The Working Families Party, which had been a qualified party in Vermont starting in 2009, has let its status lapse. It did not forward anything at tne end of 2017 to show that it still has town committees in at least ten towns.
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On January 5, former California Congressmember Doug Ose declared he will run this year for Governor of California as a Republican. He was in Congress from the Sacramento area 1998-2004, and is well-funded. There are now three Republicans running for Governor with substantial financial resources, which makes it even more likely that none of them will poll first or second in June. See this story. The other two are Assemblymember Travis Allen, and John Cox.
On January 5, Ohio Governor John Kasich said there will be a special U.S. House election on August 7, to fill the vacant seat in the 12th district. The seat is vacant starting January 15, when incumbent Pat Tiberi’s resignation is effective.
The Governor also set May 8 as primary day for that election. His directive says independent candidates need a petition of 1% of the last gubernatorial vote, due May 7. But he did not say how a new political party may participate in that election. Currently the Green, Republican, and Democratic Parties are on the ballot, and the Libertarian Party is quite close to finishing its party petition.
The 12th district is in central Ohio. It includes Mansfield and the northern suburbs of Columbus.
Already, deadlines for certain procedures to get new parties on the ballot for 2018 have passed in five states. With two exceptions, no new party qualified in these states.
In California, the deadline for a new party to obtain approximately 60,000 registrants, and thus be on the 2018 ballot, passed on January 2. No group came close to qualifying. This deadline had been struck down in 2015, but the decision was interpreted only to apply to presidential election years.
In Arkansas, the petition deadline for new parties was also January 2. No group submitted a petition. The only three ballot-qualified parties are Republican, Democratic, and Libertarian.
In Maine, the deadline for a group to show that it had 5,000 registered members was also January 2. No group tried. The four ballot-qualified parties are Democratic, Republican, Green, and Libertarian.
In Utah, the deadline for a group to submit a petition for party status was November 30, 2017. The Green Party met this deadline, and earlier in 2017 the United Utah Party did as well. The other qualified parties are Republican, Democratic, Libertarian, Independent American, and Constitution.
In Vermont, the deadline for one method to get a new party on the ballot, that it have town committees in ten towns, was January 1. The only group that met that requirement was the Green Mountain Party. Parties that were already on the ballot were Democratic, Republican, Progressive, Libertarian, and Liberty Union. Groups that didn’t make the January 1 deadline can still appear on the ballot in 2018 if their nominees submit petitions by August 7, 2018.
On January 5, a 3-judge U.S. District Court held another hearing in the case over North Carolina legislative districts. See this story. A decision is expected soon because filing for the 2018 primary opens next month.
The case is Covington v North Carolina, m.d., 1:15cv-399. The upcoming decision will decide whether to use the redrawn boundaries passed by the legislature last year, or the redrawn boundaries prepared by Law Professor Nate Persily. The state says if the court rules in favor of the Persily districts, it will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.