The Washington Post poll concerning the Virginia gubernatorial race can be seen here. The poll does not mention the Libertarian Party nominee, Rob Sarvis, who is expected to qualify for the ballot soon. However, the poll does ask the hypothetical question of who respondents would vote for if Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling were running as an independent (he considered doing that, but is not doing that). Those results show Bolling at 15% if he were running.

The poll also asks respondents if they are satisfied with a field that only includes Ken Cuccinelli, the Republican nominee, and Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic nominee. 45% said they were satisfied with that field, but 40% said they wish someone else were running. Thanks to PoliticalWire for the link to the poll.

Texas SB 817 passed the Senate unanimously on April 17. It has a hearing in the House Elections Committee on May 6. It is sponsored by Senator Glenn Hegar (R-Katy). It says that parties that nominate by convention would have their state nominating convention in April instead of June. It has no effect on the petitioning process itself or the petition deadline. The party desires this change because party nominees would have an easier time campaigning for the general election if they were “officially” nominees earlier in the year.

The bill also permits a party that nominates by convention to allow its nominees to hold the office of chair of the county party. Current law forbids individuals from simultaneously being candidates and party county chairmen, but the bill relaxes that, for parties that nominate by convention. Thanks to Jim Riley for this news.

On May 1, George McDonald, a Republican candidate for Mayor of New York city, lost his lawsuit over whether the amount of money an individual may contribute to a Mayoral candidate is $41,000 or $4,950. McDonald v New York City Campaign Finance Board, 100038/2013, New York County.

New York state law sets the donation limit at $41,000, but the city’s own campaign finance law sets it at $4,950. McDonald argued that it is legitimate for the city to impose the lower limit on candidates who qualify for public funding (a city program), but the lower amount cannot be imposed on candidates not participating in public funding. The city has used public funding for city office since 1988. The city amended its public financing law in 2004 to impose the lower limits on all candidates, not just participating candidates. Here is a more detailed story about the decision, which includes a link to the decision.