The Forward Party is circulating a petition for party status in New Mexico. Currently the only ballot-qualified parties in New Mexico are Democratic, Republican, Green, and Libertarian. The branch of the Libertarian Party recognized in New Mexico is not affiliated with the national Libertarian Party.
On April 21, the Second Circuit issued a one-page order in Walder v Kosinski, 25-764. The judges want both sides to address the issue, at the upcoming oral argument, as to whether the law regulating the names of qualified parties even relates to labels chosen by petitioning candidates. This seems to suggest that the judges are leaning toward the view that nothing in New York law stops Mayoral independent candidate Jim Walden from using the label “Independence.”
UPDATE: on April 22, both sides told the court that each side would like to file a brief on this question. The two sides jointly say they can file such briefs by Friday, April 25.
New Jersey holds state office elections in November of odd years. For the first time, primary ballots in all 21 counties are using an office-group primary ballot instead of a ballot that gave certain candidates a special advantage. Here is a June 2025 ballot for the Democratic primary in Monmouth County.
The reason for the new ballot format is that the old system was enjoined in federal court.
This year there are five Republicans running for Governor, and six Democrats. In 2021 there had been one candidate in the Democratic primary and four in the Republican primary.
This news story says Maine Congressman Jared Golden may perhaps run for Governor in 2026 as the nominee of the No Labels Party, which is ballot-qualified in Maine but which has not yet had any nominees in Maine for any partisan office.
The Mississippi legislature has adjourned. HB 38 failed to pass. It would have disrupted Mississippi’s law on the order of candidates on the ballot. Mississippi now lists candidates on the general election in alphabetical order of surname, for candidates who are nominees of a party. But HB 38 would have said that the nominees of parties that had polled 10% of the vote for president in the last election should be listed first.
HB 38 had passes the House on February 5, but it made no progress in the Senate.
