American Independent Party Picks Tom Hoefling for President

On August 11, the American Independent Party (AIP) nominated Tom Hoefling for President at its state convention in Sacramento, California. The convention was in the meeting room of Perkos Restaurant, 925 Third Street.

Only seven delegates were present when the vote was taken: Markham Robinson, Mary Robinson, Mark Seidenberg, Rev. Wiley Drake, Dennis Aguirre, John Robertson, and Phelps Hobart. A majority of votes cast were proxies of people who were not in attendance. Most of these proxies were controlled by Markham Robinson. There were 7 in-person votes and 13 proxy votes. The original vote was 19 for Hoefling and one for Goode, but then the Goode voter switched his vote to Hoefling so that the vote was unanimous.

Several hours earlier, three delegates, all backing Ed Noonan for President, had left the convention in protest. Noonan, who was one of those three delegates, told the gathering that he should be the presidential nominee because he had won the presidential primary and he had contributed many years of service to the AIP. Noonan accurately perceived what the vote was going to be, even though that vote was still several hours in the future at the time he left, so he and his backers saw no reason to remain for the vote.

The convention chose Dr. Robert Ornelas of Anaheim, California, for vice-president. He works with a group that develops Christian hip hop evangelistic messages. He did not attend the convention but he had phoned in on speaker phone and had asked for the vice-presidential nomination. However, when he asked for it, he was holding himself out as the running mate for Rev. Wiley Drake. Drake, who did attend the convention, had asked for the presidential nomination but did not receive it.

Briefs Submitted in Arizona Supreme Court, in Lawsuit over Top-two Open Primary

On August 10, briefs on both sides were filed simultaneously with the Arizona Supreme Court in Save Our Vote v Bennett, the case over whether the initiative for a top-two open primary should be on the November 2012 ballot. Reply briefs are due early next week.

Amicus curiae briefs on the side of the proponents were submitted by the Southern Arizona Leadership Council and the Committee for a Unified Independent Party (CUIP), also known as Independent Voting. This is the group based in New York city.

Amicus curiae briefs opposing the top-two initiative were: (1) the Goldwater Institute; (2) leaders of both houses of the legislature; (3) the Democratic Party of Maricopa County, Pima County, and the county Democratic chairs in Pinal County and Coconino County; (4) the Arizona Latino Republican Association.

The CUIP brief argues that a top-two primary system elects more moderates. In support of this idea, it mentions the California June 2012 primary in the 8th U.S. House district (California’s Mohave desert district). The brief says under top-two, a moderate Republican and a conservative Republican placed first and second, and that this will enable Democrats and independents in November to elect the moderate Republican. However, the brief has a footnote to a Daily Kos article that describes the candidates in the 8th district race. The only Republican characterized as a moderate Republican in the Daily Kos analysis is Ryan McEachron. However, McEachron placed eighth, polling only 3.9% of the vote. The top two vote-getters in the 8th district are Gregg Imus (who associates himself with the Tea Party) and Assemblyman Paul Cook, a very conservative Republican state legislator. Of course, an argument that top-two should remain on the ballot because it allegedly helps moderates win is not an argument that pertains to the issue in the case. The issue is whether the Arizona initiative violates the single-subject rule.

Alaska Will Have No More than Six Presidential Candidates on the November Ballot

The petition deadline has passed in Alaska. The only petitions received involving the presidential race this season are the Green Party and Americans Elect Party petitions. The Americans Elect petition was submitted months ago.

The four ballot-qualified parties on in Alaska are: Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, and Alaskan Independence Party. No one knows which presidential candidate the Alaskan Independence Party will nominate. In 2008, that party nominated Chuck Baldwin, who was also the Constitution Party presidential nominee.

Two Independent Presidential Candidates File Petitions in Ohio

The deadline for independent presidential petitions in Ohio has now passed. Two independent presidential candidates submitted petitions: Richard Duncan, and Michael Vargo. The vice-presidential candidate for Duncan is Ricky Johnson; the v-p for Vargo is Jeff Angeletti. Duncan lives in Aurora, Ohio; and Vargo lives in Mt. Vernon, Ohio. Duncan also ran as an independent presidential candidate in Ohio in 2008, and got 3,905 votes in Ohio. He was not on the ballot in any other state in 2008.

Ohio has seven ballot-qualified parties, and they didn’t need any petition to appear on the November ballot for President. Those parties are Democratic, Republican, Americans Elect, Constitution, Green, Libertarian, and Socialist.

North Carolina Libertarian Party Receives $96,664 from State Income Tax Check-Off

North Carolina is one of the thirteen states in which the state income tax form lets taxpayers choose to help any particular ballot-qualified party. This year, the state recently sent these amounts to each of the three ballot-qualified parties: Democratic $1,456,436; Republican $898,532; Libertarian $96,664.

Amounts are larger in presidential election years than in other years, because the state policy is to hold back some of the money in non-presidential years, and release it in presidential election years.

The Libertarian Party will probably spend a major share of its money for its gubernatorial campaign, because the party must poll at least 2% of the vote for either President or Governor in order to remain on the ballot in 2014 and 2016. North Carolina elects its Governors in presidential election years. Parties face no vote test in mid-term years.