Start Dates Listed for Independent Presidential Petitions for 2016

Posted on by November 16, 2015
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Most states don’t care how early an independent presidential candidate begins to circulate a petition. But some states do set a start date. These are believed to be the start dates for independent presidential petitioning:

California, April 29, 2016
Connecticut, Jan. 4, 2016
District of Columbia, March 25, 2016
Georgia, April 12, 2015
Illinois, March 29, 2016
Kentucky, November 4, 2015
Maine, January 1, 2016
Massachusetts, February 16, 2016
Minnesota, June 24, 2016
New Hampshire, January 4, 2016
New Mexico, March 1, 2016 (this is disputed)
New York, July 12, 2016
Pennsylvania, February 17, 2016
Rhode Island, June 29, 2016
South Dakota, January 1, 2016
Texas, March 2, 2016
Virginia, January 4, 2016
Washington, May 7, 2016

There is also Michigan, which doesn’t set a start date, but requires that the petition be completed in a six-month period of the candidate’s choosing; and Ohio, which also doesn’t set a start date but requires that the petition be completed in 12 months of the candidates’s own choosing.

The only states that don’t require a petition for independent presidential candidates are Colorado and Louisiana. Note that this post does not concern itself with start dates for petitions to recognize a new party. Fewer states have start dates for party petitions than for independent petitions. If anyone sees any error, please comment. Thank you.

Democratic Presidential Debate Draws Relatively Small Audience

Posted on by November 16, 2015
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Democratic presidential candidates debated each other on Saturday, November 14. According to this story, only 8,500,000 people watched. By contrast, the first two Republican debates had 20,000,000 viewers, and the third and fourth Republican debates had 13,000,000 viewers.

This suggests that debates get more viewers when more candidates participate. All of the mainstream Republican debates have had either ten or eight candidates, whereas the most recent Democratic debate had only three.

Fourteen Republican Presidential Candidates Gain Automatic Spot on Florida Primary Ballot by Appearing at Fund-Raiser

Posted on by November 16, 2015
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On November 13 and 14, the Florida Republican Party held a fund-raising event in Orlando. Earlier the party had passed rules saying only presidential candidates who appeared could be on the presidential primary ballot automatically. Those who did not appear had to pay a filing fee of $25,000, or else obtain signatures of 125 registered Republicans from each U.S. House district.

Fourteen Republican presidential candidates attended and will now be on the March 15, 2016 presidential primary ballot. No one has paid the filing fee or gathered the signatures.

Seven Republicans spoke on Friday, November 13, in this order: Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham, Mike Huckabee, Jeb Bush, Donald Trump, and Ben Carson.

Another seven Republicans spoke on Saturday, November 14, in this order: Rick Santorum, Jim Gilmore, Bobby Jindal, Rand Paul, Chris Christie, John Kasich, and Carly Fiorina. Because the Paris attacks had occurred between the Friday session and the Saturday session, the Saturday speakers had an opportunity to address the Paris events.

Ben Carson had been the last presidential candidate to accept the invitation to attend the Sunshine Summit. He didn’t announce that he would attend until November 4.

The Florida Republican presidential primary is winner-take-all. Whoever gets the most votes on March 15 gets all the delegates. Never before has any Florida Republican presidential primary had more than nine candidates listed. However, it is unlikely that anyone will claim the Republican voters will be “confused” by using a ballot with 14 names.

FEC Commissioner Publishes Op-Ed Advocating Changes to Help Political Parties

Posted on by November 16, 2015
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Lee E. Goodman, one of the six Federal Election Commissioners, has this op-ed in support of a proposed FEC rule change that would relax campaign finance restrictions on state political parties. The op-ed says the Commission will be voting on his suggestions this coming week. Goodman is one of the three Republican commissioners.