On August 22, the PBS Newshour featured an eight-minute interview with two leaders of Americans Elect, Elliot Ackerman and Doug Schoen. The interview was conducted by Judy Woodruff. Thanks to Jim Cook of Irregular Times for this news.
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Virginia elects its state legislators every two years, in November of odd years. August 23 is the petition deadline for the 2011 legislative elections. It appears that the only parties, other than the Democratic and Republican Parties, with any legislative nominees in Virginia this year are the Independent Green Party and the Libertarian Party. The Independent Green Party won’t know for sure how many legislative nominees it has on the ballot until after the petitions have been checked, but it is likely to have between five and twelve. The Libertarians expect to have one nominee on the ballot. Thanks to Bob Johnston for the news about the Libertarian Party nominee.
On August 22, Jack Kimball, Republican Party state chair in New Hampshire, refused requests from Republican members of Congress that he resign. The latest calls for his resignation are because a few weeks ago he signed the petition to put the Libertarian Party on the ballot. According to this story, even some members of the Republican National Committee are opposed to Kimball for having signed the petition. There are other complaints about Kimball, however.
On August 22, Jack Layton, leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party, died at the age of 61 from cancer. As leader of his party, he had guided it from winning 19 seats in Parliament in 2004, to 29 in 2006, to 37 in 2008, and to 103 in May 2011. The 2011 election gave the New Democratic Party the second highest number of seats in Parliament, displacing the Liberal Party as the official opposition to the Conservative government. See this obituary. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link.
On August 22, Gallup released a poll for the 2012 general presidential election. Whether the Republican nominee is Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, Ron Paul, or Michele Bachmann, the race is close. See this summary of the results. Thanks to Political Wire for the link.
Mississippi is one of the four states in which the Reform Party is still ballot-qualified. There are two factions of the Reform Party in Mississippi, and each faction is running some candidates for statewide office in the November 8, 2011 election. On September 9, Mississippi election officials will hear from both sides, and decide which faction’s nominees to list on the general election ballot.