On March 6, George Will appeared on television on the Fox channel, and seems to have expressed an opinion that open primaries and open caucuses are bad for the Republican Party.
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On March 4, three Pennsylvania State Senators introduced SB 1139, to alter who may vote in partisan primaries. Currently Pennsylvania has closed primaries. The bill would allow an independent voter to file a declaration at least 30 days before any primary, saying he or she desires to have a particular party’s primary ballot in the upcoming primary. The form does not indicate that the voter is joining that party, and that voter would continue be registered as an independent. The sponsors are Senators Kim Ward (R-Greensburg), Rob Teplitz (D-Halifax), and Art Haywood (D-Phildelphia).
On March 7, North Carolina filed this 40-page brief in U.S. District Court, defending its new U.S. House district boundaries. The state’s brief emphasizes that the new districts are far more compact and less “serpentine” than any districts in the state since the 1980’s. It also says that the new plan is not a partisan gerrymander, and says that if all registered Democrats voted for the Democratic nominee for U.S. House, then the Democrats would win approximately half the state’s seats. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
The Illinois officials who are in charge of defending Illinois election laws say they will probably appeal the U.S. District Court decision last month that struck down the state law requiring newly-qualifying parties to run a full slate of candidates.
On March 7, Michael Bloomberg said he will not run for President this year. Thanks to several people for this news. See this story.
Bloomberg View has the text of the announcement.