An Arkansas gubernatorial debate was aired on October 12. All three candidates participated: Democrat Mike Beebe, Republican Jim Keet, and Green Party nominee Jim Lendall. See this story. This is the first time Arkansas major party nominees for Governor have participated in a televised debate with a minor party nominee.
On October 11, Indiana’s three candidates for U.S. Senate debated each other. The candidates are Republican incumbent Dan Coats, Democratic nominee Brad Ellsworth, and Libertarian Rebecca Sink-Burris. The number of states holding inclusive debates for important statewide office this year is already better than in 2006. Thanks to Craig Marolf for the news.
On October 10, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Cleveland’s daily newspaper, endorsed Matt Cantrell, the Libertarian nominee, for State Treasurer. See here. Thanks to Dan Walker for the link.
Scott Gessler is the Republican nominee for Colorado Secretary of State this year. Here is a story about the race for Secretary of State. Gessler hopes to unseat incumbent Democrat Bernie Buescher. Gessler handled winning ballot access cases in 2004, both for Ralph Nader (Pakiefer v Davidson), and Walt Brown, the Socialist Party presidential nominee that year (Brown v Davidson). The Brown case is reported at 192 P. 3d 415 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2006).
The case Gessler won for Walt Brown involved a dispute over the deadline for qualifying. The deadline was July 4 in 2004. The Secretary of State’s office was closed, but the Capitol Building was open, so Brown personally slipped his qualifying paperwork and his filing fee under the Secretary of State’s door. Gessler won a court opinion that Brown was not late and that he should be on the ballot.
The case Gessler won for Ralph Nader involved demonstrating that Nader could be the Reform Party nominee in Colorado, even though in certain other states he was an independent candidate. The case also involved whether the Colorado Reform Party had the right to nominate Nader by committee meeting rather than in a state convention.
As the story mentions, Gessler says he supports having Tom Tancredo on the ballot this year as the Constitution Party nominee for Governor. This shows that Gessler is a sincere advocate for fair ballot access for minor parties and independent candidates. The incumbent, Bernie Buescher, has also been a proponent of fair ballot access for minor parties and independent candidates.
