U.S. Supreme Court Sets Conference Date for Arizona Public Funding Case

Posted on by November 15, 2010
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The U.S. Supreme Court will probably decide on November 23, Tuesday, whether to hear McComish v Bennett, 10-239.  This is the case involving public funding of state campaigns in Arizona.  The issue is the constitutionality of extra public funding, for publicly funded candidates who have very well-funded opponents who are not using public funding.

The same issue has arisen this year in cases involving public funding from Maine, Connecticut, and Florida.  The Court doesn’t usually hold conferences on Tuesdays, but that is Thanksgiving week.  It is not clear whether the Court’s decision will be made known on Wednesday, November 24, or the following Monday, November 29.

Republicans Made Historic Gains in State Legislatures

Posted on by November 14, 2010
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The National Conference of State Legislatures has this summary of the election results for state legislative races earlier this month.  Republicans gained approximately 675 legislative seats.  Republicans have clear majorities in both chambers of state legislatures for the first time since the 19th century in Tennessee, Alabama, and North Carolina.  For the first time since the 19th century, there are more Republican state legislators than Democratic state legislators in the south.

Republicans also made huge gains in the state legislative elections in Maine and New Hampshire.  Both houses of the New Hampshire went from Democratic majorities to super-majorities (more than 2/3rds) for Republicans.  In Maine, the House went from 95 Democrats and 55 Republicans, to 77 Republicans, 73 Democrats, and one Green (whose ballot label was independent).  In Minnesota, Republicans hold a majority in the State Senate for the first time since 1970.

Alaska Division of Elections Posts Write-in Totals for All Declared Write-in Candidates for U.S. Senate

Posted on by November 14, 2010
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The Alaska Division of Elections has posted a tentative tally of the number of write-in votes for all declared write-in candidates.  Other than Lisa Murkowski, no declared write-in candidate for U.S. Senate received more than eleven votes.  See the entire list here.  These totals are not final because some ballots are still arriving in the mail and also the counting is not finished.  The Division also counted write-ins for Joe Miller, even though he is not a declared write-in candidate.  He is credited with 5 write-ins.

35 States Now Have a Ballot-Qualified Party Other Than Democratic and Republican Parties

Posted on by November 13, 2010
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In the aftermath of the November 2010 election, 35 states plus the District of Columbia have at least one ballot-qualified party other than the Democratic and Republican Parties.  This is the highest such number, immediately after a midterm election, for any election since 1918.

The 15 states without a ballot-qualified party (statewide), other than the Democratic and Republican Parties, are:  Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington.  New Mexico is ambiguous; it has two parties that are ballot-qualified for President in 2012 but they cannot run nominees for office other than President without submitting petitions for them.  Connecticut is also somewhat ambiguous, because qualified status is determined office-by-office, but there are four minor parties that are now qualified for at least some statewide offices.