On February 7, a North Carolina state trial court dismissed the lawsuit Griffin v North Carolina State Board of Elections, Wake Superior Court, 24cv-040620-910. This is the lawsuit in which the Republican nominee for State Supreme Court Justice in November 2024 is trying to overturn the election results. It is likely he will appeal.
Although the next election for Governor of Michigan is not until November 2026, independent candidate Mike Duggan is already campaigning. He is the current Mayor of Detroit. See this story.
The Indiana Green Party’s ballot access cert petition may be barred because of a filing deadline extension mix-up. See this document filed in the U.S. Supreme Court by the Indiana Green Party on February 7, which explains the situation.
Currently, North Dakota allows primary candidates to get on the primary ballot by two methods: (1) win substantial support at a party endorsements meeting; or (2) petition for a place on the ballot.
Two bills have been introduced to alter these methods. HB 1446 would eliminate the party endorsements choice; HB 1424 would strengthen the party endorsements method, by providing that if anyone gets a majority at such meetings, no primary is needed. See this story.
Terence T. McDonald, editor of the New Jersey Monitor, here scolds the New Jersey legislature for making the petition requirement increase effective immediately, after petitions for the 2025 state election had already started to circulate.
McDonald doesn’t discuss the effect of the petition change on minor parties. No New Jersey general news source has pointed out in recent years that the New Jersey definition of a qualified party is so strict, no group other than the Democratic and Republican Parties has complied with it since it was created in 1920. So although it is true that the general election petition requirements for independents and the nominees of unqualified parties are still relatively low, the coverage isn’t balanced.
