According to this story, Jonathan Choate, a member of the Cache County (Utah) Republican Executive Committee, has changed his voter registration from “Republican” to “Libertarian”. Another member of the committee switched from Republican to independent.
On June 29, Better for America, the group of conservatives who hope to recruit an independent presidential candidate and place him or her on ballots, asked to file an amicus brief in Level the Playing Field v Federal Election Commission, one of the two lawsuits on general election presidential debates. Here is a statement from Better for America about its desire to file the brief.
Also on June 29, Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is handling the case, denied permission for Sam Husseini to file an amicus brief. Husseini is a journalist and the founder of VotePact.org. The FEC had asked the judge to deny permission for Husseini to file. It will be interesting to see if the FEC also asks that Better for America be blocked. Thanks to the Independent Voters Network for the news about Better for America.
New York held congressional primaries on June 28. In the 22nd district, centered on Utica, the Reform Party primary listed only one candidate on the ballot, Claudia Tenney. Even though she was the only name on the ballot, she lost the primary to Martin Babinec, who was eligible to receive write-in votes. See this story.
Tenney is the Republican nominee for the seat. There is no incumbent because Congressman Richard Hanna, a Republican, is retiring.
As previously noted, on June 24 a Virginia delegate to the Republican National convention filed a federal lawsuit against a state law requiring delegates to vote for the presidential candidate (on the first ballot) who polled the most votes in the presidential primary. Judge Robert E. Payne has expedited the case. The briefs on both sides are due Friday, July 1. Here is the amended complaint filed in the case, which is Correll v Herring, e.d., 3:16cv-467. The case has a hearing on July 7, Thursday.
The American Independent Party will hold its state convention in Sacramento, California, on August 13-14. It will choose a presidential nominee at that meeting. Thanks to Robert Ornelas for this information.
