On April 15, Muriel Bowser, Mayor of Washington, D.C., said she will ask the city council to put a ballot measure on the November 8, 2016 ballot, asking if D.C. voters want D.C. to become a state. See this story.
The referendum might be more interesting and useful if it also asked residents about the option of ceding most of D.C. back to Maryland. When Puerto Rico has had popular votes on its future political status, the voters were given several options.
The Los Angeles Times has this lengthy story about the American Independent Party of California. One of the interesting details in the second half of the article is the quote from a party leader that the party definitely wants to nominate Donald Trump for President in November if he doesn’t get the Republican nomination and if he wants to continue running for president. Thanks to Gene Berkman for the link.
On April 15, U.S. District Court Judge David Nuffer upheld the Utah law that lets a candidate petition onto a primary ballot. The Utah Republican Party had challenged this law, saying that the party doesn’t want anyone on its primary ballot who doesn’t show substantial support at a party caucus. Utah Republican Party v Cox, 2:16cv-38.
The decision says that the party’s freedom of association is not impaired by the Utah law. The decision says that the Republican Party already has the ability to prevent anyone but a registered Republican from voting in its primaries. Furthermore, only registered Republicans can petition to get on the party’s primary ballot, and only registered Republicans may sign such petitions. Finally, the decision notes that there is no Republican Party bylaw expressly denying primary ballot access to a candidate who petitions.
It is not known if the Republican Party will appeal.
Here is the amicus curiae brief from Fairvote, in Level the Playing Field v FEC. This is the U.S. District Court lawsuit over general election presidential debates. The Fairvote brief is on the side of the plaintiffs, who are trying to expand candidate entry into those debates.
Truthout has this article by Geoff Gilbert, saying the Bernie Sanders campaign has been so successful at raising money, the possibility exists that the Sanders campaign, or people who have been supporting the Sanders campaign, could realistically build a new major political party. The article does not express any opinion about whether this new party should attempt to have a presidential candidate in the November 2016 election, or whether it is only intended for future elections.
