Last year, two of the top-four finishers in the Alaska primary for U.S. House withdrew after the primary, so the Alaska Elections Division allowed the fifth-place and sixth-place finishers to qualify for the November ballot. Afterwards, the Democratic Party of Alaska sued to block the sixth-place finisher. If the Democratic Party had won the case, there would only have been three candidates for U.S. House on the November ballot instead of four.

But the party lost the case last year. The Alaska Supreme Court had issued a one-sentence order last year, providing for four candidates, and had said it would explain its reasoning later. Finally, on July 25, 2025, the Supreme Court explained its decision. See that here. Alaska Democratic Party v Beecher, S-19231.

The reason the Democratic Party didn’t want the sixth-place finisher on the ballot was that he was a Democrat. The Democratic Party didn’t want two Democrats on the November ballot, even though Alaska has ranked choice voting. And it is true that most of the November voters who voted for the sixth-place finisher as their first choice did not go on to give their second-choice vote to the mainstream Democratic candidate.

On August 5, various Libertarian Party members seeking non-partisan local offices in Kansas, Michigan and Washington qualified for run-offs. See this Independent Political Report story.

On August 6, U.S. District Court Judge Robert Pitman, an Obama appointee, upheld the discriminatory Texas law on filing fee distribution. When a candidate of a party that nominates by primary, the filing fee paid by that candidate goes to that candidate’s party. But when a candidate of a party that nominates by convention pays a filing fee, the government keeps the money.
Here is the decision. Bilyeu v Esparza, w.d., 1:21cv-1089.