Geoffrey Skelley Article Lists All U.S. Senate Candidates who were Not Democratic nor Republican Nominees, but who Got At Least 35%

Posted on by July 12, 2018
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Geoffrey Skelley has this article listing all the U.S. Senate general election candidates who got at least 35%, yet who were not Democratic nor Republican nominees. There are only fourteen, if races in which one major party did not run anyone are excluded. Of the fourteen, the third party or independent candidate won eleven times.

The article has a slight error. It says that James Buckley was a registered member of the Conservative Party of New York when he was elected as the Conservative nominee in 1970. Actually he was always a Republican registrant. Thanks to Ken Bush for the link.

Congressman Joe Crowley Seems Inclined to Leave his Name on November Ballot for New York U.S. House Seat as the Working Families Nominee

Posted on by July 12, 2018
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New York Democratic congressman Joe Crowley was defeated for re-election in the Democratic primary on June 26, for New York’s 14th U.S. House district. The winner of the primary is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

The Working Families Party, which almost always desires to cross-endorse the Democratic nominee, especially in congressional races, had expected Crowley to win the Democratic primary, so it already nominated Crowley. Now the Working Families Party wants Crowley to withdraw as the WFP nominee, but according to this Vox story, he is not inclined to do so.

The story accurately quotes some experts as saying the only way Crowley can withdraw from the WFP nomination is to be nominated by the WFP for some other office that is up this year, but he doesn’t want to do that. He says it violates the spirit of the election law, because whatever other office he would be nominated for, he would not sincerely want that other office.

The story also quotes Bill Lipton, New York director for the Working Families Party, as saying that Crowley should establish his residence outside New York state, for example Virginia. Lipton is wrong about that. The matter has already been litigated, both in New York and in Texas. A congressional candidate does not lose eligibility by being a resident of another state before the election. The only residence requirement for congress in the U.S. Constitution is residency as of election day. But ballots must be printed well before election day, so moving to another state would not make any candidate ineligible.

California Attorney General Comments on Top-Two System

Posted on by July 12, 2018
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On the evening of July 12, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra spoke at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. He was asked what he thinks of the California top-two system. He said, “I am not a fan.” He then criticized it for locking minor parties out of the election itself. He also disparaged the idea that an election system should be designed to make an easier path for moderates to win. He said the election arena is for all points of view.

Ohio Secretary of State Says Libertarian Petition for Party Status is Valid

Posted on by July 12, 2018
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On July 12, the Ohio Secretary of State announced that the Libertarian Party petition for 2018 is valid. The Libertarian Party is now either a qualified party, or has a statewide nominee on the ballot even though the party is not a qualified party, in every state except Alabama, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Washington.

Petitioning for statewide nominees is proceeding in New York and Pennsylvania. Thanks to Bill Redpath for the Ohio news.

Arkansas Secretary of State Fails to Persuade U.S. District Court Judge to Vacate Independent Candidate Petition Deadline Win

Posted on by July 13, 2018
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On July 12, U.S. District Court Judge James M. Moody issued a one-page order in Moore v Martin, e.d. 4:14cv-65. This is the case filed in 2014 to overturn the early petition deadline for non-presidential independent candidates in Arkansas. Originally the judge had upheld the deadline, but then the 8th circuit had remanded the case back, and said that unless the state could show that it could not possibly check independent candidate petitions without a March deadline, the deadline should be invalidated.

On remand, the U.S. District Court held a trial and then struck down the deadline and said Moore had until May 1, 2018, to submit petitions. That decision was issued on January 25, 2018.

Afterwards, the plaintiff-candidate, Mark Moore, tried to comply with the new easier deadline, but did not successfully complete his petition by that new deadline. Then attorneys for the state tried to persuade the U.S. District Court to vacate the January 2018 decision. But on July 12, the U.S. District Court Judge refused to do that.

This same case is also pending in the Eighth Circuit, because attorneys for the state are also trying to persuade the Eighth Circuit that the U.S. District Court should not have given any relief to Moore, because he didn’t file a declaration of candidacy by the March deadline this year. The U.S. District Court had already rejected that request from the state.