On March 2, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed AB 8917, which moves this year’s primary (for state and local office) from September 11 to September 13. That gives New York the latest primary date of any state, for 2018.
14
On March 1, Arkansas Representative Mark McElroy announced that he will run for re-election as an independent. He had been elected as a Democrat in 2012, 2014, and 2016. He represents the 11th House district, in southeast Arkansas.
Joel Giambra, who was the elected County Executive of Erie County 1999-2007, is ending his bid for the Republican nomination for Governor of New York. But he will seek the Reform Party nomination, so as to run in November. See this story.
Noah Dyer is an independent candidate for Governor of Arizona. The independent petition requirement in Arizona is severe; it requires 37,890 signatures. The only other states that require more signatures in 2018 for a statewide independent are Georgia, Nebraska, and Texas. Dyer’s campaign web page includes a section soliciting individuals to become paid petitioners for him. He is paying 75 cents per signature.
Rocky De La Fuente has a federal lawsuit arguing that the number of signatures for a statewide independent is unconstitutional, because the state requires substantially fewer signatures for a new party. The new party petition this year is 23,041.
According to this story, Utah legislators are irritated with the Republican Party decision last weekend to declare that Republicans who petition onto the primary ballot are not to be considered members of the Republican Party. One legislator is drafting a bill that would require all Republicans who want to be on the primary ballot to submit petitions. Another legislator is drafting a bill to eliminate the “Republican” label on the November ballot.