On December 4, Gallup Polls released a new poll asking U.S. voters about their partisan affiliation. Gallup periodically does this poll. When respondents answer that they are “independent”, they are asked if they lean toward either the Republican Party or the Democratic Party, and leaners are then classified with that party.
The latest figures: Democratic 44%; Republican 37%; other 19%. See here. Thanks to Political Wire for the link.
This Mother Jones article on the current Pennsylvania partisan gerrymandering lawsuit says that the State Supreme Court has ordered the lower state court to issue a decision by December 31, 2017. The issue is whether the Pennsylvania Constitution prohibits extreme partisan gerrymandering.
On December 8, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Benisek v Lamone, 17-333. This case had been considered for the first time at the December 1 conference, but no action was taken until today. The case challenges the boundaries of Maryland’s Sixth U.S. House district as a Democratic partisan gerrymander. The incumbent Democrat is John Delaney, elected in 2012 when this district first came into existence. The district goes from the Washington, D.C. suburbs, westerly all the way to the West Virginia state line.
John Delaney is the author of the bill to require all states to use top-two systems in congressional elections, HR 2981. In 2014, the vote in the Sixth District was: Delaney, Democrat, 94,704; Dan Bongino, Republican, 91,930; George Gluck, Green Party, 3,762.
Here is the brief of the voters who brought the lawsuit. Thanks to Rick Hasen for this news.
On December 8, Arizona Congressmember Trent Franks said he is resigning from the House effective immediately. He represents the 8th district, centered on the suburbs west of Phoenix.
When the special election is called, it will be interesting to see if any reduction in the number of signatures will be ordered. Independent candidates in the typical U.S. House district in Arizona need approximately 5,000 signatures, but in a regular election an independent may take as long as desired to get those signatures. But in special election the petitioning period will be short.
Evan McMullin, independent presidential candidate in 2016 who appealed to Republicans opposed to Donald Trump, formed “Stand Up Republic” after the election. It has spent $500,000 on television ads opposed to Roy Moore, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate next week in Alabama. The ads do not advocate a vote for the Democratic nominee, Doug Jones. But they feature Republicans who say they cannot vote for Roy Moore.
