On December 20, the Democratic National Committee announced that party-sponsored presidential debates for the 2020 Democratic nomination will start in June 2019. See this story. There will be at least 12 debates, running through April 2020.
3
On December 19, the ex-felons who had been challenging Florida’s arbitrary procedures for getting permission from the Governor to restore their voting rights filed a brief in Hand v Scott, 18-11388. They argue that their lawsuit is now completely moot, because the voters passed an initiative last month ending their problem. The individuals who filed Hand v Scott say that all of the plaintiffs who owe court costs and fines will soon pay them, so they will all be permitted to register to vote soon.
The state had recently said that the case is not moot because some of the individuals who had filed the case still owe court costs or fines.
On December 19, Ohio Governor John Kasich said he couldn’t win the 2020 Republican nomination against President Trump, and therefore he would stay out of Republican primaries. He appears to still be open to running as an independent in 2020, however. See this story.
Oklahoma State Senator J. J. Dossett (D-Owasso) has introduced SB 51 into the 2019 legislative session. It eliminates the straight-ticket device.
Kansas State Senator Dinah Sykes, and Representative Stephanie Clayton, have announced that they have changed their registration from Republican to Democratic. See this story. Another Kansas State Senator took the same action a few weeks ago. Thanks to Political Wire for the link. Representative Clayton was re-elected as a Republican last month. State Senators are not up in midterm years in Kansas.