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On Saturday, April 13, Robert F. Kennedy held a campaign meeting in Iowa, in order to get on the ballot without the need for a petition. Iowa lets independent candidates, and the nominees of unqualified parties, get on the ballot if they have 500 voters at a meeting. The Kennedy meeting had 686 eligible voters, so he has essentially completed his ballot access work in that state. See this story.
The method is very seldom used. A few years ago the legislature increased the attendance requirement from 250 to 500.
At the Iowa event, Kennedy said he is no longer interested in the Libertarian nomination.
This newspaper story says that Ohio Republican legislative leaders say it is up to Democratic legislators to introduce a bill easing the deadline for parties to certify their presidential nominees. Apparently no such bill has been introduced yet in Ohio, even though there are similar bills introduced in Alabama.
On Friday, April 12, the Third Circuit heard arguments in Kim v Hanlon, 24-1594. The judges are Kent Jordan (Bush Jr. appointee), Cheryl Ann Krause (Obama), and Arianna J. Freeman (Biden). This is the lawsuit over New Jersey’s ballot format in primaries. See this story. The judges seem inclined to agree with the U.S. District Court that the discriminatory ballot format is unconstitutional.
Both of Nebraska’s U.S. Senate seats are on the ballot this year. There is a special election for the seat that last came up in 2020, and there is the regular election for a six-year term for the other seat.
In the regular election, no Democrat filed. But there is a strong independent candidate, Dan Osborn, who is getting on the ballot with a petition. There will also be a nominee from the Legal Marijuana Now Party. That party has a contested primary on May 14, between Kenneth Peterson and Kerry Eddy.
No Libertarians are running for either U.S. Senate seat.
In the presidential primary, there are five Libertarians on the ballot: Charles Ballay, Jacob Hornberger, Lars Mapstead, Chase Oliver, and Michael Rectenwald. Candidates get on the ballot by being mentioned in the news media.