On September 6, U.S. District Court Judge Noel Hillman issued a 34-page opinion in Lewis v Secretary of State Kim Guadagno, 11-cv-2381, upholding the New Jersey Constitutional provision that bars candidates from running for the State Senate unless they have lived in the state for the preceding four years.

The judge also ruled that state officials have not broken the Equal Protection Clause by invoking the state Constitutional provision against Lewis. The opinion says, “The Plaintiff is a man of great and inspiring achievement, justifiably held in high regard, and possessed of promise for the future. More importantly, he is the candidate of choice of his political party. And it is more than just a populist notion -indeed it is ingrained in our collective political DNA – to level the playing field, to welcome all comers, and to root for the underdog…our courts have been, and ought to be, more than a little skeptical of state machinations to preserve and perpetuate the status quo of entrenched powers and ever vigilant against discrimination in all its sinister forms…But…the citizens of the State of New Jersey have chosen and left undisturbed a universally applied and neutral prerequisite to hold the office of State Senator. The durational residency requirement applies to all.” The provision in the State Constitution is 167 years old.

On August 25, the Green Party of the U.S. Outreach & Exploratory Committee received this response from Jill Stein. The Committee had asked potential presidential candidates to fill out a detailed questionaire. This does not mean that Stein has committed to seeking the Green Party presidential nomination, but it shows she is thinking very carefully about it.

Jill Stein is a physician in Massachusetts who has been a leader of the Green Party in her state for over a decade. Here is her wikipedia page. Here is her web page, which has a link to her 2010 gubernatorial campaign page.

Stein raised $150,000 for her Massachusetts gubernatorial run in 2010. She probably has the organizational savvy to qualify for primary season matching funds if she runs for the Green nomination. No Green Party presidential candidate except Ralph Nader in 2000 has ever manged to qualify for primary season matching funds. The federal law requires raising at least $5,000 in each of 20 states. The period for raising these funds ends after the particular party chooses its presidential nominee. The Green Party still hasn’t set the date of its 2012 presidential convention, but it is likely to be in July or August. UPDATE: here is Kent Mesplay’s response. Mesplay is also seeking the Green Party presidential nomination. His response was filed back in February 2011.

New York holds a special election to fill the vacant U.S. House seat, 9th district, on September 13. Magellan Strategies, a pollster, just released a poll for this race. Three candidates are on the ballot: the nominees of the Democratic, Republican, and Socialist Workers Parties. See the poll results here. Thanks to Political Wire for the link. Thanks to the commenter who pointed out the flaws in this post as it was originally written.