Major Parties in Georgia Release Names of Presidential Primary Candidates

Posted on by December 10, 2011
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In Georgia, leaders of the two major parties decide who will be listed on their presidential primary ballots. Candidates need not file. Those not chosen have no recourse, except to ask the major party figures in the state to reconsider their omission.

The Democratic Party, not surprisingly, chose to list only President Obama. The Georgia Republican Party leaders chose Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Gary Johnson, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Buddy Roemer, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum.

The only other state with similar presidential primary ballot access is Florida. In Florida, the Republicans chose the same names as those in the Georgia race, except that Florida Republicans excluded Buddy Roemer.

Presidential Primary Filing Closes in Louisiana and Oklahoma

Posted on by December 10, 2011
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During the past week, filing for the presidential primaries closed in Louisiana and Oklahoma. In both states, any candidate may qualify by paying a filing fee. The Oklahoma presidential primary will be March 6, and the Louisiana primary on March 24.

In the Oklahoma Democratic primary, the listed candidates will be Bob Ely of Illinois, President Obama, Darcy Richardson, Jim Rogers of Oklahoma, and Randall Terry of West Virginia.

In the Louisiana Democratic primary, the list candidates will be President Obama, Darcy Richardson, and John Wolfe of Tennessee.

In the Oklahoma Republican primary, the seven candidates will be Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum.

In the Louisiana Republican primary, the nine candidates will be Michele Bachmann, Randy Crow of North Carolina, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Buddy Roemer, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum. It is somewhat surprising that Roemer filed in his home state, since he did not file in Oklahoma and since he has dropped out of the Republican race and is seeking the Americans Elect nomination. Gary Johnson did not file in either primary, which is not surprising because last month he said he was leaving the Republican race. It is highly likely he will enter the contest for the Libertarian nomination. Thanks to Randall Hayes for the Louisiana news. UPDATE: Roemer has not dropped out of the Republican race. He is continuing to seek the Republican nomination as well as the Americans Elect nomination.

U.S. Supreme Court Will Hear Texas Redistricting Oral Arguments on January 9; Primary Likely to be Delayed

Posted on by December 9, 2011
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On December 9, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear oral arguments in Perry v Perez, 11A536, the lawsuit over Texas congressional and state legislative district boundaries. The hearing will be January 9, 2012, at 1 p.m. It is very rare for the U.S. Supreme Court to hear arguments in the afternoon, but this case is being expedited, and the Court already had a full hearing schedule in the morning on that day.

This development makes it likely that Texas will postpone its primary, at least for U.S. House and state legislature. The primary had been expected to be held on March 6. If the primary is moved to May, that automatically improves the petition deadline for parties seeking a place on the November ballot, from May to July. It makes a somewhat similar improvement for non-presidential independent candidates.

Candidates expecting to run for office in Texas in 2012 had already started to file.

Ohio Could Conceivably Still Move its Primary to April 24

Posted on by December 9, 2011
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Currently, Ohio is set to have its state office and U.S. Senate primary in March, and its U.S. House and Presidential Primary on June 12. However, according to Frontloading HQ, there is still a chance the Ohio legislature will pass a bill moving both primaries to April 24. See this story.

If this happens, then it would make some sense for the Ohio Libertarian Party to use the presidential primary that it is permitted to have, because April 24 would be earlier than the Libertarian Party’s national convention, which is in early May.

Florida Congressional Candidate Sues to Overturn New Florida Law that Bans Someone from Running in a Primary if the Candidate was a Member of Another Party

Posted on by December 9, 2011
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On December 8, Nancy Argenziano, a former Republican Florida state legislator, filed a lawsuit in state court, seeking to overturn the 2011 law that says no one may run in a partisan primary if that person were a registered member of another qualified party at any time in the last year before filing. The case is Argenziano v Browning, Leon County Circuit Court, 2011-ca-3484.

Argenziano wants to run for U.S. House in 2012 as a Democrat. She had registered out of the Republican Party months ago, but unfortunately for her, instead of registering as an independent (which would not have barred her from running in the Democratic primary next year), she accidentally registered as a member of the Independent Party, which has been a ballot-qualified party in Florida for over ten years.

Florida is in the process of decertifying certain qualified minor parties that have not complied with new requirements for party qualification, but the Independent Party has re-qualified and continues to be ballot-qualified.

Argenziano’s lawsuit would be far stronger if the Democratic Party of Florida would join her as a co-plaintiff. So far, however, Argenziano is the only plaintiff. In 1986 the U.S. Supreme Court said that if a party wants to nominate a non-member, the U.S. Constitution protects its right to do that. The U.S. Supreme Court has found stronger legal protection for political parties than it has for candidates.