House had appointed a conference committee to come up with a single version of the bill, but the Senate did not appoint a conference committee.

The House version would have said that if a party has been on the ballot for eight years in a row, it continues to be qualified as long as it continues to run candidates. The Senate version would have said that if it has been on the ballot for four years, it continues in existence for the next ten years.

On May 14, a U.S. District Court Judge temporarily working in the Virgin Islands issued an injunction against Virgin Island election rules that require Democratic candidates to satisfy Democratic Party rules before being placed on the party’s primary ballot. The primary is August 1. See this story. The case appears to be Democratic Party of the Virgin Islands v Election System of the Virgin Islands, 1:26cv-8.

This article says that in Alaska, Idaho, Nebraska, and South Dakota, Democratic activists are tending to support independent congressional candidates in preference to Democratic nominees. In addition to those four states, there are strong independent candidates this year in Michigan, Montana, and New Mexico.