The University of Kentucky has some political science research underway that studies the experience of candidates for public office. If you have run for public office recently, please use this link to complete the questionaire. The project has been underway since 2006, although at this time, the researchers only want candidates who ran in 2014. Here is the link.

It doesn’t matter whether it was a partisan office or a non-partisan office; it doesn’t matter whether you had a big campaign or a small one; your input is valuable. The questionaire may take up to 20 minutes to complete, and allows room for the candidate to add his or her own free-form comments.

On December 1, the Utah Republican Party filed a federal lawsuit to regain the type of primary system Utah had before the 2014 session of the legislature changed the law. The old system provided that no one could get on a primary ballot unless the candidate had shown substantial support at a party caucus. The new system allows a petition method for candidates to get on a primary ballot even if they had not shown such support at a party meeting. The case is Utah Republican Party v Herbert, 2:14cv-876-BCW. Here is a copy of the Complaint.

According to this Deseret article, some Utah Republicans are so upset over a plan by the Republican Party to file a lawsuit over how the party nominates, they will raise money to fight the lawsuit in court. In 2014 the Utah legislature passed a bill that makes it possible for members of a party to petition onto its primary ballot, even if they didn’t show significant support at party caucuses. The Republican Party recently decided to fight the 2014 bill in court.