Elected Working Families Party Office-Holder Leaves Party Over Party’s Cross-Endorsement of Democratic Governor of Connecticut

In this letter, Maria Pereira, who was elected to the Bridgeport, Connecticut School Board as a Working Families Party nominee in 2009, resigns her office within the Working Families Party. She objects to the party’s cross-endorsement of Democratic Governor Dan Malloy, who is running for re-election this year.

Two of the Three Republicans Running in Primary for Governor of Wyoming Have Strong Ties to Constitution Party

This article describes the three-way contest for the Wyoming Republican gubernatorial nomination. The three candidates are incumbent Matt Mead, Cindy Hill, and Taylor Haynes.

The Wyoming Constitution Party has strong ties to both Hill and Haynes. In April 2011, Haynes (who won 7% of the November 2010 gubernatorial vote as a write-in candidate) addressed the National Committee meeting of the Constitution Party. The article has a link to his talk at that event.

And, in 2013, the Wyoming Constitution Party led the effort to gather signatures on a referendum petition, to repeal a law that stripped Cindy Hill of most of her duties. She is the elected Superintendent of Public Instruction in Wyoming, but in 2013 the legislature passed a bill moving most of her duties to an appointed gubernatorial appointee. The Constitution Party did not get enough valid signatures to put that law to a referendum, but it get half-way and for a while the news media assumed that petition drive would succeed. Later, the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled the measure unconstitutional.

Kentucky Republican Candidate Sues to Obtain List of Voters who have Requested an Absentee Ballot

On April 3, Deborah Sheldon, a Republican running for State Senate in the May 20 primary, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court to strike down a 2013 law that says the list of voters who have requested an absentee ballot is not public information until after the primary or election is over. Sheldon says her campaign wants the list of registered Republicans who have requested an absentee ballot, so her campaign can send those voters campaign literature.

The list was public, until the 2013 legislature made it unavailable until the election is over. The state says the purpose for the 2013 law is because if candidates know who the absentee voters are before the election, they are likely to bribe those voters to vote a certain way. The lawsuit is Sheldon v Grimes, eastern district, 2:14cv-60.

Carolina Journal Carries Lengthy Story on Libertarian U.S. Senate Debate

This year, the Libertarian Party of North Carolina has a contested primary for U.S. Senate between Sean Haugh, a long-time activist in the party, and Tim D’Annunzio, who recently joined the Libertarian Party and had run as a Republican for Congress in 2010 and 2012.

The two debated each other on April 5. Carolina Journal has this lengthy story about the debate. Carolina Journal is a monthly print publication, 22 years old, and an important web page for news about North Carolina government and politics. Thanks to IndependentPoliticalReport for the link.