This Quinnipiac Poll, released April 12, shows that Andrew Cuomo, the presumed Democratic Party nominee for Governor of New York, has a more than 2:1 lead over each potential Republican nominee for Governor. Cuomo’s lead over Rick Lazio is 55% to 26%, and the Cuomo lead over other potential Republicans is even greater.

Assuming this race doesn’t change much, 2010 will be a very favorable environment for minor parties that are not ballot-qualified to become ballot-qualified. New York gives groups only one method to become ballot-qualified: to poll at least 50,000 votes for Governor. Voters tend to be aware of polls, and when voters realize the race is, in realistic terms, already settled, they are more willing to vote for a minor party.

The last time a New York gubernatorial race was so overwhelmingly one-sided, in 1990, both the New Alliance Party and the Libertarian Party polled more votes for Governor of New York than at any time in their history, both before and after. In 1990, the New Alliance Party polled 31,089 votes for Governor and the Libertarian Party polled 24,611 votes. Neither party reached the 50,000 vote goal in 1990, but they came closer in 1990 than in any other year.

The New Alliance Party no longer exists as a political party, but the same people who comprised the New Alliance Party are still working together, in the Committee for a Unified Independence Party (CUIP), which seems to be gradually changing its name to Independent Voting.

On April 8, the California State Court of Appeals in Sacramento refused to hear the lawsuit Fuller v Bowen, C064622. This is the case over whether the California Constitutional provision requiring candidates for the legislature to have lived in the district for a full year before the election violates the U.S. Constitution. The Superior Court had ruled that that part of the State Constitution does violate the U.S. Constitution.

Heidi Fuller, who brought the case, is appealing to the State Supreme Court.

Ohio holds its primary this year on May 4. The race for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate is between Ohio’s Lieutenant Governor, Lee Fisher, and Ohio’s Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner.

The State Column, which covers Ohio politics, has this April 12 story about Fisher’s attempt to score points against Brunner, over an election law issue. As the article says, Ohio is an open primary state, meaning that voters do not register into parties on the voter registration form. But Ohio has a law that says elections officials should make a record of which party’s primary a voter chooses. Then, at the next primary, if the voter has not filled out a form switching parties, the voter is expected to choose the same party’s primary ballot that he or she had chosen last time. But, this law has long been ignored in Ohio.

Recently Secretary of State Brunner said the law ought to be obeyed, and provided a form that voters who are switching parties should fill out at the polls on primary day. It asks the voter to express loyalty to the party whose primary ballot the voter desires. Brunner recently said she would like not to do this, but that she must enforce the law. However she also said she wants to repeal the law. Notwithstanding her statement, Fisher has just attacked her for enforcing the law and for producing the loyalty oath form.