Jean-Claude Duvalier, former President of Haiti, has returned to Haiti but may be facing punishment there. One of his attorneys and advisors is Bob Barr, the 2008 Libertarian presidential nominee. See this story.
Reply
On November 2, the Oregon Independent Party nominee for State Representative, 48th district, polled 42.71% of the vote in a two-person race against the incumbent Democrat. The Independent Party nominee was Jeff Caton, a professional financial planner. Although Oregon permits fusion, Caton was not the nominee of any party other than the Independent Party.
The 48th district includes part of Clackamas County and part of Multnomah County. Caton carried the part of the district in Clackamas County.
This was the closest a minor party had come to electing anyone to federal or state office in Oregon since at least 1932. No one other than Democratic or Republican nominees has been elected to the Oregon legislature since 1920. There have been two Oregon independent state legislators in recent years, but they were not elected as independents. Instead they were elected as major party nominees and then once elected had changed their registration to “independent.” Also, U.S. Senator Wayne Morse was elected as a Republican in 1950, but then changed his registration to “Independent”, but when he had to run for re-election in 1956, he changed again, to the Democratic Party, and was re-elected as a Democrat.
The Independent Party of Oregon has existed since 2006. In 2010, it held a mail primary election for itself, at its own expense, to choose its nominees.
Several West Virginia election law bills, other than the public funding bill mentioned in the post just below this one, have been introduced. HB 2497 would convert the elections for the state’s executive positions into non-partisan elections, including the Governor. In the entire history of the United States, at least since 1824, no state has had non-partisan gubernatorial elections.
HB 2417 and SB 29 would require declared write-in candidates to pay filing fees, even though in 2000, a U.S. District Court in West Virginia struck down the old law that required write-in candidates to pay filing fees. That case was Phillips v Hechler, 120 F.Supp. 2d 587, and was won by the Constitution Party for its presidential candidate. SB 29 says the write-in candidate only needs to pay one-fourth of the normal fee (the normal fee is 1% of the annual salary for most statewide offices and U.S. House, and $2,500 for President). HB 2417 requires the full filing fee for write-in candidates.
HB 2444 would change the order of party columns on the ballot. Currently, the party whose presidential candidate won the state is listed first on the ballot. The bill would change the formula so that the party with the most registered voters would be listed first. This would benefit the Democratic Party.
HB 2300 would abolish the straight-ticket device. HB 2481 would put “None of the Above” on ballots, and if NOTA received a plurality, there would be no winner and another election would be held. HB 2378 is the National Popular Vote Plan bill.
A bill is also about to be introduced on behalf of acting Governor Earl Tomblin for his plan for the special gubernatorial election. Unlike the bill on this subject already introduced by several Republicans, which requires a May primary and an August election, the Governor’s bill provides for a June 2011 gubernatorial primary. The Governor has already proclaimed that the special gubernatorial election itself will be October 4, 2011. If no bill on this subject passes, all parties will nominate gubernatorial candidates by convention, not primary.
Seven West Virginia state representatives have introduced HB 2732, which provides for public funding for candidates for the legislature. Eligibility depends on the candidate’s ability to raise a certain number of private contributions of $5. If passed, the bill would apply to the 2012 election in districts that elect a single legislator. It would not start until 2014 for districts which elect several legislators. The bill treats all candidates the same, regardless of their political affiliation or independent status.
In 2006, when U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman ran as an independent for the U.S. Senate and won, his ballot title was “Connecticut for Lieberman Party”. Connecticut election law says that if a group polls at least 1% for any partisan office, it is then automatically on the November ballot for that same office in the next election.
Senator Lieberman wasn’t interested in the political party that his 2006 showing created, but some of his political opponents organized the party, and started running for partisan office under that party’s label. In 2010, the party’s nominee for U.S. Senate, John Mertens, did not poll as much as 1%, so the party ceased to be ballot-qualified for U.S. Senate. However, also in 2010, the party had six nominees for State House, and all of them polled more than 1%, so the party continues to be ballot-qualified in those six districts for 2012. Because Senator Lieberman is not running for re-election in 2012, it may be that the people involved in the Connecticut for Lieberman Party will lose interest in their party. But, one never knows, and it will be interesting to see if the party continues to exist.