On May 18, Pennsylvania held a special election to fill the vacant U.S. House seat, 12th district. It was vacant because the incumbent, John Murtha, had died earlier this year.
The results: Democratic 53.4%, Republican 44.3%, Libertarian 2.3%. The results in November 2008 had been Democratic 57.9%, Republican 42.1%. This district had not had a minor party or independent candidate on the ballot since 2000, when the Reform Party ran in this district and got 1.6%.
Arlen Specter has been defeated in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. Specter changed parties last year, from Republican to Democratic, and was hoping to be re-elected this year.
Steve Komacki, a writer for Slate, appears to have been correct when he wrote a week ago that Specter should have run for re-election this year as an independent, not as a Democrat. The Pennsylvania Democratic primary is very close and Specter as an independent candidate would have had significant support from independent voters, from a substantial share of Democrats, and a substantial share of Republicans.
Rand Paul, son of Congressman Ron Paul, won the Kentucky U.S. Senate Republican primary on May 18, by a very large margin.
On May 17, the Louisiana Senate passed HB 292, which converts congressional elections to a system in which all candidates run in November. If no one gets 50%, there is a run-off in December.
Louisiana also used this system 1998 through 2006. Generally the incumbent runs for re-election and gets 50% or more, so there is no run-off.
According to this story, the Senate amended the bill so it takes effect this year. Now it must return to the House, to see if the House agrees with that change. The original bill didn’t take effect until 2011.
The Senate also passed SB 796, which is identical to HB 292 but which says the change won’t take effect until 2011. That bill also now goes to the House.
The Washington Times has this story, saying the North Carolina First Party failed to obtain the required 85,379 signatures to be on the ballot in 2010 and 2012. May 17 was the deadline. Here is the AP story, which is more detailed.
The story does not mention that the party is free to continue circulating and submit the signatures when it is finished, and then it would be on the ballot in 2012. The story also does not mention that the party could probably win a lawsuit against the May 17 deadline. North Carolina parties nominate by convention their first year on the ballot, so there is no state need for the deadline to be so early. The independent candidate petition deadline this year is June 10. Thanks to Doug McNeil for the link.
