Washington State Faces Potential Constitutional Crisis over Conflict Between Branches of Government

Posted on by January 14, 2015
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This New York Times article explains that a constitutional crisis is looming in Washington state. The State Supreme Court has ordered the legislature to substantially increase education funding, but the legislature seems disinclined to follow the court order. As background, the Washington state legislature is the fourth most polarized between the Democratic and Republican Parties in the nation, according to recent data from political scientist Boris Shor.

Washington has used the top-two system starting in 2008. California supporters of the top-two system, especially journalists George Skelton and Thomas Elias, never tire of telling their readers that top-two systems reduce polarization and partisanship, but neither Skelton nor Elias has written about Washington state’s experience with that system.

Independent Candidate Wins Special Virginia Legislative Election

Posted on by January 13, 2015
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On January 13, Virginia held a special election to fill the vacant State House seat, district 74. The independent candidate won the election with 42.3% of the vote. Here is a link to the State Board of Elections’ web page, showing the election returns. The winner, Joseph D. Morrissey, had been elected in 2013 as a Democrat, but he had resigned late last year. The Democratic Party was not interested in renominating him, so he ran as an independent. The Democratic nominee placed second; the Republican nominee placed third.

UPDATE: this story explains why Morrissey resigned and also says some legislators will try to expel him from the legislature.

Maine Initiative to Expand Public Funding Likely to be on November 2015 Ballot

Posted on by January 13, 2015
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It is likely that a Maine initiative will be on the ballot in November 2015 that would expand the state’s public funding program. See this story. Another election law initiative that is circulating, to provide for instant-runoff voting, will probably be on the ballot in November 2016, not 2015. Thanks to Political Activity Law for the link.

Stop Common Core Party Will Change its Name to “Reform Party”

Posted on by January 13, 2015
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The Stop Common Core Party, which is a ballot-qualified party in New York state, is in the process of changing its name to “Reform Party.” See this story. This is the first time a ballot-qualified party named “Reform Party” has ever existed in New York. In September 1995, Ross Perot launched the Reform Party nationally. But because there was already a ballot-qualified party in New York called the Independence Party (which had been formed in 1994), the Independence Party became the New York state affiliate of the Reform Party, and the “Reform Party” name did not appear on New York ballots.

The new Reform Party of New York will have state officers who are loyal to the Republican Party. The new state chair of the Reform Party is Michael Lawler, who was the campaign manager for Rob Astorino last year. Astorino was the Republican Party nominee for Governor. His campaign organized the “Stop Common Core Party” to give Astorino yet another line on the ballot; he also was the Conservative Party nominee. Thanks to Michael Drucker for this news.

UPDATE: the original Reform Party has an organized affiliate in New York state, and it objects to the name change and will agitate to prevent the Common Core Party from re-naming itself the Reform Party. The original Reform Party in New York has a web page, reformpartyny.org.