On February 7, Louisiana held special elections in five districts, but in three of them only Democrats were on the ballot.

In the House 37th district, there were two Republicans and an independent. The independent received 31%. When this district had last voted, in 2023, only a Republican had been on the ballot.

In the House 60th district, there were two candidates, a Democrat and a Republican. The Democrat won 62%-38%. When this district had last voted, in 2023, only a Democrat had been on the ballot.

On February 6, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs signed SB 1425, which moves the non-presidential primary from early August to mid-July. That automatically moves the petition deadline for a new party two weeks earlier, to mid-November of the year before the election.

On January 30, the state of Missouri filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Commerce. The lawsuit seeks to obtain an order that when the number of U.S. House seats for each state is determined after the 2030 census, the population figures for each state should not count undocumented aliens. State of Missouri v U.S. Dept. of Commerce, e.d. Missouri, 4:26cv-131.

The case was initially assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Maria A. lanahan, a Trump appointee, but she recused herself, so now it is assigned to Judge John A. Ross, an Obama appointee. The case will probably become a 3-judge U.S. District Court case. It will be interesting to see if the Defendant defends current practices of the Census Bureau. The Bureau has traditionally resisted asking respondents if they are legally admitted, for fear that if the Census were to include such a question, it would be more difficult to persuade people to answer the Census questions.