Never before have more than two independents been elected to statewide office around the nation in any one election year. But in 2018, it is likely that three or four states will elect statewide independents, with a fifth state possible as well.

In Vermont, Bernie Sanders will run for re-election as an independent to the U.S. Senate, and he is expected to win. In Maine, Angus King will run for re-election to the Senate, and he is also expected to win. He will benefit from ranked choice voting, which will be in effect in his race. In North Dakota, Secretary of State Al Jaeger is running for re-election as an independent.

No polls seem to have been held in California to determine whether Steve Poizner will win his race for Insurance Commissioner. He is running against State Senator Ricardo Lara, a Democrat. Poizner held the Insurance job in the past, so he is well-known, and personally wealthy.

In Alaska, independent Governor Bill Walker is running for re-election, again as an independent. Polls show him in third place, with about 25% of the vote, but the polls are not very meaningful at this point because no one even knows who the Republican nominee will be. The primary is August 21.

In 2006 and 2012, two states elected statewide independents, in each case to the U.S. Senate. Those states were Connecticut and Vermont in 2006, and Maine and Vermont in 2012. Also in 1936, two statewide independents were elected: William Langer, Governor of North Dakota; and George Norris, U.S. Senator for Nebraska.

On June 25, the Third Circuit said it will decide De La Fuente v Cortes, 17-3378, without oral argument. The three judges who now have the case are Patty Shwartz, Richard Nygaard, and Marjorie Rendell. The issue is the Pennsylvania law that restricts who can circulate petitions to get a candidate on a primary ballot. The law says they must be voters who are registered in Pennsylvania and who are members of the same party.

Judge Shwartz was also on the panel that earlier issued an opinion in a similar New Jersey case, Wilmoth v Guadagno. That ruling remanded the case back to the U.S. District Court, but said the New Jersey restriction on who can sign a primary petition cannot survive unless it is needed for a compelling reason.

On June 28, some law professors filed this amicus curiae brief in Segovia v United States, 17-1463. This is the case that challenges federal law and Illinois law that says U.S. citizens who move to Guam, Puerto Rico, or U.S. Virgin Islands lose their ability to vote, yet if the same voters moved to American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, or a foreign country, they could continue to vote absentee in Illinois elections.

Another set of law professors had already filed. Both sets of professors are on the side of the voters who brought the lawsuit.

The U.S. Supreme Court earlier had asked the government to file a brief, defending its policy. The brief of the government defendants had been due June 28, but the government asked for another month, so now the government briefs are due at the end of July.