The West Virginia Supreme Court has agreed to hear West Virginia Democratic Party v Roger Hanshaw, 25-22. The issue is which party may submit suggestions to the Governor for filling a vacancy in the State House of Delegates. In November 2024 Republican Joseph deSoto was elected, but then he was charged with a serious crime, and he was removed. However, before he was removed, he changed his registration to “Democratic”. Under the law and precedent, when there is a vacancy in the legislature, the Governor appoints someone. There is no special election. But the Governor must appoint one of three individuals whose name had been suggested by the party of which the outgoing legislator was a member.

The Democratic Party says it doesn’t matter that deSoto was elected as a Republican; he was a Democrat when he resigned. Nevertheless, Governor Pat Morrisey has already filled the seat with one of the three suggestions submitted by the Republican Party. See this story.

The January 24 print edition of the New York Times has a front-page story titled, “Pardon is Won by Leveraging Trump’s Needs”, with a subtitle, “Libertarians Help Free Online Drug Kingpin.”

The first sentence is, “In December 2023, Angela McArdle, the chair of the Libertarian Party, flew to Mar-a-Lago to meet with Donald J. Trump.” Although the article goes on to say other groups were also working to free Ulbricht, the story makes the Libertarian Party a key element.

The Libertarian Party is 53 years old, and this is probably the first time a story about the party has appeared on the paper’s front page. Here is a link to the story, but it is behind a paywall.

Nebraska LB 521, an omnibus election law bill, contains a provision on how independent presidential candidates withdraw. They may do so if they request withdrawal no later than 60 days before the election. Last year the Secretary of State did let Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., withdraw, even though the law didn’t specify how to do that.