Last month, the BBC said that it would sponsor three debates next year for the 2015 parliamentary election. The most inclusive of these four debates would feature the leaders of the Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democratic, and UKIP Parties. The Green Party would not be included, even though it has an elected member of the House of Commons.

In response, the Green Party has gathered 200,000 signatures asking that the Green Party leader be included, and many prominent politicians from the major parties have signed. See this story, which seems to suggest that the BBC may reconsider.

Because most states had unusually low turnout in the November 2014 election, and because most states that have the initiative process base the requirement on the number of votes cast in the last election, it seems that the number of signatures to qualify initiatives for the ballot in 2016 will be markedly easier than in the recent past. Thanks to Jill Pyeatt for this thought.

Charles T. Munger, Jr., through his PAC, spent more heavily in California’s November 2014 State Senate election than in any other general election contest this year. During the year he spent $663,000 to elect former Assemblymember Bonnie Garcia, a Republican, to the open State Senate seat, district 28, in Riverside County. She was running against another Republican, County Supervisor Jeff Stone.

Stone defeated Garcia, even though Stone was badly outspent and even though former Republican Governor Pete Wilson endorsed Garcia. Stone is clearly more conservative than Garcia, and during a debate, Stone said he admires Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s methods for dealing with inmates.

A PAC controlled mostly by John Arnold, a Texas billionaire, spent $800,000 to defeat California Congressman Mike Honda, a Democrat who was running against another Democrat, Ro Khanna. This Santa Clara County district, the 17th, nevertheless re-elected Honda, who is considered more liberal than Khanna.