Public Policy Polling released this North Carolina U.S. Senate poll on August 19. The results: Democratic incumbent Kay Hagan 42%, Republican Thom Tillis 38%, Libertarian Sean Haugh 8%, undecided 13%. Thanks to PoliticalWire for the link.
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This Politico article by Kyle Kondik analyzes how incumbent members of Congress do in primaries. In the period since the end of World War II, the highest percentage of U.S. House members who were defeated in major party primaries was in 1992, when 5% of them lost. This year only three incumbents in the House have lost primaries. Thanks to the Center for Competitive Politics for the link.
On August 14, U.S. District Court Judge Stanley R. Chesler upheld New Jersey’s closed primary system, in Balsam v Guadagno, 14-1388. Here is the twelve-page decision. The decision came down only one day after plaintiffs’ last brief had been filed.
The plaintiffs had not said anything about how independent candidates and the nominees of unqualified parties get on the general election ballot. However, the judge made reference to that subject, and said, accurately, that it is relatively easy (New Jersey only requires 800 signatures for such candidates to get on the ballot for statewide office, and never more than 100 signatures for other office) Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
UPDATE: here is an article about the decision by Shawn Griffiths. It says the plaintiffs will appeal to the Third Circuit.
The August 19 Washington Post has this op-ed, advocating proportional representation, at least in the large and medium-size states, for the U.S. House of Representatives. The op-ed is by Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of The Nation. Thanks to Rob Richie for the link.
Oliver Hall, head of the Center for Competitive Democracy, has this op-ed in the August 19 Charleston (West Virginia) Gazette, the state’s largest newspaper. It explains how minor party and independent candidates enhance U.S. elections.