According to this story (scroll down a little bit), supporters of Ohio Governor John Kasich for President fret that he won’t be among the ten candidates invited into the main Fox Republican presidential debate. Fox News already said it would hold one debate with the ten candidates who are highest in polls, along with a secondary debate for those who aren’t in the top ten but who are at 1%. Those debates are set for August 6, only seven weeks from tomorrow.
On June 17, the Annenberg Working Group on Presidential Campaign Debate Reform issued this set of recommendations for changes in general election presidential debates. The Working Group did not come to a consensus on changing the rules on who may participate. But a majority of the Working Group recommends that the poll threshold for the first general election debate should be lowered from the current 15%, to 10%. The 15% would remain in place for the second debate, and the third and final debate would have a 25% threshold.
The Working Group as a whole believes that the debate sponsor should announce in advance which polls will be used to measure who can participate. It also believes that the rules should explain what will happen if a candidate is right at the threshold, within the margin of error. Thanks to Political Wire for the link. The New York Times has a story about the report, but the New York Times story omits any mention of the part of the report dealing with inclusion.
The Liberal Party of Canada wants to implement proportional representation for Canada. See this story.
Current New York law says the presidential primaries will be held on February 2, 2016. On June 15, AB 8256 was introduced, to move the 2016 presidential primaries to April 26. However, the legislature adjourns for the year on Wednesday, June 17. It is somewhat likely that this bill will pass, but it is not certain. If the bill passes, it will have no impact on petition deadlines for independent candidates and the nominees of unqualified parties. Thanks to Josh Putnam for the bill number.
On June 16, Donald Trump said he will seek the Republican presidential nomination. That makes 16 Republicans seeking the nomination who are generally considered to have the qualifications to be recognized by the national Republican Committee.
