According to this St. Louis Post Dispatch article, attorney Craig O’Dear, a former Republican, is seriously considering becoming an independent candidate for U.S. Senate in Missouri this year. Missouri has not had an independent candidate on the ballot for U.S. Senate since 1976. Thanks to Ken Bush for the link.
Virginia Delegate Nicholas Freitas (R-Culpeper) has introduced HB 540, which changes the definition of party from a group that polled 10% for a statewide nominee at either of the last two elections, to one that polled 3% at either of the last two elections. Thanks to Bill Redpath for this news.
On January 9, a 3-judge U.S. District Court ruled that North Carolina’s U.S. House districts comprise an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander. Common Cause v Rucho, m.d., 1:16cv-1026. The vote was 3-0. Judges James A. Wynn (an Obama appointee) and W. Earl Britt (a Carter appointee) wrote the majority opinion, which says that the First Amendment requires districting for partisan office to avoid any attempt to give one particular party an advantage over any other party. This is a radical conclusion that no other final decision in any other case has concluded. They also said that the “Elections Clause” (Article I, sec. 4) also forbids partisanship in redistricting. The part of the decision about the Elections Clause is on pages 175-191.
The third judge, William L. Osteen, a Bush Jr. appointee, wrote separately to say that he believes the North Carolina plan is unconstitutional because it violates the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
This case has been filed August 5, 2016, after the North Carolina legislature had redrawn the U.S. House districts. The original 2011 plan had been declared an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, so the legislature drew new districts that were then attacked as an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander. The state had tried to persuade the judges to stay this case until the U.S. Supreme Court hands down its decisions from Wisconsin and Maryland, but on September 8, 2017, these judges said they would not wait. They clearly intend this decision to be in time for new districts to be drawn for the 2018 election. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link. The majority opinion is 191 pages long; the Osteen decision, at the back, is 14 pages.
On December 1, 2017, Vermin Supreme, who describes himself as “a political activist who has run for various elected offices since the 1980’s including President of the United States” filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Concord, New Hampshire. He wanted to bring two ponies to his demonstration outside a bookstore at which Hillary Clinton was signing copies of her book “What Happened.” The city had said he needed a permit to do that, and refused him a permit. His lawsuit was Supreme v City of Concord, 1:17cv-670.
On December 4, the city agreed that if he dismissed his lawsuit, he could carry out his demonstration in a parking lot across the street from the bookstore, with the ponies. He then carried out that protest on the day of the book-signing, December 5. The rationale for his desire to include ponies in his protest is that Clinton’s book included a satiric imaginary conversation with Bernie Sanders, in which Sanders said, “I think America should get a pony” and Clinton responded, “How will you pay for the pony? Where will the pony come from? How will you get Congress to agree to the pony?” Supreme said in his own runs for president, he had always promised a free pony to every American. See this story.
When Supreme has run for president, he has filed to appear in presidential primaries. He has never been on the ballot in the general election.
Gideon Resnick in the Daily Beast here writes that California will have a huge influence over the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination race, due to having moved its presidential primary to early March.
