L.A. Weekly has this very long story about California’s 33rd U.S. House District race. Although the first part of the article is about Marianne Williamson, the second half is about incumbent Congressman Henry Waxman, with quite a bit about Bill Bloomfield as well. Bloomfield ran as an independent against Waxman in 2012 and he may run again. Marianne Williamson is running as an independent. Thanks to Independent Political Report for the link.

Unfortunately, the reporter who wrote the story refers to the November election as the “run-off.” This is incorrect. A “run-off” is only held if no one gets 50% in the election itself. Because no one is ever elected in California’s top-two system in the June primary, the June event is not a true election. It is only a ballot-access barrier, functioning to decide the identify of the only two people permitted to run in the election itself. The top-two law was written that way because a federal law requires all states to hold congressional elections in November, and if a run-off is desired, it must be after the November election. Georgia and Louisiana are the only states with congressional run-offs.

On January 15, the Sixth Circuit refused to expedite the case Libertarian Party of Ohio v Husted, 14-3030. This is the lawsuit involving whether minor parties should be on the Ohio 2014 ballot. On January 7, 2014, the U.S. District Court had kept the parties on the ballot, and the state had appealed, and asked for expedited handling.

The Sixth Circuit’s action makes it extremely likely that the four minor parties will be on the 2014 ballot, and will have their own primaries this year. It seems obvious that if the Sixth Circuit disagreed with the U.S. District Court order, it would have expedited the case.