June 29 was the Texas deadline for petitions for newly-qualifying parties, and for independent candidates. No one turned in a statewide petition. Four independent candidates for U.S. Senate had filed a declaration of candidacy earlier this year, but they did not submit a petition. None of the parties that submitted a declaration of intent to petition this year filed a petition either, for statewide status. It is possible some parties turned in a petition to be on the ballot in a single county or two.

Parties that didn’t need to petition, because they polled enough votes in 2010 to remain on, are the Democratic, Green, Libertarian, and Republican Parties.

This story about Illinois petition challenges, for candidates for Congress and state legislature, shows that many candidates have been challenged even though they submitted more than 150% of the legal requirement.

On June 29, some Pennsylvania voters filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court, arguing that Pennsylvania must hold special elections for all legislative seats in 2013, because the 2012 election is using districts based on the 2000 census instead of the 2010 census. See this story.