Four candidates are on the ballot for U.S. Senate in Arkansas this year, but the Association of Arkansas Counties (which receives some government funding) is sponsoring a debate on October 13 and has only invited the Democratic and Republican nominees.
The Association of Arkansas Counties now says its criterion is that candidates must be at 5% in a poll to be invited, but no poll has been held in Arkansas that lists all four candidates. See this story.
Joe Mathews, a distinguished California thinker and writer who has just published another book, “California Crackup”, is interviewed here by Scott Timberg. In the interview, Mathews makes the case that California needs a legislature elected by proportional representation. The co-author of “California Crack-Up” is Mark Paul.
On August 11, U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Settle ruled that the names and addresses of people who signed the 2009 petition concerning the Washington state civil unions law should remain private, pending the next phase of the lawsuit. Doe v Reed, C09-5456.
On June 24, 2010, in this same case, the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled that names and addresses of people who sign ballot measure petitions do not automatically receive privacy protection. Instead, the Court said each petition secrecy controversy should be decided on its own merits. If a court finds a likelihood that signers would be harassed, the names and addresses should not be released; otherwise they should be.
The August 11 order simply says that the names and addresses will remain private while the U.S. District Court holds a trial on whether harassment is likely or not. See this story.
The Colorado Libertarian Party held a statewide primary on August 10. This was the first time Colorado had provided a statewide primary for any party, other than the Democratic and Republican Parties, since 1914 and 1916, years in which the Progressive (“Bull Moose”) Party had Colorado primaries.
For Governor, Jaimes Brown defeated Dan “Kilo” Sallis, 62% to 38%. For U.S. Senate, Maclyn Stringer defeated John Finger, 53% to 47%. No news source seems to have mentioned how many voters voted in the Libertarian Party primary. Colorado has closed primaries. Independent voters are free to change registration on primary election day and join any party. However, the Democratic and Republican primaries were so competitive this year for U.S. Senator, probably very few independent voters enrolled in the Libertarian Party on primary day. The Libertarian Party had 8,453 registered voters in Colorado as of a few months ago.
Minnesota held its primary on August 10. Minnesota does not have registration by party, and any voter is free to vote in any party’s primary. According to unofficial results, 3.0% of the voters chose the Independence Party’s primary ballot. That is a better primary showing for that party than in 1998, when 2.6% of the voters voted in the party’s primary (at the time, it was named the Reform Party). Of course, 1998 is the year that party won the gubernatorial election. Its nominee, Jesse Ventura, was elected in November 1998 with 37.0% of the total vote.
At the 2010 primary, Tom Horner won the Independence Party’s gubernatorial nomination, with 64.2% of the vote in a 5-candidate field.
