On May 28, backers of a Wyoming referendum submitted their signatures. The referendum would repeal a law passed earlier this year by the legislature, which removes most significant power from the elected Superintendent of Public Instruction. The referendum requires 37,606 valid signatures. It is not known how many were turned in. The referendum was organized by Wyoming Constitution Party activists.
On May 28, Robert B. Reich, Labor Secretary for President Bill Clinton, posted a blog post on his own blog, “Why Democrats Can’t be Trusted to Control Wall Street.” The last line is, “Democrats can’t be trusted to control Wall Street. If there were ever an issue ripe for a third party, the Street would be it.”
Ballot Access News
May 1, 2013 – Volume 28, Number 12
| This issue was printed on pink paper. |
Table of Contents
A Marist Poll released May 28 shows that no Democratic candidate for Mayor of New York city now enjoys more than 24% of the Democratic electorate. This makes it very likely that a run-off primary will be needed. State law says New York city mayoral primaries need a run-off if no one gets at least 40%. New York city election administration almost certainly will change this year, because the current rules for a mayoral run-off are unworkable. There isn’t enough time to hold a run-off. Thanks to PoliticalWire for the link.
Political science professor Hans Hassell of Cornell College in Iowa has posted a paper, “The Non-existent Primary-Ideology Link, or Do Open Primaries Actually Limit Party Influence in Primary Elections?” He finds that in open primary states in which a major party has a fair chance of winning a seat, the party organization is able to help its preferred nominee, and discourage candidates it doesn’t like, by using its influence over individuals and organizations that make big donations.
The paper only deals with open primary states, not top-two primary states.
