The Constitution Party’s national committee held a meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 18-19, 2019. One of the speakers was Don Blankenship, former CEO of Massey Energy Company, the sixth largest coal company in the nation. Blankenship told the group that he will seek the party’s presidential nomination next year. He was the party’s nominee for U.S. Senate in West Virginia in 2018, but he was unable to get on the ballot because of the “sore loser” law. UPDATE: this post has been revised since it was first posted.

Blankenship is currently suing Donald Trump, Jr., for libel. Trump Jr. had tweeted that Blankenship is an ex-felon, but Blankenship was never convicted of a felony. He was convicted of a misdemeanor in 2016 involving mine safety rules. The libel case is in U.S. District Court in West Virginia, Blankenship v Trump, Jr., s.d., 2:19cv-549. His lawsuit recently survived a motion to dismiss. A trial is set for October 6, 2020.

The Constitution Party’s national convention is set for late April 2020 in Charlotte, but the site may be shifted to Atlanta.

On October 18, a South Carolina state circuit court heard oral arguments in the lawsuit over the Republican presidential primary. The Republican Party state executive committee had cancelled their 2020 presidential primary, but then some Republican voters sued. State party rules say only the state convention can decide whether to cancel a presidential primary. See this story. Thanks to FrontloadingHQ for this news. A decision is expected in a few weeks.

The case is Inglis v South Carolina Republican Party, Richland Co., 2019-cp-4005486.

On October 18, the Montana Green Party filed this reply brief in Montana Green Party v Stapleton, 6:18cv-87. This is the case that challenges the unequal distribution requirement for the petition to qualify new parties, and the March petition deadline.