Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee, elected as an independent in 2010, recently changed his voter registration to “Democratic” and is expected to run for re-election next year in the Democratic primary. See this story, which speculates that Chafee made the switch to make it easier to win re-election.

This is good news for Ken Block, founder of the Moderate Party and the party’s nominee for Governor in 2010. He polled 6.47% in 2010, even though he was running against Chafee, and the Democratic nominee and the Republican nominee. With no strong independent candidate in the 2014 race, Block will probably do even better in 2014 than he had done in 2010. A few weeks ago Block said he would again seek the Moderate Party gubernatorial nomination in 2014.

On May 29, the Oregon Senate unanimously passed SB 146. It is an omnibus election law bill. One of its provisions makes it easier for a party to remain ballot-qualified, by saying if a party meets the vote test, that lasts for four years, not just two years.

On May 28, SB 1146, the Connecticut bill to make it illegal for a party to nominate a non-member, was almost certainly killed. Although the Senate did not vote on the bill, it arranged to have the bill given the lowest priority for a vote. Because the legislature has only a week remaining in the session, it is overwhelmingly likely that it will fail to advance.