The Federal Election Commission had been set to vote on March 23, on whether to extend the Socialist Workers Party’s exemption from reporting its campaign donations. However, that vote has been postponed. It is not yet determined when the vote will be.
The Connecticut Working Families Party almost always nominates candidates who are also Democratic nominees. However, in the upcoming April 25 special election to fill the vacant state house seat in the 7th district in Hartford, the Working Families Party is running someone in opposition to the Democratic nominee.
The Working Families nominee is Joshua M. Hall. The Democratic nominee is Rickey Pinckney. They are the only candidates running. See this story. In the November 2016 election, the only person on the ballot for this seat was Doug McCrory, who was the Democratic nominee but not the nominee of any other party. The Working Families Party did not involve itself in the 7th district in the November 2016 election. The seat is empty because Representative McCrory resigned earlier this year, because he had been elected to the State Senate in a special election in February 2017.
An Alabama state court is currently processing a lawsuit over whether Alabama’s Governor must call a special U.S. Senate election this year. The vacancy exists because U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions resigned to become Attorney General. The Governor does not want a special election for that seat until November 2018, but he is being sued, because the law says special elections must be called “forthwith” if the vacancy occurs more than four months before the seat would have been up anyway.
In the latest brief filed by the Governor, he says there should be no special election this year because last year, a U.S. District Court struck down the petition requirement for independent candidates in special elections. See this story. The case is Zeigler v Bentley, Montgomery Circuit Court, cv2017-900338.
The obvious rebuttal to the Governor’s point is that the state is free to lower the number of signatures for an independent candidate in special elections, as an alternative to greatly expanding the time allowed for an independent to gather 35,413 valid signatures. The case last year was Hall v Merrill, U.S. District Court, m.d., 2:13cv-663. The state is appealing that decision.
On March 17, the Idaho legislature passed HB 197, which sets up procedures for parties to nominate candidates in special U.S. House elections. The bill provides for primaries for that purpose. The old law did not specify any method for parties to nominate in such elections.
On March 9, the Iowa House passed HF 516, which abolishes the straight-ticket device. The bill has many other provisions, and is now in the Senate.
