On March 19, the post-trial brief was filed by some of the plaintiffs in Florida Decides Healthcare v Byrd, n.d., 4:25cv-211. This is the lawsuit that challenges the many restrictions to initiatives that the Florida legislature passed in 2025. The opening paragraphs set forth an eloquent defense of the people who engage in petitioning for initiatives.
Joel Gilbert, a California voter who had sued the Secretary of State to require an investigation into the qualifications of Eric Swalwell to run for Governor of California, has filed an appeal from the March 23 decision of a trial court that said the Secretary of State has no duty. The appeal case number in the Third Appellate District is C105907.
Ernest Rey Calhoon is a Democratic candidate for California Assembly, 79th district, in San Diego County. He has been removed from the ballot because it appears the petitioner wrote in the addresses of a few signers of his petition (which only required 40 signatures). Election officials believe that the law requires that the petition signer himself or herself must also write in that voter’s address on petitions.
He sued to regain a spot on the ballot, and his lawsuit is pending in Superior Court. Calhoon v Weber, 26WM000063. On March 23, he submitted “new evidence” that the Secretary of State hosted a fund-raising event for his incumbent opponent, Assemblymember Lashae Sharp-Collins, which he believes shows that the decision to remove him from the ballot might have been the result of favoritism on the part of the Secretary of State. Here is his filing.
On the evening of March 23, the University of Southern California cancelled its March 24 gubernatorial debate. See this story. The sponsors had invited one candidate, Matt Mahan, and excluded Xavier Beccera, even though Becerra led Mahan in all of the recent polls.
The University issued this statement: “USC vigorously defends the independence, objectivity, and integrity of USC Professor Christian Grose, whose data-driven candidate viability formula is based on extensive research and enjoys broad academic support. At the same time, we recognize that concerns about the selection criteria for tomorrow’s gubernatorial debate have created a significant distraction from the issues that matter to voters. Unfortunately, USC and KABC have not been able to reach an agreement on expanding the number of candidates at tomorrow’s debate. As a result, USC has made the difficult decision to cancel tomorrow’s debate and will look for other opportunities to educate voters on the candidates and issues.”
On March 23, California Superior Court Judge Jennifer Rockwell ruled that Che Ahn, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, should not be on the June 2, 2026 primary ballot. He had not filed copies of his income tax returns with the Secretary of State, because he had not known about the requirement. The judge said it is a close call but that filing tax returns is more like a ballot access law than a qualification. Ahn is appealing to the State Court of Appeals.
Here is the decision, which gives no reasons except to say the decision is based on what the judge said at the hearing.
Here is the candidate’s initial filing, which explains the details of the case.
