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.

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.

No Republican ran for Attorney General of Washington state this year, so the only two candidates on the ballot were Democrat Bob Ferguson and Libertarian Joshua Trumbull. Trumbull carried two counties, both in northeastern Washington. He carried Stevens County with 52.79% and Lincoln County with 52.74%.