Reid Wilson of the Washington Post has this article about a study by political scientists John Mikesell and Cheol Liu of corruption convictions of state employees. The study covers 1976 through 2008 and finds that Oregon has the lowest rate of convictions of state employees. Thanks to Dan Tokaji for the link.
On August 21, several Massachusetts newspapers hosted a debate between two candidates for Governor of Massachusetts, neither of whom is a major party nominee. The debate was between Evan Falchuk, nominee of the United Independent Party, and Jeffrey McCormick, an independent candidate. See this detailed description of the event.
Washington state held its fourth top-two primary on August 5. According to the Secretary of State’s web page, 2014 primary turnout was 31.15% of registered voters. This is the lowest Washington primary turnout since 1990.
Turnout in previous primaries has been: 2012 38.48%, 2010 40.97%, 2008 42.60%, 2006 38.80%, 2004 45.14%, 2002 34.21%, 2000 40.80%, 1998 35.29%, 1996 42.00%, 1994 34.54%, 1992 45.80%. These percentages are all from the Secretary of State’s web page. Old election returns earlier than 1992 are on the Secretary of State’s web page, but there is no turnout data. However, in 1990, the total number of votes cast for U.S. House in the primary was only 623,910, and there were 2,229,322 registered voters in Washington state in October 1990. The number of registered voters at the primary is not known, and the number of primary voters is not known, but the best estimate is that 1990 primary turnout was approximately 30%.
Washington used a blanket primary before 2004, and an open primary in 2004 and 2006.
On August 22, the Florida state court that had ruled that the 2011 redistricting for U.S. House violates the State Constitution ruled that, notwithstanding the flaws in the old lines, they should be used for the 2014 election. The judge also said that the new district lines passed by the legislature in special session last week are to be used in 2016. See this story.
As previously reported, the Alaska Libertarian primary on August 19 included a 3-way race for the U.S. Senate nomination. Thom Walker won, even though he didn’t campaign and is not known to Libertarian Party activists. This story suggests that Walker won the primary because some voters confused him with Bill Walker, an independent candidate for Governor whose name was not on any party’s primary ballot, but who is well-known.
