This column by Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Jay Bookman criticizes Georgia’s ballot access laws for independent and minor party candidates.
Reply
On July 18, the Greater Columbia Area AFL-CIO endorsed Tom Clements for U.S. Senate from South Carolina. Clements is the Green Party nominee. See this story.
According to this story, the Sunday, July 18 session of the West Virginia legislature was not able to pass the bill to establihs procedures for a special U.S. Senate election this year. The article presumes that the Governor will now proclaim a special election and set forth the administrative details. It will be interesting to see what he does about ballot access for independent candidates, and for the nominees of unqualified parties. UPDATE: the Governor has called a 3:30 pm press conference on Monday, July 19, to discuss the topic of the special election. LATER UPDATE: the Press Conference has been postponed until Tuesday, July 20.
The League of Women Voters has invited all four ballot-listed candidates for California State Senate, district 15, to a debate. This is a special election, to be held August 17. The debate invitation has already been accepted by Democratic nominee Jim Fitzgerald, Libertarian nominee Mark Hinkle, and independent candidate Jim Fitzgerald. The Republican nominee, Sam Blakeslee, has not yet accepted. The League says the debate will go on even if Blakeslee does not accept.
The debate is July 26, at the Cuesta College Student Center in San Luis Obispo, at 7 p.m. It will be broadcast on Channel 19 (on replay) and perhaps also on KSBY-TV. Thanks to the California Majority Report for this news.
Elena Kagan, President Obama’s latest nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, wrote her senior thesis on the history of the Socialist Party in New York city. Here is a link to that paper. It is 130 pages long, and was submitted in April 1981. Kagan graduated from Princeton University as a history major. Thanks to Jack Ross for the link.