On October 29, former New York Governor George Pataki, speaking at a Conservative Party dinner, endorsed Doug Hoffman for next week’s special U.S. House election, 23rd district. Pataki, a Republican, served as Governor 1995 through 2007. See this story.
Bridgeport, Connecticut, like other towns in that state, is hold local partisan elections on November 3, 2009. In Bridgeport, and certain other Connecticut towns, no one political party is permitted to run a full slate of candidates. This guarantees that local legislative bodies will not be comprised entirely of members of the strongest party.
Because the second-biggest party is guaranteed to win some seats, generally the Bridgeport city council and School Board are composed of Democratic and Republican nominees. However, this year, observers feel that it is not clear whether the Working Families Party or the Republican Party will win the seats reserved for the second strongest party. And, in the School Board race, one Republican member, Sauda Efia Baraka, who was denied renomination by the Republican Party is running for re-election as the Working Families Party nominee. See this story.
Arizona law has long required counties with a population of more than 200,000 to have 5 county supervisors. Arizona county supervisors are elected on a partisan basis. Smaller counties may have 3 county supervisors.
In 2009, the legislature passed a bill that pertains only to Pinal County, and tells Pinal County to have a 5-member board, and to elect two new members in 2010. Pinal County had under 200,000 people in the 2000 census, so it only has 3 county supervisors. Populations estimates are that Pinal County is far above that level now, but this won’t be known officially until the 2010 census is taken, so if the 2009 bill had not passed, Pinal County wouldn’t have gone from a 3-member Board to a 5-member Board until 2011.
On October 30, a Superior Court Judge in Phoenix declared that the 2009 law violates the state Constitution, which bans “local or special laws.” The case was heard in Phoenix because all the judges in Pinal County had recused themselves. The Arizona legislature has a Republican majority, and Pinal County has a Democratic majority on its county Board, so the motivation for the bill had been Republican hopes that adding two new members to the Board in 2010 would give a Republican majority. Pinal County occupies most of the territory between Phoenix and Tucson. See this story.
Utah registration as of October 19, 2009, has been tallied by the Utah state elections office. It shows: independent and unqualified parties 51.51%, Republican 39.35%, Democratic 8.76%, Libertarian .22%, Constitution .16%.
A year ago, the percentages were: independent and unqualified parties 49.13%, Republican 41.60%, Democratic 8.93%, Libertarian .20%, Constitution .14%. Thanks to Frank Fluckiger for the new data.
On October 28, bills were introduced in both houses of Congress to require the states to let voters register at the polls on election day. The bills would affect federal elections only. The Senate bill is S.1986, by Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wis.). It has 4 co-sponsors, all Democrats. The House bill is H.R. 3957, by Representative Keith Ellison (D-Minn.). It has 5 co-sponsors, all Democrats.
States that already provide for election-day registration are Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Also, North Carolina permits it at early-voting centers, up until the day before the election.
