Jim Jenkins, of Callaway, Nebraska, has announced that he will be an independent candidate for U.S. Senate in 2014. See this story. He had planned to run as an independent in 2012, but a state law barred him because he had been registered as a Democrat in the recent past. There is no incumbent in the 2014 Senate race. So far no Democrat has announced. Nebraska has not had an independent candidate on the ballot for U.S. Senate since 2002.
On October 23, Quinnipiac University Polls released a new gubernatorial poll for Virginia. The results: McAuliffe 46%, Cuccinelli 39%, Sarvis 10%, write-in someone else 1%, undecided 4%.
The poll is interesting because it breaks down the results by age, race, party affiliation, sex, and income. 78% of the voters say they don’t know enough about Sarvis to have an opinion about him. The final debate, which excludes him, is October 24, although there is a 3-candidate forum on October 28. Thanks to Political Wire for the link.
Texas is holding a statewide election on November 5 for various ballot measures, and early voting is in process. According to this story, Sandra Watts, an elected local judge, was forced to cast a provisional ballot when she tried to vote. The name on her voter registration record is her first name, the middle name she was given at birth, and her surname, which is also her husband’s surname. But her Texas drivers license shows her maiden name as her middle name. When she married in 1964, Texas law required women to list their maiden name as their middle name.
She has had the same name on her voter registration record for almost half a century, and she has not moved in over twenty years, but because the name on her drivers license is not a perfect match with her name on the voter registration records, the Texas photo-ID law prevented her from casting a normal ballot. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
The Times-Dispatch of Richmond, Virginia, has this lengthy story about the wives of each of the three gubernatorial candidates. The section of the story about each particular wife lists Astrid Sarvis first. Thanks to IndependentPoliticalReport for the link.
Think Progress has this interesting story by Carimah Townes about the new Texas law requiring voters at the polls to show government photo-ID. Because the Texas law is so restrictive about documents, one consequence is that newly-married women who take their husband’s surname face extra barriers. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
