On December 20, Aaron Starr and his organization won a lawsuit against the city of Oxnard’s limits on campaign contributions for city council candidates. Moving Oxnard Forward v Ascension, 21-56295. Here is the 2-1 decision, which was written by Judge Daniel P. Collins, a Trump appointee. The decision is also signed by visiting U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Joseph Murphy, a Bush Jr. appointee. The dissent is by Judge Mark J. Bennett, a Trump appointee.

The majority included in the opinion the evidence that the City Council put the campaign finance limits on the ballot (the voters passed it) just to stop Aaron Starr. It mentions that the city’s website, describing the measure, even put up references to Starr.

Starr was elected to the city council last month. He has been a California Libertarian Party activist for many years.

On December 20, opponents of the New York May petition deadline for independent candidates filed a cert petition in the U.S. Supreme Court. Meadors v Erie County Board of Elections, 24-684. If the state wishes to respond, its response is due January 27, 2025.

The U.S. District Court upheld the May deadline, which had been moved to May in 2019. Earlier the deadline had been in August.

The Second Circuit refused to hear the merits of the case, claiming the case was moot. The appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court is mainly concerned with the mootness issue. Back in 1968 the U.S. Supreme Court had said constitutional ballot access cases are not moot just because the election is over. The Second Circuit opinion is inconsistent with the 1968 precedent.

On December 16, two proposed initiatives to repeal the Alaska top-four system were submitted. The state has two months to approve the wording. If the wording is approved, the signature-gathering can begin. See this story.