The ACLU of Connecticut is actively talking with state officials about the state’s ban on out-of-state circulators. There is some hope that the ban will be relaxed in time for 2016 petitioning. Minor party and independent candidate petitions can’t circulate in Connecticut until January 2, 2016. The statewide petition is 7,500 signatures.
WCCO-TV in Minnesota recently interviewed Jesse Ventura, who says he is considering seeking the Libertarian presidential nomination. The interview does not mention that Libertarian Party rules require presidential and vice-presidential nominees to be members of the party, although there no requirement that they must have joined before the convention.
But the interview also seems to reveal that Ventura thinks the Libertarian convention is in June. Actually it is May 26-30. Also Ventura is in the habit of saying that George Washington was not a member of any party. Actually Washington was a Federalist. Washington disliked partisanship, and warned against “the spirit of party” in his Farewell Address. He was careful to have members of both the Democratic-Republican Party and the Federalist Party in his cabinet. But he himself was a strong Federalist. During Washington’s presidency, the biggest issue in U.S. politics was foreign policy. The Federalist Party was fiercely opposed to the French Revolution and was relatively sympathetic to Great Britain. The Democratic-Republican Party had the opposite view. Washington was so opposed to the French Revolution, when the ambassador from France called on Washington, Washington made sure to have a portrait of the beheaded Louis XVI on the wall.
The Republican Party of the Northern Mariana Islands will hold a presidential caucus on March 15, 2016. See this article. The party will charge a fee of $7,500, and use the money to pay travel expenses for the delegates to travel to Cleveland. The article says Ben Carson has already paid the fee, but no other candidate has yet paid it.
The Huffington Post has this article, advocating that the United States use proportional representation. The piece is by Joschka Tryba, a founder of LoveGov. LoveGov makes it easier for individuals to participate in politics and educate themselves about candidates and political events.
Bill Fraser will run as an independent candidate in 2016 for U.S. House in the Illinois 8th district. See this story. The 8th district in in the Chicago suburbs and now is represented by Democrat Tammy Duckworth.
Earlier this year, independent David Gill announced he would petition for U.S. House in the Illinois 13th district.
No independent candidates for U.S. House qualified in Illinois in 2014. The state has the third most difficult petition requirement for independent candidates for U.S. House in the nation, after Georgia and North Carolina. Fraser will benefit from the fact that turnout in 2014 in Illinois was quite low; he will need 7,705 valid signatures.
