On May 15, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to act in Virginia’s appeal of the State Supreme Court order that struck down the new district boundaries.
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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.
On May 14, U.S. District Court Judge William Campbell, a Trump appointee, denied a request from the Tennessee Democratic Party for a Temporary Restraining Order in one of the Tennessee redistricting lawsuits. The judge also cancelled the May 20 hearing. Here is his order, which dos not explain his reasoning. It says he will explain soon. Hale v Lee, m.d., 3:26cv-603.
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.
On May 13, the Louisiana legislature amended HB 842, an omnibus election law bill, to provide that for 2026 only, U.S. House elections will be handled as they were between 1998 and 2024. All candidates can get on the November ballot by paying a filing fee. No petition is needed. If anyone gets 50% in November, they are elected. If no one gets 50%, there is a December run-off.
Without this bill, Louisiana would have used a closed primary in 2026 for U.S. House, in which only Democrats and Republicans would have been allowed on the November ballot without a petition. This bill only passed because Louisiana is redrawing its U.S. House districts, and there isn’t time to hold a closed primary and a run-off primary.
The bill says candidates may file for U.S. House this year between August 5 and August 7.
The bill also has unrelated provisions, including one that says in the future, when voters sign a petition, they must include their year of birth.