Some Democratic presidential candidates other than Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Martin O’Malley have already qualified to appear on presidential primary ballots.
In South Carolina, Dr. Willie Wilson qualified. He also ran for Mayor of Chicago earlier this year.
In Arkansas, these candidates have qualified: Roque de la Fuente, James Valentine, and John Wolfe.
Both states permit a candidate to qualify by means of a filing fee.
The Virginia Reform Party has launched an effort to draft Jim Webb for President. See here. The web page is draftwebb2016.com.
The Reform Party is free to begin circulating a petition listing Webb as its presidential nominee, without the need for Webb to take any action at all. However, such petitions in Virginia can’t begin to circulate until January 4, 2016. Also Virginia permits stand-ins for candidates named on petitions, so the Reform Party of Virginia is also free to launch a petition that names a stand-in for both President and Vice-President.
On November 23, the Republican Party unveiled the party’s national convention logo for 2016. The logo shows a small elephant standing on a large guitar. The guitar is symbolic of Cleveland’s music tradition; the convention is being held in Cleveland. See this story.
Republican presidential candidates will debate each other on December 15 in Las Vegas. CNN, the sponsor, said on November 20 that candidates must be at 3.5% nationally in order to qualify. They can also qualify if they are at 4% in either Iowa or New Hampshire.
It is likely that nine Republicans will qualify.
The Portland Press Herald has this comprehensive story about the Green Party in Portland, Maine. Oddly, however, it doesn’t mention that in November 2016, Maine voters will be voting on an initiative to use instant runoff voting for all state and federal office (except President).
