On November 19, Pennsylvania State Senator John Yudichak said he has changed his registration from Democratic to independent. He has been in the legislature since 1998. He is only 49 years old, so presumably he will run for re-election when his term is up in 2022. See this story.
It is possible that he waited to change his registration until the state repealed its straight-ticket device. The bill deleting the device was signed on October 31, 2019. Thanks to Ballotpedia for this news.
On December 6, the U.S. Supreme Court accepted Carney v Adams, 19-309. This is the case over the provision of the Delaware Constitution that says in most state courts, the only persons who can be appointed are members of a party that has at least 5% of the voter registration. In the entire history of Delaware voter registration by party, only the Republican and Democratic Parties have ever had as much as 5% of the registration. Thus only Democrats and Republicans are eligible to be appointed, and no independent may ever be appointed. The case had been brought by a registered independent attorney who would like to be appointed to a judgeship.
The Third Circuit had invalidated the law. The U.S. Supreme Court wants both sides to discuss whether the plaintiff had standing. Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news.
On December 5, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the decision of a U.S. District Court in Washington Post v McManus, 19-1132. The issue was a new Maryland law requiring web pages that carry political ads to report a great deal of information about who paid for the ad, and who prepared it. Both courts ruled the law unconstitutional. Here is the decision. Thanks to the Institute for Free Speech for the link.
South Carolina’s Democratic Party primary will be held February 29. Fourteen candidates will be on the ballot: Michael Bennett, Joe Biden, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Julian Castro, John Delaney, Tulsi Gabbard, Amy Klobuchar, Deval Patrick, Bernie Sanders, Tom Steyer, Elizabeth Warren, Marianne Williamson, and Andrew Yang. Candidates qualified by paying a filing fee.
The Post & Courier, Charleston, South Carolina’s daily newspaper, writes here that the state court still hasn’t issued a ruling in Inglis v South Carolina Republican Party. This is the lawsuit over whether the state party violated its own rules when it cancelled its presidential primary. The hearing was in October and it is odd that the judge hasn’t ruled yet.
