Eric McGhee and Boris Shor, political scientists who study primary election systems, have published a newer version of their research on whether top-two systems elect more moderate politicians. The paper is 30 pages and can be read at this link.
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On September 21, Maine representative Ralph Chapman announced that he had changed his registration from independent to Green. He was first elected in 2010 as a Democrat, and was re-elected as a Democrat in 2012, 2014, and 2016. He received 57.6% of the vote as the Democratic nominee in November 2016.
On May 26, 2017, he had changed from Democratic to independent. He graduated from college as a physics major, and is an expert on solar energy.
Chapman is the first Green state legislator anywhere in the U.S. since 2012, when Fred Smith was elected in Arkansas as the Green Party nominee. However, almost immediately after the 2012 election, Smith left the Green Party and became a Democrat.
The web page for the Maine legislature already lists Chapman as a Green. See this page. His district is centered on Brooksville, which is in Hancock County, on the coast.
This year, the California legislature raised gasoline taxes, and opponents are planning to circulate a referendum petition to block the increase. On September 22, a California Superior Court Judge in Sacramento rejected the Attorney General’s title. See this story. The Attorney General’s title focused on the loss of the revenue for transportation projects, instead of mentioning that the issue is whether to repeal or retain the increased tax.
On September 21, the New Mexico Supreme Court refused to hear the case filed by proponents of ranked choice voting in Santa Fe. The voters of Santa Fe long ago voted to use ranked choice voting, but so far the city hasn’t implemented it. The city says it isn’t ready. See this story.
On September 22, Maine Representative Martin Grohman held a press conference in his district to say that he is changing his registration from Democratic to independent. Here is a video clip of that press conference. The Maine House now has 74 Democrats, 70 Republicans, and six independents.
Grohman is in his second term. He did not say if he will run for re-election in 2018. A question asked if he might be an independent candidate for Governor in 2018. He said he is not ruling anything out.