New York U.S. House member Elise Stefanik, a Republican, is about to resign, and some Democrats in the legislature have been talking about passing a bill to change the schedule for filling vacancies. The proposal would leave the seat empty for a longer time. But the proposed bill has not yet been introduced. According to this story, the idea is getting severe criticism.
The U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether to hear Upstate Jobs Party v Kosinski, 24-503, at its February 21 conference. This is the case challenging the New York campaign finance law, that says individuals can give more campaign donations to the nominee of a qualified party than to an independent candidate or the nominee of an unqualified party.
If the Court takes this case, it will be the first time it has accepted a cert petition filed solely by a minor party or an independent candidate since 1991, with the exception of a 1997 case in which a Georgia Libertarian Party nominee challenged the Georgia law that required candidates for state and local office to take a drug test. Chandler v Miller. That really wasn’t an election law case; it was chacterized as a Fourth Amendment case. The Fourth Amendment bars unreasonable searches.
On Wednesday, February 5, U.S. District Court Judge Deborah Boardman, a Biden appointee, enjoined President Donald Trump’s new rules on who is a citizen. Casa Inc. v Trump, 8:25cv-201. The issue was issued orally and is not yet posted to the court’s website.
The plaintiffs include five pregnant women who argued that if the Trump order is not stopped, their new babies will be stateless. See this story.
Two other U.S. District Courts had issued temporary restraining orders against the new definition, but this is the first court to enjoin the new definition.
Reason here covers the recent change of leadership in the national Libertarian Party. Brian Doherty, the author, has been reporting on Libertarian Party news for many years.
On February 4, the Fourth Circuit issued an order in Griffin v North Carolina State Board of Elections, 25-1018. This is the dispute over the correct vote count in the November 2024 race for North Carolina State Supreme Court race. The Fourth Circuit is content to let the state trial court settle the dispute, but asked the U.S. District Court to keep the federal case alive.
