According to this story in The Oregonian, supporters of Oregon’s top-two primary initiative have set up a phony opposition webpage, which features the slogan, “Keep the riff-raff out of our elections.” Supporters have also submitted arguments ostensibly opposed to the measure for the state Voters’ Pamphlet. The so-called opposition arguments are weak and not sincere.
On September 3, the Kansas Democratic Party’s nominee for U.S. Senate, Chad Taylor, withdrew his name from the November ballot. The Democratic Party will now support the independent candidate in the race, Greg Orman. See this story. Thanks to Thomas Jones for the link.
This is the second instance this year in which a state Democratic Party has withdrawn a nominee for an important office; the first was the Alaska gubernatorial race.
Vermont held primaries on September 2. Dean Corren, the Progressive nominee for Lieutenant Governor, won the Democratic nomination as well, via write-ins in the Democratic primary. He will be on the November ballot as, “Progressive, Democratic.” See this story, which reveals that in the Republican gubernatorial primary, the Libertarian nominee for Governor received 13% of the Republican vote on write-ins.
On September 2, a lower state court in New Orleans removed two Democrats from the November 2014 ballot for U.S. House, 2nd district. See this story. They were removed because they owe unpaid fines from the past to a state campaign finance agency.
The removal of these candidates clearly violates the U.S. Constitution. For almost one hundred years, courts have been telling states they cannot remove candidates for federal office from the ballot for qualifications that are not mentioned in Article One. The U.S. Supreme Court 1995 decision U.S. Term Limits v Thornton establishes that the long line of similar precedents from state courts and lower federal courts have always been correct. It is not known if either candidate will file a federal lawsuit to get back on the ballot. Thanks to Randall Hayes for the link.
On September 1, the Alaska Democratic Party central committee voted 89-2 to withdraw its gubernatorial nominee, Byron Mallott. Instead the party is endorsing independent candidate Bill Walker. Alaska elects Governor and Lieutenant Governor on a joint ticket. Walker’s new running mate is Mallott. Mallott will remain a registered independent. Walker has changed his registration from Republican to independent. Thanks to William Stevenson for this news.
