On October 5, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Greenwell v Parsley, no. 08-1328. The case had arisen in Bullitt County, Kentucky, in 2005, when the Sheriff read in the newspapers that one of his Deputies intended to run against him in 2006. The Sheriff was a Democrat and his deputy was a Republican. The sheriff fired the Deputy, and the Deputy sued, but lost in both U.S. District Court and in the 6th Circuit.

The 6th circuit had issued a similar opinion in 1997, Carver v Dennis. In that decision, the 6th Circuit had said, “The First Amendment does not require that an official in an employer’s situation nourish a viper in the nest.” The more recent Greenwell 6th circuit decision is only five pages long because it depends on the 1997 precedent. However, six other Circuits had ruled that government employees cannot be fired just because they declare their candidacy for public office, so it was reasonable to assume that the U.S. Supreme Court might take Greenwell v Parsley to settle the split in the Circuits. But, the Court did not take the case. Thanks to Thomas Jones for this news.

Florida holds a special election on October 6 to fill the vacant State Senate seat, district 8. According to this news story, the only name on the ballot is John Thrasher, a Republican. The story also says the election is costing the taxpayers $700,000. Thrasher has three write-in opponents.

A large proportion of Florida legislative races are one-candidate elections, even though Florida has a very lenient law for ballot access for parties. The cause of so many one-candidate elections is that Florida filing fees are so large. A U.S. House filing fee is approximately $9,000, and the fee to run for the legislature is approximately $2,000.

New York state elects Supreme Court Justices by popular vote, in partisan races, in November of all calendar years. In New York, the Supreme Court is not the highest court; it is a trial court where cases begin. The state is divided into twelve districts for the purpose of electing Supreme Court Justices.

According to this newspaper story, a challenge to the Democratic Party’s judicial nominees in the 5th district will be heard by a Supreme Court Justice sometime this week. The challenger argues that the Democratic Party’s convention, held to choose nominees, broke the election law and that the nominees should be removed from the ballot. The 5th district includes Syracuse and the surrounding area.