According to this story, the two Colorado presidential electors who lost in U.S. District Court on December 12 have appealed to the Tenth Circuit.
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Last month, West Virginia minor parties did unusually well in races below president. For Governor, Mountain Party nominee Charlotte Pritt polled 5.89% of the vote, the best showing for a West Virginia gubernatorial nominee who was not the Democratic or Republican nominee since 1992, when she (as a Democratic write-in candidate in November) polled 7.38%. If one excludes the Pritt 1992 showing, no minor party or independent had polled as much as 5% for West Virginia Governor since 1920.
The only November 2016 Libertarian nominee for U.S. House, Zane Lawhorn in the 3rd district, polled 8.14%. This was the highest percentage for anyone running for U.S. House in West Virginia who was not a Democratic or Republican nominee, and who was running in a district with both major parties in the race, since Ken Hechler was a write-in in 1976. Hechler was the Democratic incumbent at the time. Setting aside his example, the Libertarian 2016 showing for U.S. House (in races with both major parties also running) was the best for any minor party or independent since 1914.
Also, the Libertarian nominee for Agriculture Commissioner, Buddy Guthrie, polled 10.31%. The Republican got 48.41% and the Democrat got 41.28%. This was the best showing for a non-major party nominee for statewide office since Ross Perot’s 1996 showing.
The Socialist Equality Party nominee for State House, 16th district, Naomi Spencer Daly, received the vote of 6.87% of the voters who cast a ballot in her race. She was the only legislative nominee of any party with “Socialist” or “Socialism” in its name on the ballot anywhere in the United States this year.
West Virginia did not have a U.S. Senate election in 2016.
On December 10, 2016, Ken Hechler died at the age of 102. A Democrat, he was elected to the U.S. House from West Virginia in 1958, and re-elected in all subsequent elections through 1974. In 1976 he sought the Democratic nomination for Governor. He did not win that primary, so then he launched a write-in campaign to keep his seat in the U.S. House. Although he did not win a write-in, he placed second, ahead of the Republican. The November 1976 vote for District Four was Democrat Nick Rahall 45.6%; Hechler 36.6%; and Republican E.S. Goodman 17.8%.
In 1984 he was elected Secretary of State of West Virginia, and he was re-elected in 1988, 1992, and 1996. In 1995 he ruled that unqualified parties would be permitted to use stand-in presidential candidates on their petitions, a ruling sought by the Libertarian Party that is still in effect today.
According to this story, Republican Party national officials are monitorning the social media used by Republican presidential electors, looking for any sign of rebellion.
Forensic tests have confirmed that Illinois Green Party activist Rob Sherman died while piloting his own plane. Until the tests were held, it was known that someone piloting Sherman’s plane had died, but there had been no certainty that Sherman himself was the pilot. See this story. He was one of the two U.S. House candidates for the party in last month’s election.
Many Illinois Greens did not approve of some of his political activities. He was responsible for removing the Constitution Party, and the Socialist Party, from the Illinois ballot petition in both 2012 and 2016.