On May 12, Nebraska held its 2026 primaries. Cindy Burbank overwhelmingly won the U.S. Senate nomination in the Democratic primary. She has over 90% of the vote. She had promised that if she were the nominee, she would withdraw from the general election, in order to help independent candidate Dan Osborn win in the general election.
On May 12, U.S. District Court Judge Lynn Adelman, a Clinton appointee, refused to issue a Temporary Restraining Order against the new Wisconsin law that bans out-of-state circulators (except for presidential candidate petitions). He still may issue a Preliminary Injunction later. He didn’t issue a TRO because the Wisconsin primary petitioning period is in process, and he cited the Pursell Principle, in which federal courts are not supposed to order any changes too close to an election. Americans for Citizen Voting PAC v Wolfe, e.d., 2:26cv-786. Here is the ruling.
Earlier this year, the Florida Secretary of State removed the Reform Party from the ballot because it had not filed campaign finance reports. The party had nominated Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for president in 2024. But then Kennedy withdrew from the ballot in certain states, including Florida.
The Reform Party is no longer ballot-qualified in any state.
On May 12, the same day the Missouri Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the two cases over U.S. House redistricting, the Court issued opinions. The Court ruled in favor of the new districts in both cases.
Here is the Opinion in the case over compactness.
Here is the opinion that says filing a referendum petition does not freeze the new law. Instead only after the signatures have been checked does the petition stop the new law. So the voters will decide whether to repeal the new district boundaries, but not until November 2026. The new districts will be used for November 2026.
On May 12, the South Carolina Senate blocked HB 5683, a new bill to redraw U.S. House districts. The Senate voted not to extend the legislative session to hear new bills. The bill itself was not before the Senate.
