On January 21, the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, held oral arguments in Common Cause v Biden, a challenge to the filibuster. According to this story, the three judges seem overwhelmingly likely to reject the lawsuit. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
The January 21 issue of the New York Times has a story about a recent judicial appointment by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. According to the story, the appointee, who will be leaving the job of chief executive of the Delaware River Port Authority, has a bad record for integrity and stewardship of public funds. The story also explains that the boss of the Democratic Party of southern New Jersey is a close associate, and that Democrats in the State Senate supported the appointment even though, according to the facts brought out in the story, they should not have approved him. As is well known, Governor Christie is a Republican. Be sure to read the last third of the story.
The Alabama ballot access reform bill that had already been introduced into the Senate as SB 70 is also now introduced in the House. It is HB 327, by Representative John Merrill (R-Tuscaloosa). Merrill is only in his first term in the legislature, but he is running in the Republican primary for Secretary of State, and he is considered the frontrunner. Thanks to Joshua Cassity for this news.
Here is a link to the Virginia State Board of Elections web page, showing the results for State Senate, in the 33rd district. As of 9:55 p.m., they show: Democrat Jennifer Wexton 52.71%, Republican John Whitbeck 37.50%, independent Joe T. May 9.78%. May, although running as an independent, is an outgoing Republican member of the Virginia House of Delegates.
On January 21, Quinnipiac Polls released a poll for the presidential election of 2016, assuming that Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee and Chris Christie is the Republican nominee. Respondents were merely asked whether they would vote for one or the other, without acknowledging that the respondent might wish to vote for someone else. The results: 46% Clinton, 38% Christie, 3% volunteered that they would vote for someone else; 5% said they wouldn’t vote; 9% said they didn’t know. Here are the results; scroll down to question seven. Thanks to PoliticalWire for the link.
