New Hampshire Libertarian Shows Significant Strength in Upcoming Special Legislative Election

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On September 6, New Hampshire holds a special election for State Representative in the 14th district of Rockingham County, centered on Seabrook. Libertarian nominee Brendan Kelly will run against Republican nominee Kevin Janvrin and Democratic nominee Ryan Mahoney. Kelly is one of the New Hampshire Libertarian Party’s strongest vote-getters. He has been an elected official in city government. In the upcoming special election, he is likely to get significant support from Republicans who are disappointed in the outcome of the Republican primary for this seat. The Republican primary was a 7-candidate race, and the surprise winner is perceived by many Republicans to be someone who does not support Republican Party goals. See this story.

The special election is needed because the previous incumbent resigned after being charged with reckless driving. The district is heavily Republican.

Article on This Week’s Wisconsin Special Election Primaries Shows Problem with Open Primaries

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This article describes the July 12 special primary elections in Wisconsin, in the six State Senate districts with Republican incumbents who are being recalled. In Wisconsin, the successful completion of a recall petition simply means that a special election is held for that office. The special election process includes partisan primaries, if more than a single candidate from any one party files.

Democrats successfully completed recall petitions in six State Senate districts that have incumbent Republicans. Because Wisconsin is an open primary state, with no party registration, any person can file in any party’s primary, and any voter is free to choose any party’s primary ballot. Therefore, in all six districts, individuals who in their heart are Republicans filed to run in the Democratic primaries. These Republicans hope to win the Democratic primaries in as many districts as possible. That way, in the special general election, the race would be between the incumbent Republican, and some other Republican, so not matter who wins, the Republicans will still have the seat. The Wisconsin press has become accustomed to refering to “fake Democrats” to describe this process. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.

There are also two districts with recalls of Democratic Senators, and the same thing is happening in reverse in those districts. The primaries in those districts are on July 19.

Socialist Workers Party Launches Fast Petition to Get on Ballot in Special New York U.S. House Election

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According to this article in The Militant, the Socialist Workers Party newspaper, the SWP is working to get on the ballot for the special U.S. House election in New York’s 9th district. The election will be in September. The party needs 3,500 valid signatures before July 13. As far as is known, no one else is attempting that petition. Of course, the six ballot-qualified parties don’t need a petition. The six ballot-qualified parties are Democratic, Republican, Conservative, Green, Independence, and Working Families.

The SWP candidate is Chris Hoeppner. The Democratic nominee is Assemblymember David Weprin and the Republican nominee is Bob Turner. The district is mostly in Queens, but includes part of Brooklyn as well.

Arizona Senate President Faces Recall

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Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce, president of the State Senate, will face a recall election in November 2011. See this story. Like Wisconsin, when a recall gets enough signature in Arizona, there is no separate vote on whether to recall the office-holder. Instead, a successful recall petition merely creates a special election, conducted on non-partisan lines, and with only one round.

2012 Presidential Primary Dates Remain Unsettled, Partly Because of Florida

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This year, the Florida legislature passed a bill that lets state officials choose the presidential primary date. This story shows that it is impossible to predict when the Florida presidential primary will be held. That uncertainty affects two other states that also have flexibility, New Hampshire and South Carolina. New Hampshire is another state in which the law does not determine the date, and which lets a state executive official decide, very late in the process. And the South Carolina Republican presidential primary is being paid for by the Republican Party, so the party is relatively free to also decide much later when to hold the primary.