As of the close of business on Wednesday, August 8, the Washington state election returns from the August 7 primary show that two Democrats will be the only candidates for U.S. House in the Second District.

Although twice before, no Republican has appeared in the general election ballot in the Seventh District (Seattle), the Second District is somewhat more Republican than the Seventh District. It includes Everett and Bellingham, to the north of Seattle.

The tally is very close and this won’t be certain until all the votes are counted.

The Michigan U.S. House seat, 13th district, has been vacant all year, ever since John Conyers resigned in the middle of his term. Michigan election officials refused to call a special election early in 2018, saying it was cheaper to wait until the August 7 primary to let parties nominate for the remainder of the term, and then to let the November 2018 election fill that short term. At that point the term would be less than three months long.

Brenda Jones, a candidate for the short term seat, and also the full term 2019-2020, had the bad luck to win the Democratic primary for the short term, but to lose the primary for the 2019-2020 full term. She is now President of the Detroit City Council. According to this story, she is unlikely to want to give up her service on the city council, just so she can be a member of Congress for the short period November 2018-January 2019. But she can’t do much about it. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link.

The California Assembly passed AB 1947 on April 30, 2018. It outlaws paying circulators on a per-signature basis. But it has not yet cleared the Senate Appropriations Committee, and it is not on the agenda for that committee’s next meeting, which is on August 13. The California legislature will adjourn at the end of August.