Here is the text of Montana’s cert petition to the U.S. Supreme Court in Fox v Sanders County Republican Committee, 13-839. The issue is a state law that makes it illegal for political parties to endorse or oppose a candidate for state judge. Montana elects state court judges in non-partisan elections. The Ninth Circuit had struck down the law on a 2-1 vote.
Political Scientist Hans Noel has this commentary in the Washington Post, about U.S. political parties, ideology, and polarization. The thesis is that the U.S. has long been divided by ideology. If parties didn’t seem polarized in the past, that is because there were liberals and conservatives in both major parties. But in recent years, “sorting” has been carried out, so that today, virtually all liberal politicians are Democrats and virtually all conservative politicians are Republicans.
Noel has written a book, “Political Ideologies and Political Parties in America”, which will be in print in February 2014.
National Review has this article about the Working Families Party, with an emphasis on how influential it is in New York.
The Pennsylvania Department of State web page now has this device to enable potential candidates to print their petition forms. Thanks to Larry Otter for the link.
According to this story, it is expected that Abel Maldonado will not run for Governor of California this year.
