Blaine Richardson has qualified for the Maine general election ballot, as an independent candidate for U.S. House, 2nd district. Also, Richard Murphy has qualified as an independent for U.S. House, 1st district. They are the first non-major party candidates to be on the Maine general election ballot for U.S. House since 2006.

Maine and Georgia were the only states with a Democratic-Republican monopoly for U.S. House during the entire period 2008 through 2012. Thanks to Tom MacMillan for this news.

The Albany Times-Union has this editorial, saying that Howie Hawkins, Green Party candidate for Governor of New York, should be allowed to debate Andrew Cuomo and the Republican nominee for Governor of New York, Rob Astorino. The editorial writer seems to feel that no one else should be allowed into the debate, although it is premature to make that determination until everyone knows who is on the ballot. The petition for unqualified party nominees is not due until August 5.

On May 30, the Florida officials and consultants who had asked the U.S. Supreme Court for a stay in League of Women Voters of Florida v State withdrew their request. The Florida Supreme Court had ruled that internal communications between legislators and consultants should be made available in the state court lawsuit over congressional redistricting. Those legislators and consultants had then asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse that, but now they have given that up. See this story.

The Florida Constitution says the legislature should draw U.S. House districts but must do so in a way that doesn’t advantage or disadvantage any political party. The problem with this provision is that it is very tough to enforce, which is why internal communications are useful in deciding how the process really worked.