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Donald Trump Will Host “Saturday Night Live”; Other Republican Presidential Candidates May Benefit from “Equal Time” Rule

Posted on October 13, 2015 by Richard WingerOctober 13, 2015

On October 13, it was announced that Donald Trump will host “Saturday Night Live” on the evening of November 7. As this story mentions, that likely means that NBC will be required to give equal time to other Republican presidential candidates. “Equal time” is still in the law, although it doesn’t apply to “bona fide news programs”. However Saturday Night Live doesn’t really qualify as a news show; it is entertainment. As the story explains, NBC doesn’t need to give other candidates a chance to be on Saturday Night Live; it just needs to give some free time. Thanks to Paul Weich for the news.

Florida Republican Party Excludes Two Presidential Candidates who are Recognized by National Republican Party

Posted on October 13, 2015 by Richard WingerOctober 13, 2015

The Republican Party has invited fourteen Republican presidential candidates to its Sunshine Summit held November 13-14. Candidates who are invited, and who appear at this fund-raiser, are put on the party’s presidential primary automatically. Others must either pay a filing fee of $25,000 or complete a very difficult petition process.

The Florida Republican Party did not invite former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore, nor did it invite Mark Everson, IRS Commissioner under President Reagan. These two candidates are recognized as bona fide Republican presidential candidates by the Republican National Committee.

The Florida Republican Party says it didn’t invite Gilmore or Everson because they were not included in the Fox News debate of August 2015 nor were they included in the CNN debate of September 2015. Thus, a candidate’s ballot access rules are now being determined by the decisions of private news organizations.

Working Families Party Now has Organizations in Nine States and D.C.

Posted on October 13, 2015 by Richard WingerOctober 13, 2015

According to this article, the Working Families now has organizations in nine states and the District of Columbia. The jurisdictions in which it is now organized, but in which it isn’t on the ballot, are New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, and D.C. It is a ballot-qualified party in Connecticut, New York, Oregon, and South Carolina.

Oral Argument Set in Montana Republican Case on Primaries

Posted on October 13, 2015 by Richard WingerOctober 13, 2015

A U.S. District Court in Helena will hold oral arguments in Ravalli County Republican Central Committee v McCulloch, 6:14cv-58, on Thursday, November 19, at 1:30 p.m. The Republican Party filed this lawsuit last year to prevent members of other parties from voting in its primaries for public office.

Three-Way Televised Debate for Kentucky Lieutenant Governor Candidates

Posted on October 13, 2015 by Richard WingerOctober 13, 2015

Kentucky elects its Governor and Lieutenant Governor on a joint ticket on November 3, 2015. Three teams are on the ballot: Democratic, Republican, and independent. The independent candidate for Lieutenant Governor will debate her two opponents in a televised debate on the evening of October 13. See this story.