West Virginia Legislator Changes Registration from Republican to Independent

Posted on by December 17, 2019
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On December 17, West Virginia Delegate S. Marshall Wilson announced that he has changed his registration from Republican to independent. He was first elected to the legislature in 2016. In 2018 he was re-elected with no general election opponent. He did not say if he will run for re-election in 2020.

No one who was not a Democratic or Republican nominee has been elected to the West Virginia legislature since 1906, when a Prohibition Party nominee was elected. Thanks to Jeff Becker for the news about Wilson. Thanks to the commenters who pointed out that the legislature had another independent a few years ago, although, like Wilson, he wasn’t elected as an independent.

Rocky De La Fuente Sues Republican National Committee and President Trump Over Presidential Primary Ballot Access Exclusion

Posted on by December 17, 2019
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On December 16, Rocky De La Fuente sued the Republican National Committee, President Donald Trump, and all the state Republican Parties that are not allowing a competitive process for selecting delegates to the national convention. De La Fuente v Trump, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia, 1:19cv-3753. The case has not yet been assigned to a judge. Here is the 18-page Complaint.

The Complaint reveals that many state Republican Parties charged a very large fee to get on the ballot, but did not charge President Trump any fee. The Complaint also reveals that the Republican National Committee and President Trump’s campaign committee are sharing office space, staff, funding, and operational resources. The Complaint says this has never before happened at this stage in the process, at least for one of the two major parties.

Law Professor Edward Foley Says U.S. Needs Ranked Choice Voting in Presidential General Elections

Posted on by December 17, 2019
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Law Professor Edward Foley, one of the earliest law professors to become an expert on election law, has this column, which says the U.S. needs ranked choice voting in presidential general elections. He is about to publish a book “Presidential Elections and Majority Rule” that will be of interest when it comes out. Thanks to Jack Dean for the link. The article’s title is not a very good title.

President Trump Says He Will Debate Democratic Opponent in General Election but Criticizes Commission on Presidential Debates

Posted on by December 16, 2019
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On December 16, President Donald Trump tweeted that he looks forward to debating his general election opponent from the Democratic Party, but criticized the Commission on Presidential Debates and said he might not participate in CPD debates. See this story. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, has asked attorneys in Level the Playing Field v FEC, 19-5117, to recommend dates for the oral argument. This is the case that challenges the FEC’s determination that the Commission on Presidential Debates is in compliance with federal campaign laws that forbid corporate donations to federal candidates. It appears the oral argument will be in the spring of 2020.

Filing Closes for Utah Presidential Primaries

Posted on by December 16, 2019
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Filing for Utah presidential primaries closed December 12. Any qualified party is eligible to have a presidential primary, but each party had to affirmatively tell the state elections office if it wanted a presidential primary. The parties that did so are the Democratic, Republican, and Constitution Parties.

Candidates needed a filing fee of $500. No one filed in the Constitution Party presidential primary. The Democratic presidential primary will have 16 candidates; the Republican ballot will have seven. See the list here.