The Rockford Register Star has this editorial, asking the Illinois legislature to ease ballot access.
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Four New Hampshire State House members have introduced HB 143, to restore the straight-ticket device that was repealed in 2007. The sponsors are Jeanine Nutter (R-Merrimack), Lenette Peterson (R-Merrimack), Don LeBrun (R-Nashua), and Frederick Rice (R-Concord). The bill would not give a straight-ticket device to any party unless that party had polled 4% for Governor or U.S. Senator in the last election.
If this bill had been in effect in 2012, the Libertarian Party would not have had its own straight-ticket device, even though the Libertarian Party successfully completed the party petition and had its own party column (except that the title of the Libertarian Party column was “Libertarian and Other Candidates”; independent candidates were also in the Libertarian column).
Democrats have a majority in the State House, so this bill, which lacks any Democratic co-sponsors, may have an uphill battle. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the news.
Ron Fournier has this essay in National Journal. Near the bottom, he suggests reasons why a new major political party in the U.S. is not entirely implausible. Fournier is the former Associated Press Washington, D.C., Bureau Chief, and now writes for National Journal.
The article’s title is misleading. Even if one major party died off and were replaced by another, that would not alter the existence of the two-party system. “Two-party system”, a term invented in 1911 to describe the British political system, simply means a system in which two particular parties are substantially larger than the other parties. Thanks to Peter Gemma for the link.
The November 2012 election returns for state legislative candidates reveal that the Constitution, Green, and Libertarian Parties each had a handful of state legislative nominees who polled at least 30% of the vote.
For the Constitution Party, the only legislative nominee who polled as much as 30% was Gregory Hughes, who polled 31.29% in Nevada’s First Senate District against a Democrat. The district is in Las Vegas. Among the Constitution Party legislative nominees in the nation who had both a Democratic and a Republican opponent, the highest percentage was earned by Janine Hansen, who polled 19.54% against both a Democrat and a Republican in Nevada’s 19th State Senate district, which covers the eastern half of rural Nevada and runs all the way from Idaho to California.
For the Green Party, the best percentage was earned by Fred Smith in the Arkansas 50th State House district. He faced one opponent, a Democrat, but a court ordered that the votes for the Democrat not be counted, so Smith is credited with 100% of the vote, and, of course, was elected. Five other Green legislative nominees polled more than 30% of the vote. Two were in Hawaii: Keiko Bonk polled 31.35% in a race against both a Democrat and a Republican in the 20th House district in Honolulu; and Kelly Greenwell polled 33.42% in the State Senate, 4th district, on the big island, against a Democrat.
Also for the Greens, K. Frederick Horch polled 32.51% in a race against both a Democrat and a Republican in Maine’s 66th House district in Brunswick. Also in Maine, in the 115th House district, in Portland, Seth Berner polled 33.42% in a race against a Democrat. In Florida, Karen Morian, in the 12th House district in the Jacksonville area, polled 31.73% against a Republican.
For the Libertarian Party, three candidates polled at least 30% of the vote. In South Carolina’s 26th House district, Jeremy C. Walters polled 47.06% against a single opponent. The opponent was a Republican but she was on the ballot as an independent. In Colorado, Tim Menger polled 40.96% against a Republican in the 54th House district in Grand Junction. And in Florida, Franklin Perez polled 34.05% against a Republican in the 28th House district, which consists partly of Seminole County.
The highest percentage for Libertarians running against opponents from both major parties was earned by Steve Allen Stefanik, running in New Hampshire’s House district, Hillsborough County #16. He polled 19.91%.
In the November 2012 election, the Colorado Libertarian Party was the only party, other than the Democratic and Republican Parties, to place its own member-nominees for the legislature on the ballot in a majority of contests. Colorado had twenty State Senate seats up and Libertarians were on the ballot in twelve of them. Colorado had all 65 State House seats up, and Libertarians were on the ballot in 39 of them.
Whenever a party, other than the two major parties, runs this many candidates for a state legislature, invariably that action pays off with unforeseen opportunity. In the case of the Colorado Libertarian Party, the 54th House district race took a surprising turn after the major party primaries were determined. The only candidates in that race were Libertarian Tim Menger and Republican Jared Wright. Several major ethical lapses on Wright’s part were revealed, and the leading newspaper in the district, the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, endorsed the Libertarian nominee. Press coverage of the campaign suggested that he had a chance to win. Although he didn’t win (he polled 40.96%), his high visibility earned points for the Libertarian Party in the area. See the Daily Sentinel’s endorsement of Menger here. See this Daily Sentinel story, published on election night when it became apparent that Wright had won.
In the 2012 election, the Conservative, Working Families, and Independence Parties of New York had nominees for the New York state legislature in over half the districts, but the overwhelming majority of the nominees were not members of those parties, but were cross-endorsed major party nominees. Also the Connecticut Working Families Party cross-endorsed in over half the Connecticut State Senate races as well, but again this was a case of cross-endorsing major party nominees.