Dr. Edward Shadid, 43, a spinal surgeon, was elected to the city council of Oklahoma City on April 5, 2011. The election was non-partisan. He had run for the legislature as a Green Party nominee in 2010, and had polled 10.5% in a race against a Democrat and a Republican. Because the Green Party has never been on the ballot, he was on the 2010 ballot as an independent.

Here is a news story about his winning a seat on the city council last month. Several hundred thousand dollars in independent expenditures were spent against him, but he still won the April run-off with 62% of the vote. UPDATE: he is a registered Independent, according to the Oklahoma County Election Board. the newspaper story is incorrect when it says he is a Democrat. Neither he, nor anyone else in Oklahoma, is permitted to be registered “Green”.

On May 6, the New Jersey Supreme Court refused to hear Layton v Lewis, the case involving whether former Olympic track star Carl Lewis really was a resident of New Jersey during the preceding four years. Lewis is trying to run for the Democratic nomination for State Senate in the June 7, 2011 primary. See this story.

Now, Lewis’ only hope is that the U.S. District Court rules that the New Jersey Constitution violates the U.S. Constitution. The New Jersey Constitution does not let people run for State Senate unless they have lived in New Jersey for the preceding four years. The U.S. District Court already turned Lewis down, but then the 3rd circuit had ordered the U.S. District Court to reconsider the case. The 3rd circuit order told election officials not to print any ballots that omit Lewis, so the next precedings in the U.S. District Court will be quick.

On the evening of May 5, the Republican Party of South Carolina and Fox News hosted the first presidential debate of the 2012 season, for candidates seeking the Republican nomination. Participating were Ron Paul, Gary Johnson, Tim Pawlenty, Rick Santorum, and Herman Cain. According to this New York Times story, the chair of the Republican National Committee, Reince Priebus, said, “There are numerous other candidates that are looking at it – and thank God.” Also, John Boehner, speaker of the U.S. House, pointedly did not even watch the debate, at least while it was occurring.

Someone ought to ask Reince Priebus why Republican legislators this year in Oklahoma and Florida are making ballot access for non-major party candidates for President considerably more difficult, and why no Republican Party presidential nominee since 1992 has been willing to let any non-major party presidential candidate into the general election debates. If the orthodox Republican leadership supports policies that it make overwhelmingly difficult for people to run for president outside the major parties, they should not be surprised when candidates seek the Republican nomination even though those candidates espouse political ideas that do not conform to the Republican Party platform or the ideas of the party’s congressional leadership. Thanks to Political Wire for the link.