The West Virginia Supreme Court is currently considering whether the Constitution Party’s candidate for U.S. Senate, Don Blankenship, should be on the November ballot or not. Blankenship v Warner, 18-0712. On August 17, the state’s Republican Party asked permission to intervene. This is somewhat surprising, because West Virginia has a Republican Secretary of State. Here is the 12-page brief. Thanks to Jeff Becker for the link.
On August 17, a Washington state trial court invalidated a statewide petition that had already been placed on the November 2018 ballot. The ruling says the font was too small to read the proposal on the petition. Also the presentation on the petition of the proposed new law did not underline new text, nor did it strike through words being repealed. See this story. The initiative proponents will appeal to the State Supreme Court.
On August 16, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed AB 1947, which outlaws paying petition circulators on a per-signature basis. The bill now goes to the Senate floor.
David McReynolds, Socialist Party presidential nominee in 1980 and 2000, and long-time activist in antiwar activities, died on August 17, 2018. He was 88 and lived in New York city. Here is his wikipedia page. Thanks to Jack Ross for this news. UPDATE: here is a New York Daily News obituary.
FURTHER UPDATE: this article mentions the cause of death.
H. Brooke Paige, a Vermont Republican who filed for six separate statewide offices in the August 14 primary, won all six of his races. He is now the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, Auditor, Treasurer, Attorney General, and Secretary of State.
See this story. He says he entered the primaries to keep Democratic candidates from winning Republican nominations via write-ins. He is free to withdraw from any of his races, and let the Republican Party choose replacements.
