New Hampshire Elected an Independent to the State House in November 2014

Posted on by January 12, 2015
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This is old news that Ballot Access News had previously missed. On November 4, 2014, an independent candidate was elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives from Merrimack County district 10, which includes Hopkinton and part of Concord. The independent winner is David Luneau.

See this story about the campaign. The district elects three representatives. Luneau came in third with 2,293, and was elected along with two of the three Democratic nominees. Thanks to Darryl Perry for the information.

The December 1, 2014 Ballot Access News print issue said that fourteen independent candidates had been elected to state legislatures on November 4, 2014, but that should have said fifteen were elected.

Montana Almost Elected an Independent Candidate to the Legislature in November 2014

Posted on by January 11, 2015
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This is old news, but better late than never. At the November 4, 2014 election, an independent candidate was almost elected to the Montana House of Representatives. The vote in the 94th district in Missoula County was: Democratic incumbent Kimberly Dudik 1,748 votes; independent Gary Marbut 1,700 votes.

Montana hasn’t elected an independent candidate to the state legislature since 1958. Here is an old news story that describes the 2014 campaign. Marbut’s candidacy would not have been possible if a U.S. District Court hadn’t struck down the March petition deadline for non-presidential independent candidates in 2012, in Kelly v McCulloch. Marbut did not enter the race until after primary filing had closed.

Joe Mathews, California Politics Observer, Advocates Bringing Back Write-in Space in November

Posted on by January 11, 2015
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Citywatch, a Los Angeles politics blog, carries this column by Joe Mathews. Mathews advocates restoring write-in space to the November ballot for California. In 2012 the legislature passed AB 1413, with no publicity, eliminating write-in space from the November ballot for Congress and partisan state office.

Illinois Bill for a Special Election for Comptroller in 2016 Signed Into Law

Posted on by January 11, 2015
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On January 10, outgoing Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed HB 4576. It provides for special elections for the statewide elected constitutional offices, other than Governor, if the incumbent dies early in the four-year term. As a result, Illinois will hold a special election for Comptroller in November 2016.

The bill was originally about credit checks by prospective employers. It passed the House in the spring of 2014 and languished in the State Senate, but in November 2014 it was revived, all the original contents were removed, and the provision for special elections was added. It passed the legislature on January 8.

Maine Bill to Outlaw Out-of-Staters from Asking People to Sign Initiative Petitions

Posted on by January 10, 2015
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Maine Representative Stanley Short (D-Pittsfield) says he will soon introduce a bill to make it illegal for out-of-state individuals to ask anyone to sign an initiative petition. Maine already has a ban on out-of-state circulators working on initiative petitions, but out-of-state workers are free to ask anyone to sign a petition if that work is being watched by a Maine resident. See this story.

Representative Short and the organization that has asked for this bill may or may not know that bans on out-of-state petitioners have been struck down or enjoined in Arizona, California, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin. State officials in Virginia, Illinois and Arizona, after having lost such cases, asked for U.S. Supreme Court review, but in all three instances, the U.S. Supreme Court refused the case.