Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor Michael Stack was defeated for re-nomination on May 15. See this story. He is the first Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor to be defeated for re-nomination in a primary.
Pennsylvania elects Governor and Lieutenant Governor as a team in November. But in primaries, the office is separate.
Pennsylvania held primaries on May 15. Two Democratic State House members were defeated for re-election by first-time candidates who are members of Democratic Socialists of America, Summer Lee and Sara Innamorato. See this story. Thanks to Thomas Jones for this news. Both districts are in southwestern Pennsylvania.
Lee and Innamorato are probably assured of election in November, because no Republicans filed to run in these two districts.
North Carolina county election officials have determined that the Constitution Party petition for party status has enough valid signatures. There will be five parties on the ballot in 2018: Republican, Democratic, Libertarian, Green, and Constitution. That is the largest number of parties in North Carolina since 1980, when there were six parties on the ballot. Back in 1980, exactly 10,000 signatures were required for party status.
The 2018 requirement is 11,778. This is the most difficult petition drive that the Constitution Party has met in any state since 2012, when it completed the New York requirement of 15,000.
In North Carolina, when a party qualifies in a midterm year, it is also on the ballot in the following presidential year. The Constitution Party has never before been on the ballot in North Carolina.
Idaho held its primaries on May 15. Two Republican candidates (both former legislators) had to go to court to remain on the ballot. They may be disqualified after the primary is over. The state Constitution says candidates must have been registered voters for a year before filing for the primary. The two candidates had lived in their districts long enough, but hadn’t registered in time. See this story.
It appears that approximately 900 voters voted in the Nebraska Libertarian primary for U.S. Senator. Four years ago, 431 Libertarian primary ballots were cast in Nebraska. The 2018 Libertarian primary wasn’t exciting because only one name was on the ballot for U.S. Senator, and no names were on for the other partisan offices.
