On August 31, SurveyUSA released a U.S. Senate poll for Kentucky. The results: Mitch McConnell 46%; Alison Lundergan Grimes 42%; David Patterson 5%; undecided 8%. The poll breaks down respondents for each candidate by demographic and ideological categories. Thanks to PoliticalWire for the link.
According to this story, the Illinois Attorney General’s office will investigate reports of intimidation against Libertarian Party petitioners and people who signed the petition. Also see this Huffington Post story.
According to this story, Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie believes his recent loss in the Democratic primary is because voters who are not loyal to the Democratic Party chose to vote in the Democratic primary, and they voted against him. He thinks some voted against him, and for the winning Democrat, because the other Democrat will be easier to beat in the general election.
This is very ironic, because the Hawaii Democratic Party is in court, trying to establish a closed primary for itself, and Governor Abercrombie has spoken out against his own party’s lawsuit.
On August 29, a trial state court in Kentucky ruled that Christopher Robinson should remain on the ballot as the Libertarian nominee for County Clerk of Kenton County. His ballot status had been challenged by the incumbent Republican, Gabrielle Summe, who is the only other candidate running. She hired a private detective to gather evidence that Robinson hasn’t lived in Kentucky for two years, which the law requires. The judge determined that Robinson has lived in Kentucky for two years. See this story.
On August 29, California SB 1043 was put on the inactive file. Since the legislature will go home for the year either Friday night (August 29) or on Saturday (August 30), the bill is dead. It changed the wording on the petition for party status to delete the requirement that the petition say that the signers “represent” the party. In 2011, when Americans Elect became the first group to successfully circulate the party petition in California since 1948, the party omitted this language from the petition, but the Secretary of State accepted the petition anyway. Similar wording has been held unconstitutional in several other states. Petitions for parties to gain a place on the ballot can say that the signers desire the group to be put on the ballot, but they can’t say that the signers themselves represent the party.
