On April 9, the Missouri House passed HB 2387/2480, which restores presidential primaries. Missouri had repealed its presidential primaries in 2022. Here is the bill text. The primaries would be on the first Tuesday in March. Candidates would get on the ballot by paying a filing fee to their party. The party would set the amount of the fee.
Assuming the bill passes the Senate and becomes law, it is likely the Libertarian Party will have its own Missouri presidential primary in 2028.
On April 7, Alabama HB 541 passed the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. But it moved no further, because it was not brought up on the Senate floor, and the legislature adjourned on April 9. The bill would have switched Alabama from an open primary state to a closed primary state.
On April 9, the Alabama Senate unanimously passed HB 67. It lowers the cost of the registered voters list from approximately $37,000, to exactly $1,000. This is good news for future petition drives in Alabama. Groups and candidates face severe petition requirements in Alabama, but at least they will now be far more likely to be able to check the validity of their petitions before submitting them.
The Senate vote was unanimous.
Hugh Lytle, a candidate for the gubernatorial nomination of the Arizona Independent Party, is facing a challenge to his primary ballot position because he showed his business address on his petition instead of his home address. See this story.
The challenge is somewhat similar to the New York challenge in 2024 to the ballot position of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., while he was running as an independent candidate for president.
On April 6, the Sixth Circuit agreed with the lower court that Samuel Ronan should not be on the Ohio Republican Party primary ballot for U.S. House, 15th district. Ronan v LaRose, 26-3272. He had enough valid signatures, but he was challenged on the basis that he was not a sincere Republican. Comments has made about the Republican Party in the past were used against him.
On April 6, Ronan asked the U.S. Supreme Court to put him on the ballot, but on April 8 it refused. 25A1096.
The three judges on the Sixth Circuit panel were Joan Larsen and Chad Readler (Trump appointees) and Alice Batchelder, a Bush Sr. appointee. Here is their opinion denying injunctive relief.
Assuming the decision is not overturned later when the constitutional issues are settled, Ohio is now similar to Alabama and Tennessee. All three are states with no partisan registration. And now, in all three, candidates can be blocked from primary ballots on the basis of very personal statements and actions of candidates that are displeasing to party leaders.
