The Newark Star-Ledger, on October 10, endorsed Chris Daggett, an independent candidate, for Governor. The editorial says this stance is not so much directed against the Democratic and Republican nominees as it is against the Democratic Party of New Jersey and the Republican Party of New Jersey. See it here. Thanks to J. Bradley Jensen for the link. UPDATE: during the first week of October 1998, Jesse Ventura was polling at between 10% and 15% in Minnesota polls, and of course he won the November 3, 1998 election. By coincidence, the 2009 election is also being held on November 3.

The Ohio House of Representatives Committee that handles election law bills will begin hearing testimony on HB 260 during the week of October 13-16. HB 260 is a very long bill that revises dozens of Ohio election laws. Among other things, it eases ballot access for new and unqualified political parties. Hearings will be held over several days, and it isn’t known yet which days will be devoted to ballot access. Ohio’s Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner and her office wrote the bill.

Free and Equal is holding an Illinois gubernatorial debate on October 9 at 6 p.m. Candidates from all parties, and independent candidates, were invited. Two of the leading six Republican candidates for Governor, Dan Proft and Adam Andrzejewski, will participate. Also participating is Rich Whitney, who is expected to be the Green Party’s nominee, and several others, including one Democrat, Bill Walls. See Free and Equal’s web page here for more details. UPDATE: the debate was covered in the October 10 edition of the Southern Illinoisan newspaper of Carbondale, Illinois. See this story.

The Republican race so far is perceived as a 6-way race. At a recent Cook County Republican meeting, a straw poll shows these results, with Andrzejewski in third place, and Proft in fourth place. See this story.

It is somewhat unusual for debates to be held among all candidates from several different parties, before a primary election. However, Minnesota held many such debates in 1998, starting in January, even though the Minnesota primary was not held until September. Jesse Ventura participated in many of these debates, along with the three Democratic contenders for Governor and the Republican contender.