On August 23, all four candidates for U.S. House from South Dakota debated each other at Dakotafest, in Mitchell. They were Republican Dusty Johnson, Democrat Tim Bjorkman, Libertarian George Hendrickson, and independent Ron Wieczorek. Wieczorek is a supporter of Lyndon Larouche’s movement. See this story.
On April 4, 2018, the Alaska Supreme Court issued an order in State v Alaska Democratic Party, S-16875, letting the Democratic Party nominate persons who are registered independents. On August 24, the court issued a 24-page opinion, giving its rationale.
The key is that the Alaska Democratic Party had amended its bylaws last year to let registered independents run in its primary. The decision says that a party’s bylaws override state election law on this point. The decision is unanimous. Back on April 4, 2018, one justice had written that he hadn’t yet made up his mind, but now it appears he agrees with the majority. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
Other courts that have ruled that parties may nominate a non-member if they wish include a U.S. District Court in New Mexico, and a state court in Colorado. The Alaska Supreme Court decision does not mention either of those precedents.
Patrick Anderson, the Iowa independent candidate for Attorney General who has backed by many leaders of the Republican Party, appears unlikely to have successfully collected 1,500 signatures by the deadline, according to this story.
The Independent Party of Connecticut held its statewide nominating convention on Sunday, August 26. It nominated the entire Republican slate for statewide office, so those individuals will be listed twice on the November ballot, and voters who want to vote for them can do so either on the Republican line or the Independent Party line. See this story.
The Hill has this article about the North Carolina legislature’s struggle with the Governor over makeup of the State Election Board, and also another struggle over judicial appointments. On August 27 the legislature will probably finalize the wording of the state ballot measures that are intended to be on the November ballot.
