On April 20, the Tennessee House Finance, Ways & Means Committee defeated HB 886, the bill to convert primaries from open to closed. See this story.
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On April 20, Betty Yee, former California Controller, dropped out of the gubernatorial race. See this story. She did not endorse any other Democrat but said she will endorse someone soon. Her name remains on the ballot.
Also on April 20, an Evitarus Poll was released, showing: Hilton 16%, Blanco 14%, Becerra 13%, Steyer 13%, Porter 10%, Mahan 5%, Villaraigosa 2%, Yee 1%, Swalwell 1%, other 2%, undecided 20%. See here. This poll was commissioned by the California Democratic Party.
On April 20, the Seventh Circuit stayed an order of the U.S. District Court in the case involving whether university and college ID cards can be used as voter ID in the May 4, 2026 primary. See the order here. It says that the U.S. District Court should not have issued injunctive relief to the plaintiffs, who are college students and who had sued over the 2025 law that says university and college ID cards can no longer be used to vote. The Seventh Circuit said the primary is so close (May 4) that the lower court should have left the status quo in place. The Seventh Circuit said nothing about the merits of the case, which involves equal protection and discrimination against students.
The three judges are Michael Brennan and Michael Scudder (Trump appointees) and Joshua Kolar, a Biden appointee.
On April 16, U.S. District Court Judge Richard L. Young, a Clinton appointee, enjoined a 2025 Indiana law that says ID cards issued by public universities do not count as photo ID. Count Us in v Morales, s.d., 1:25cv-864. The ruling says the law violates Equal Protection. The decision notes that public university and college ID’s were accepted for twenty years, until 2025. Also the ruling notes that schools have traditionally worked with the state to insure that their ID’s meet state standards.
The state has already appealed to the Seventh Circuit, where it is case 26-1783. The appeal will move fast because the Indiana primary is May 4.
George Skelton, veteran politics columnist for the Los Angeles Times, writes here that California needs write-in space on general election ballots for top-two offices. He says, “No write-in candidacies are allowed in California’s general elections, although they are in the primary. That’s an inexplicable flaw.”
California allows write-ins in all presidential general elections, and non-partisan elections, and in top-two primary elections. It is only top-two general elections that ban write-ins. The ban was created in 2012.