On February 5, New Jersey held primaries in connection with the special election for U.S. House, Eleventh District. Analilia Mejia won the Democratic primary. She is a former Director of the Working Families Party of New Jersey.

Eleven candidates ran in the Democratic primary. Mejia herself said that she could not have won if the old New Jersey primary ballot format had not been overturned in federal court in 2024, in a lawsuit brought by Andy Kim, who won his primary for U.S. Senate after the ballot format was changed. These elections show the importance of a ballot format that treats all candidates equally. The old format gave candidates endorsed by the party organization a prominent spot on primary ballots, and put other candidates in far corners of the ballot.

West Virginia Delegate Michael Hite (R-Berkeley) has introduced HB 4751. It would move the presidential primary from May to the third Tuesday in February. The primary for non-presidential office would continue to be in May. The bill has seven co-sponsors.

Harold Meyerson, editor-at-large of The American Prospect, here writes that California Democratic legislators ought to work to repeal California’s top-two system. Meyerson has been a Bernie Sanders supporter.