This Washington Times story, especially the bottom half, gives a detailed and interesting account of the Montana trial over whether the Green Party has enough valid signatures on its party petition this year. There have been other news stories but this seems to be the most informative. There is no decision yet.
The Reform Party of New York has been ballot-qualified since November 2014. In 2016 a dispute began over the true party officers. On May 31, though, the faction that had lost in the lower court withdrew its appeal. As a result, Curtis Sliwa is the undisputed state chair.
The party was put on the ballot in 2014 by Republican activists who wanted yet another line for the Republican gubernatorial nominee, Rob Astorino. Originally the party’s name was “Stop Common Core.” Astorino polled over 50,000 votes on that line, so it became a qualified party and changed its name to the Reform Party.
In other New York Reform Party news, the party was unable to have former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara listed on its primary ballot for Attorney General. But the primary for that office will go ahead, with three candidates listed.
On June 1, California Governor Jerry Brown announced 21 Superior Court judicial appointments. His press release contains the party affiliation of each of his appointees. See the list here. If one scrolls down to Inyo County (the counties are in alphabetical order), one sees that one of the appointees, Stephen M. Place, is a Green Party member.
New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver here advocates that New Mexico switch to a semi-closed primary. Currently New Mexico has closed primaries. Her piece does not use the term “semi-closed”, but if one reads her op-ed, that is what she is advocating. New Mexico’s neighbors Colorado and Arizona also provide for semi-closed primaries. Voters who are registered members of a qualified party can only vote on their own party’s primary ballot, but independent voters can choose any primary ballot.
Dan Balz has been a politics analyst and reporter for the Washington Post since 1978. He has also written several best-selling books about U.S. politics and campaigns, and he has received an award from the American Political Science Association for his work. Here he analyzes the California top-two system.
