On May 9, independent candidate Brent Roske, running in California’s 33rd U.S. House district, dropped out of the race. He endorsed fellow independent candidate Marianne Williamson, who is running for the same seat. There is no incumbent in the race; the outgoing member of Congress is Henry Waxman. Roske is a television producer best known for the series “Chasing the Hill.” See this story. California law does not permit candidates to withdraw their names from the ballot, so his withdrawal does not remove his name from the ballot.

The California Secretary of State’s last statewide registration tally was as of April 4. However, the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters keeps a running daily tally. Therefore, it is possible to know registration changes between April 4 and May 9.

In that short interval, the Republican Party lost 5,978 registrants in Los Angeles County. By contrast, most of the state’s qualified parties gained in Los Angeles County during that period. The Democratic Party gained 858, the Peace & Freedom Party gained 243, the Libertarian Party gained 236, and Americans Elect gained one.

The Green Party lost 53, and the American Independent Party lost 67. The combination of independent voters plus voters registered in unqualified parties gained 4,024.

Michigan Congressman John Conyers is running for re-election this year. He needs 1,000 signatures to get on the Democratic primary ballot. Two of his petitioners were apparently not registered voters when they circulated his petition, and the Conyers campaign will probably file a lawsuit to overturn the Michigan law that requires circulators to be registered voters.

On May 8, law enforcement officials confirmed that one of the two circulators is wanted for probation violations in Battle Creek. See this story.