Libertarian Polls 31.5% for Virginia Legislative Seat

Posted on by November 10, 2011
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On November 8, Virginia elected its legislature. Libertarian Party nominee Mike R. Kane, running in the 41st House seat in Fairfax County in a two-person race, polled 31.5% of the vote. The incumbent Democrat, Eileen Filler-Corn, won the election. The Washington Post had endorsed Filler-Corn and had dismissed Kane with a single sentence, that he “is no match” for the incumbent, without specifying why. See this editorial (scroll down to the 41st district endorsement).

Kane is the first Libertarian nominee for the Virginia legislature to poll higher than 28.9%. The Libertarian Party has been running candidates for the Virginia legislature since 1979. The returns aren’t official yet and could change slightly when they are official. Thanks to Independent Political Report for this news.

Daily Caller Says Buddy Roemer Thinking About Running for President Outside the Two Major Parties

Posted on by November 10, 2011
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The Daily Caller has this article, saying Buddy Roemer is thinking about running for president outside the two major parties. Roemer has been seeking the Republican nomination, but the Florida Republican Party refused to list him on the Florida Republican presidential primary ballot (there is no other way for him to get on that ballot), and he has been barred from all the Republican presidential debates so far.

Roemer was elected as a Democrat to Congress from Louisiana in 1980 at the age of 37. He was re-elected in 1982, 1984, and 1986, and then in 1987 was elected Governor as a Democrat. In March 1991 he changed his party affiliation to Republican, and was defeated for re-election that year after the Republican Party endorsed another Republican running for Governor. In 2008 Roemer campaigned for John McCain for President. Thanks to Eric Dondero for the link.

Independent Elected to Northumberland County, Pennsylvania County Commission

Posted on by November 10, 2011
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On November 8, an independent candidate, Stephen Bridy, was elected to the Northumberland County Commission. Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, holds partisan elections for this office, and elects all three members at-large. See this story.

The election was close. Parties can only run two nominees in these elections, so there were only five candidates running. The two Democratic candidates, both incumbents, received these votes: Vinny Clausi 7,456; Frank Sawicki 5,545. The lone Republican incumbent, Merle Phillips, received 5,475; and the other Republican nominee, Rick Shoch, received 7,960. The independent received 5,828, enough to win the third slot.

It is rare for candidates who are not Republican or Democratic nominees to win important office in Pennsylvania, partly because of the straight-ticket device. No one other than a Republican or Democratic nominee has been elected to the legislature since 1934, when two Socialist Party nominees won. However, in 1980 an independent was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from a Philadelphia district.

Northumberland County has a population of 94,528 and is in the center of the state. The county seat is Sunbury.

U.S. District Court Says FEC Need Not Have Investigated Whether Opponents of Nader 2004 Ballot Access Broke Campaign Finance Laws

Posted on by November 9, 2011
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In 2004, various law firms, and other organizations, spent millions of dollars challenging Ralph Nader’s independent candidacy’s ballot access in 18 states. On November 9, 2011, U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth ruled that the Federal Election Commission had no duty to investigate whether this spending violated the federal campaign finance laws.

Federal campaign laws make it illegal for corporations to contribute money to federal candidates or to political parties. Nader had charged that the Democratic National Committee had been the beneficiary of a great deal of contributions from incorporated law firms that did so much of the work to remove Nader from various ballots. Nader had asked the FEC to investigate, but the FEC had declined to do so. Nader had then sued the FEC, but the court decision says there is not strong enough evidence that the law firms were coordinating with the Democratic National Committee, or whether they were just doing it on their own. The opinion even assumes that although one member of the Democratic National Committee was herself actively involved in the legal challenge, there is no reason to believe she was coordinating her work with the Democratic Party. Here is the 23-page decision. The case is Nader v FEC, cv-10-989, in Washington, D.C.

Ross Mirkarimi, One of the Founders of the California Green Party, Elected Sheriff of San Francisco

Posted on by November 9, 2011
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On November 9, the San Francisco Elections Department released additional election returns data, which makes it a virtual certainty that Ross Mirkarimi won the November 8 election for Sheriff of San Francisco County. Mirkarimi was one of the founders of the California Green Party, and while he was a registered member of the Green Party, he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. However, in March 2010 he changed his registration from “Green” to “Democratic.”