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Libertarians Enter Two Key U.S. Senate Races

Posted on March 11, 2014 by Richard WingerMarch 11, 2014

On March 8, the Georgia Libertarian Party, which nominates by convention, chose its 2014 candidates. The party is on the ballot for all the statewide offices, but not the district or county offices. The party nominated Amanda Swafford for the U.S. Senate seat. She has twice been elected to the Flowery Branch city council. The last time Georgia held a U.S. Senate election, in 2010, the Libertarian nominee received 2.69%.

On March 10, Roger Roots entered the Montana Libertarian primary for U.S. Senate. Since no one else filed, he will be the nominee. See this story about all the candidates who filed for the Montana seat. In 2012, the Libertarian nominee for the other Montana U.S. Senate seat polled 6.56% of the vote in a race in which no one received a majority.

Both the Georgia and Montana U.S. Senate seats are open; incumbents Max Baucus (Democrat) and Saxby Chambliss (Republican) aren’t running for re-election.

Libertarian Attorney General Candidate Files Lawsuit in Ohio Supreme Court to be Restored to Primary Ballot

Posted on March 10, 2014 by Richard WingerMarch 10, 2014

On March 10, Steven Linnabary filed a lawsuit in the Ohio Supreme Court, hoping to win a court order that he should be restored to the May 6 Libertarian primary ballot. State ex rel Linnabary v Husted, 14-0359. He is running for Attorney General.

The issues are whether his primary petitions are invalid because the circulators didn’t fill out the “employer” blank, and whether the person who filed the challenge to Linnabary’s petition is entitled to object, given that he had never voted in a Libertarian Party primary in the past and had never voted for a Libertarian in a general election. The law says that an objector to a primary petition must be a member of that party.

Linnabary filed in State Supreme Court because he was not a plaintiff in the federal case, in contrast to the party’s gubernatorial candidate, Charlie Earl. So the issue of petition validity for Libertarian statewide candidates is now pending in two courts, U.S. District Court and the State Supreme Court. Persons interested in this issue may want to read Linnabary’s brief especially because it contains the 18-page finding of the Secretary of State’s hearing officer on why he recommended removing the candidates. His finding says past directives of the Secretary of State saying petitions should not be invalidated just because the circulator didn’t include his or her employer aren’t binding. His Report says these past directives only applied to particular initiative petitions and they don’t have lasting effect.

Public Policy Poll for Tomorrow’s Florida Special U.S. House Election Includes the Three Ballot-Listed Candidates

Posted on March 10, 2014 by Richard WingerMarch 10, 2014

Here is a Public Policy Poll for the special election for U.S. House in Florida’s 13th district. The poll shows most respondents have already voted. The remainder will vote on Tuesday, March 11. For voters who have already voted, the results are: Alex Sink, Democrat, 52%; David Jolly, Republican, 45%, Lucas Overby, Libertarian, 3%.

The poll also shows results for voters who haven’t voted yet: Jolly 45%, Sink 41%, Overby 10%, undecided 4%.

The race also has one declared write-in candidate, Michael Levinson, who has been campaigning and advertising, but the poll does not include him.

U.S. District Court Sets Hearing in Ohio Libertarian Primary Ballot Access Lawsuit

Posted on March 10, 2014 by Richard WingerMarch 10, 2014

On March 10, U.S. District Court Judge Michael Watson scheduled a hearing in Libertarian Party of Ohio v Husted, for March 11, at 2 p.m. The hearing will consider the Libertarian Party’s new request, filed March 7, for injunctive relief putting the statewide Libertarian candidates back on the party’s primary ballot. The primary is May 6, so speed is essential. The state has not yet responded to the March 7 Libertarian filing, so it is likely the March 11 will set forth the rules by which the case is adjudicated.

Also on March 10, an attorney for the individual who challenged the Libertarian Party’s gubernatorial ticket filed a request that he be allowed to intervene in the case. UPDATE: see this news story.

Article on Working Families Party Suggests Medium Probability that Party Won’t Cross-Endorse Andrew Cuomo

Posted on March 10, 2014 by Richard WingerMarch 10, 2014

This lengthy and interesting story about the Working Families Party, by Sarah Jaffe, covers news about the party across the nation, especially Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Oregon. But perhaps the most interesting part of the story is at the end, where Jaffe analyzes whether the New York branch will cross-endorse Andrew Cuomo for Governor this year. Thanks to Thomas MacMillan for the link.

The story does not mention the WFP’s activity in South Carolina, another state where it is on the ballot and engages in fusion electoral activity. Nor does it mention that the party was formerly ballot-qualified in Delaware, but when Delaware abolished fusion, the party did not take efforts to remain ballot-qualified.