On August 15, Jon Stewart broadcast this very funny commentary on how many television networks analyzed the Iowa Republican straw poll results. Thanks to Mike Benoit for the link.
According to this story, Americans Elect is about to begin petitioning for presidential ballot status in Arkansas. The petition to put a new party on the ballot only requires 1,000 signatures, for groups that only want to run a presidential nominee, but no nominees for other office.
The August 16 issue of the Tri-Valley Herald, daily newspaper of eastern Alameda County and nearby parts of Contra Costa County, has this op-ed, suggesting that California’s top-two system violates the U.S. Constitution. The op-ed is authored by Stephen D. Zendejas.
This is virtually the first time that any California newspaper has carried any content that suggests that the constitutionality of Proposition 14, passed by the voters in June 2010, is not assured. Even though the constitutionality of that type of system is pending in the 9th circuit, it appears that no California newspaper has told its readers that the lawsuit is still pending. Even this op-ed does not tell the readers about that specific case, which is called Washington State Republican Party v Washington State Grange.
On August 16, the New Jersey Secretary of State removed Carl Lewis’s name from the roster of candidates for the November 8, 2011 election. He had won the Democratic primary in June for State Senate, district 8. However, the Secretary of State, and a state court, had previously ruled that he does not meet the state constitution’s residency requirement. See this story. This development will probably prompt the U.S. District Court to rule very soon. Lewis is challenging the state constitutional requirement; he argues that it violates the U.S. Constitution.
Carl Lewis is better-known than most people who run for state legislature, because he was a well-known Olympic track star in the past.
Leaders of the Missouri Constitution Party announced on August 16 that Cynthia L. Davis has just joined the Constitution Party. Davis was in the State House for eight years, 2002-2010, but she could not run for re-election to the House due to term limits. She is from O’Fallon, a populous suburb of St. Louis. Until one month ago, she had been chair of the St. Charles County Republican Party, but she recently resigned that post. She intends to run for some partisan office in 2012. She was born in 1959.
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