Frontloading HQ here raises the possibility that North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory might veto HB 373, the bill that passed the legislature last week and puts all primaries (presidential and non-presidential alike) on March 15, 2016.

There are two problems with the bill that might cause a veto: (1) the state Republican Party wants to award delegates proportionally to the popular vote, but the bill says the primary should be winner-take-all; (2) the bill changes an unrelated campaign finance provision, and the Republican Party state organization doesn’t like the new campaign finance measure.

The legislature is still in session, so if the bill is vetoed, there is time to pass another bill.

According to this CNN story, the likely new Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, is expected to be more confrontational and partisan than outgoing speaker John Boehner.

McCarthy is from California, which has been using a top-two system starting in 2011. The big business interests who most strongly support California’s top-two system always seem to have sincerely believed that a top-two system produces more moderate politicians. If McCarthy behaves as CNN predicts, that will be one more data point that primary systems do not affect the kind of politicians who get elected, or their behavior. Thanks to PoliticalWire for the link.

Ohio will hold both a special primary and a special election to choose a new member of the U.S. House, 8th district. This article says the special primary will probably be in December 2015 or January 2016.