Virginia Libertarian Party Nominates Rob Sarvis for Governor

On April 21, the Virginia Libertarian Party held a nominating convention and chose Rob Sarvis for Governor. He already has about 4,000 signatures but needs 10,000 valid by mid-June.

If he gets on the ballot, he will be only the second Libertarian ever on the Virginia ballot for Governor. The first was Bill Redpath, in 2001. UPDATE: here is more information about Sarvis, from Uncovered Politics.

New Arizona Registration Tally

Arizona releases a new registration tally every three months. The April 1 data was released on April 19. See the results here. Since the January 1 tally, Republicans have declined in both raw numbers and percentages; the same is true for Democrats. However, all three of the state’s qualified minor parties increased (both in raw numbers and as a percentage), as did independent voters.

West Virginia Legislature Adjourns After Passing Bill to Extend Public Funding for State Supreme Court Elections

The West Virginia legislature adjourned its regular session on April 17. Before it adjourned, it passed HB 2805, which extends public funding for candidates for State Supreme Court through the 2016 election. The program had been used for the first time in 2012 as a pilot project. The bill also eliminates the part of the program that provides extra public funding for candidates who have well-funded privately-funded opponents, because that part of the program had been held unconstitutional.

Bills to convert judicial elections into non-partisan elections, to ease the vote test for a party to remain on the ballot, and to curtail the straight-ticket device, all failed to pass.