Gary Swing has this op-ed in Tucson’s daily newspaper, the Arizona Daily Star, advocating that Arizona’s ballot access laws be eased. Among other things, he advocates that small qualified parties be allowed to nominate by convention instead of by primary.
The Virginia vote on the April 21 proposed constitutional amendment passed with 51.23% of the vote, with almost all votes counted. See the results here. This means Virginia will change its U.S. House district boundaries for 2026. The new boundaries are expected to help Democratic nominees win up to four additional seats.
On April 20, the Tennessee House Finance, Ways & Means Committee defeated HB 886, the bill to convert primaries from open to closed. See this story.
On April 20, Betty Yee, former California Controller, dropped out of the gubernatorial race. See this story. She did not endorse any other Democrat but said she will endorse someone soon. Her name remains on the ballot.
Also on April 20, an Evitarus Poll was released, showing: Hilton 16%, Blanco 14%, Becerra 13%, Steyer 13%, Porter 10%, Mahan 5%, Villaraigosa 2%, Yee 1%, Swalwell 1%, other 2%, undecided 20%. See here. This poll was commissioned by the California Democratic Party.
On April 20, the Seventh Circuit stayed an order of the U.S. District Court in the case involving whether university and college ID cards can be used as voter ID in the May 4, 2026 primary. See the order here. It says that the U.S. District Court should not have issued injunctive relief to the plaintiffs, who are college students and who had sued over the 2025 law that says university and college ID cards can no longer be used to vote. The Seventh Circuit said the primary is so close (May 4) that the lower court should have left the status quo in place. The Seventh Circuit said nothing about the merits of the case, which involves equal protection and discrimination against students.
The three judges are Michael Brennan and Michael Scudder (Trump appointees) and Joshua Kolar, a Biden appointee.
