The Indianapolis Star has this op-ed, advocating that all political parties, not just smaller ones, nominate by convention instead of primary. The op-ed is by Dan Drexler, state chair of the Indiana Libertarian Party. In Indiana, parties that polled 10% of the last election nominate by primary for most offices, although conventions are used for the lesser statewide executive posts. Parties that polled 2% of the last election nominate by convention for all office.
On May 6, Robert Davis, an elected member of the Highland Park, Michigan, School Board, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court. His complaint says that because he is planning to run for re-election in November 2014, and because he must submit a petition to get on the ballot, he is being injured by the Michigan law that won’t let unregistered voters circulate candidate petitions. The case is Davis v Johnson, eastern district, 2:14cv-11818.
The Complaint does not mention Congressman John Conyers, but the press and other observers assume that Davis filed the lawsuit to assist Conyers. If Davis wins his case, that would invalidate the law that threatens to keep Conyers off the Democratic primary ballot. Thanks to Thomas Jones for this information. See this story.
On May 9, independent candidate Brent Roske, running in California’s 33rd U.S. House district, dropped out of the race. He endorsed fellow independent candidate Marianne Williamson, who is running for the same seat. There is no incumbent in the race; the outgoing member of Congress is Henry Waxman. Roske is a television producer best known for the series “Chasing the Hill.” See this story. California law does not permit candidates to withdraw their names from the ballot, so his withdrawal does not remove his name from the ballot.
On May 9, an Onondaga County, New York trial court ruled that the petitions to put Congressman Dan Maffei on the Working Families Party primary ballot are valid. The challengers had argued that the signatures were collected by someone who was not a bona fide resident of New York state, but was really a Georgia resident who had temporarily registered to vote in New York state. See this article.
Congressman Maffei, a Democrat running for re-election, seeks the Working Families nomination as well as the Democratic Party’s nomination.
The California Secretary of State’s last statewide registration tally was as of April 4. However, the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters keeps a running daily tally. Therefore, it is possible to know registration changes between April 4 and May 9.
In that short interval, the Republican Party lost 5,978 registrants in Los Angeles County. By contrast, most of the state’s qualified parties gained in Los Angeles County during that period. The Democratic Party gained 858, the Peace & Freedom Party gained 243, the Libertarian Party gained 236, and Americans Elect gained one.
The Green Party lost 53, and the American Independent Party lost 67. The combination of independent voters plus voters registered in unqualified parties gained 4,024.
