The Arkansas Libertarian Party has just begun its 2016 petition for party status. The requirement is 10,000 valid signatures, which must be gathered in a 3-month window that the party chooses.
The Arkansas Green Party has not yet decided whether to attempt that petition, or just do the presidential petition, which only needs 1,000 valid signatures.
The Republican National Committee has determined that the first Republican presidential debate will be August 15 in Cleveland, Ohio. Party rules say only nine debates will be permitted, to be held from August 2015 through March 2016. Not yet determined is who will be invited into the August 2015 Cleveland debate. There are 19 prominent Republicans who have set up exploratory committees to decide whether to run. There are none who have actually declared, but it is expected that U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas will formally declare on March 23.
On March 18, a lower state court refused to strike down New Mexico’s closed primary law. The plaintiff, an independent voter, will appeal to the higher state courts. The case is Crum v Duran, 2nd district, 202-cv-2014-3730. See this story. The Republican Party had intervened in the case in defense of a closed primary for itself. The Democratic Party, although invited to intervene, did not take any action. Here is the decision.
The basis for the lawsuit had been Art. VII, section 1, which says, “Every person who is a qualified elector pursuant to the Constitution and laws of the United States and a citizen thereof shall be qualified to vote in all elections in New Mexico, subject to residency and registration requirements.”
California held a special election to fill the vacant State Senate seat, 7th district, on March 17. Steve Glazer, a Democrat who has fought certain unions for the last several years, easily placed first, and a Democratic Assemblymember placed second. Since no one got as much as 50%, there will be a runoff in May between the two Democrats.
Eric McGhee has this analysis of the race. He points out that under the old system, in which California used a blanket primary for special elections between 1967 and 2010, Glazer would be in a runoff with the lone Republican in the race, and would have a much easier time in the runoff, because this district is predominantly Democratic, although not overwhelmingly so.
North Dakota is one of 36 states in which, when there is a U.S. Senate vacancy, the governor appoints someone who serves until the next regularly-scheduled congressional election. Last month the North Dakota House passed a bill requiring a special election for U.S. Senate when the seat becomes vacant, unless a regular election is quite close in time.
On March 20, the North Dakota Senate Government & Veterans Affairs Committee heard the bill. The committee hasn’t acted yet. Here is a story about the hearing.
