On January 30, the Arizona House Judiciary Committee passed HB 2196. That bill repeals the 2013 bill, HB 2305, that made it extremely difficult for members of small qualified parties to get on their own party’s primary ballots. HB 2305 had many other election law provisions also, some of which are strongly opposed by Democrats and their allies.
Repealing the 2013 bill would cancel the November 2014 referendum on the 2013 bill. See this story.
Two primaries and one election for Alabama legislative races had been set for January 28, but all three were postponed on January 27, due to bad weather. See this story, which says that new dates for the elections have not yet been set. According to the Secretary of State’s web page, the elections have been re-set and will be held February 4.
The daily newspaper of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the Intelligencer Journal, has this letter to the editor. It chides State Senator Lloyd Smucker, who represents Lancaster, for repeatedly refusing to hold a hearing on SB 195, the bill to improve ballot access for minor party and independent candidates. The bill has been introduced in three sessions of the legislature, but it has never had a hearing. It is in the Senate State Government Committee, chaired by Senator Smucker. Senator Smucker has twice scheduled meetings with supporters of the bill, and then in each case canceled the meeting.
According to this story, Oregon Republican Party leaders will try to persuade the legislature to move the primary from mid-May to an earlier date. Thanks to FrontloadingHQ for the link.
On January 29, Congressman Henry Waxman, a veteran Democrat from southwest Los Angeles County, made a surprise announcement that he won’t run for re-election this year. This news is probably good news for Marianne Williamson, a well-known author who is running in the 33rd district as an independent candidate. Thanks to PoliticalWire for the news.
