On November 3, Zogby Polls released the results of an odd poll that asked voters how they feel about various conceivable presidential candidates who might run as independent candidates. See the results here.
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Arizona and Hawaii are the only two states in which no one has ever been elected to a state legislature who wasn’t either a Republican or a Democratic nominee. The December 1 2017 print Ballot Access News will have a chart listing the last time anyone who wasn’t a Democratic or Republican nominee was elected to each state’s legislature.
On November 2, Rocky De La Fuente filed a notice of appeal in De La Fuente v Padilla, c.d., 2:16cv-3242. The issue is the number of signatures needed for an independent presidential candidate in California. The lower court had said that it doesn’t matter how difficult the law is, because California has various minor parties on the ballot for president. This part of the decision is contradicted by the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion from 1974 in Storer v Brown. Storer v Brown said the political party approach to politics is entirely different than the independent candidate approach, and states must have constitutional procedures for both.
In 2020, if this lawsuit doesn’t win in the 9th circuit, or unless the legislature does something, the requirement will be approximately 200,000 signatures, which would be almost 40% of the number needed in the entire nation, for an independent candidate who uses the easier method in each state.
On October 29, Dennis Banks died at the age of 80. See this obituary. In 2016, he was Gloria La Riva’s running mate in California, Colorado, Iowa, and New Mexico. That ticket was on the ballot as Peace & Freedom in California, and Party for Socialism and Liberation in those other states. Thanks to Jim Riley for this news.
On November 7, New York state voters will vote on whether to call a constitutional convention. This poll shows that the measure is expected to lose by more than two to one. This is unfortunate, because New York state, in my opinion, would be far better off if it had provision for the initiative, and the only way to get the initiative is a constitutional convention.