On August 25, the Davis County, Utah, Republican Party held a special meeting to choose a new State Representative in the 17th District. The seat is vacant because the previous legislator had resigned. In Utah, when a legislative seat is vacant, the vacancy is filled by the Governor, who chooses the person chosen by the party that had won the last election for that seat. Eight Republicans sought the party’s approval, so the meeting used Instant Runoff Voting to make the choice. See this story.

On August 26, Politico carried this story that not only reiterates the news that Donald Trump may run as an independent presidential candidate, but also that Texas Governor Rick Perry has recently had several phone conversations with Donald Trump. It seems most likely that Perry is seeking an endorsement from Trump, but the content of the phone conversations is not revealed in the story.

On August 25, Public Policy Polling released this interesting poll that measures the November 2012 election if various well-known political figures ran outside the two major parties.