Jonathan Bernstein, a political scientist, author, and reporter, here says that Massachusetts voters should vote against Question Three, the top-two initiative that is on the Massachusetts ballot.
Bernstein does not mention the point that the Massachusetts initiative is badly drafted so as to make it far more difficult for a minor party to retain qualified status.
August 31 was the deadline for Alaska candidates who were in the top four in the primary, to withdraw from the general election. When that happens in Alaska, other candidates who weren’t originally in the top four replace them. Lots of candidates for the three statewide offices withdrew. See this story. One result was that Libertarian Jim McDermott, running for U.S. House, is now on the November ballot for U.S. House. See this story.
Also, see this story, which has interesting details about the gubernatorial race.
It is plausible that in November, Alaska voters will elect an independent to be Lieutenant Governor. Zac Johnson is the running mate of the Democratic gubernatorial slate headed by Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins. Kreiss-Tomkins chose an independent running mate to emphasize his outreach to independent voters.
It is also plausible that in November, Alaska will elect an independent to the U.S. House. He is Bill Hill, and Democrats are supporting him. There is a Democrat running for U.S. House but he is in a federal prison in South Dakota and thus has no active campaign.
The America First Party, in its first year on the ballot in Nebraska, has nominated five candidates. See this story. Because the America First Party nominee for Auditor is the only candidate against the Republican nominee, it is virtually certain that the America First Party will retain its spot on the ballot beyond 2026. The candidate needs 5% of the vote, and minor party candidates in two-person races nowadays always can poll as much as 5% in a two-way race.
August 31 was the petition deadline for independent candidates in North Dakota. Two independents qualified for U.S. House. There is no U.S. Senate race and no gubernatorial race this year. See this story.
No minor party petitioned this year in North Dakota. The last time a minor party appeared on the North Dakota in a midterm year was in 2014, when the Libertarian Party petitioned.
On Augst 31, a U.S. District Court put Aaron Day on the New Hampshire ballot as an independent candidate for U.S. Senate. Here is the opinion, which is only two pages. The opinion is short because all it says is that the earlier decision of the U.S. Magistrate is affirmed. Day is a libertarian activist who is running as an Independent. He had won in front of the U.S. magistrate earlier in August, when the magistrate recommended that Day is entitled to injunctive relief.
This is only the second time that New Hampshire has lost a ballot access case in federal court. The first time was in 2020, when a U.S. District Court said it was unconstitutional for the state to maintain its full petition requirements given the covid epidemic.
