Vermont voters have re-elected David Zuckerman, the Progressive Party nominee for Lieutenant Governor. See the results here, and then use the down arrow to get from the Governor’s race to the Lieutenant Governor’s race. He polled 57.1%.
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On November 7, a 3-judge U.S. District Court struck down the boundaries of Maryland’s Sixth U.S. House District. Benisek v Lamone, 1:13cv-3233. Here is the opinion, which was written by U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Paul Niemeyer, a Bush Sr. appointee. Niemeyer wrote that partisan gerrymandering violates representational rights and associational rights. U.S. District Court Judge James Bredar, an Obama appointee, agreed that the boundaries violate associational rights, although he did not agree they violate representation rights. U.S. District Court Judge George Russell, another Obama appointee, agreed that the district violates both types of First Amendment rights, although he agreed with Judge Bredar that using election returns is not a proper way to adjudicate these cases.
Democrats gerrymandered the Sixth District in 2011, flipping it from a safe Republican seat to a seat that has elected a Democrat ever since the new boundaries were in effect. The opinion sets out all the evidence that Democrats in the Maryland legislature fully intended to create this outcome. The Sixth District had traditionally comprised western Maryland, but the 2011 redistricting inserted Democratic-leaning suburbs of Washington, D.C. Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news.
If Maryland appeals, it will be to the U.S. Supreme Court. In the meantime, the state is ordered to draws new boundaries before the 2020 election.
Voters of Utah appear to have narrowly approved Measure 4, which would set up a nonpartisan redistricting commission for U.S. House and state legislative districts. As of the morning of November 7, it has 50.3%.
The California Insurance Commissioner’s race was between independent Steve Poizner and Democrat Ricardo Lara. There are millions of votes left to count in California, but as of the morning of November 7, Lara has a slight lead. See the Secretary of State’s web page returns for that office here.
Contrary to the first version of this post, the Progressive Party has not lost its qualified status in Oregon. Although its only statewide candidate in 2018 did not poll as much as 1%, it had a statewide candidate in 2016 who did poll as much as 1%, and in Oregon, a party gets two chances to meet the vote test.