On March 17, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed SB 355, to move the primary from February to March. The legislature had passed the bill on March 11.
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The February 2010 Illinois primary produced a Democratic Party winner for Lieutenant Governor, but he resigned a few days after the primary. State law gives the party the ability to choose a replacement nominee. This interesting Illinois newspaper story says that 200 individuals have applied, and that the party, not the incumbent Democratic Governor who is running for re-election, has the power to choose the new nominee. This is so, even though in Illinois, the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor run as a team in November, and voters vote for them as a package, similar to President and Vice-President.
The American Independent Party will have primary contests on June 8, 2010, between candidates who do not want the AIP to be allied with the national Constitution Party, and candidates who are loyal to the national Constitution Party.
The statewide candidates for the anti-Constitution Party group are: Ed Noonan, U.S. Senator; Markham Robinson, Governor; an unknown individual for Lieutenant Governor; Lawrence Beliz for Controller.
The statewide candidates for the pro-Constitution Party group are: Don Grundmann, U.S. Senator; Chelene Nightingale, Governor; Jim King, Lieutenant Governor; Merton Short, Secretary of State; Nathan Johnson, Controller; Diane Templin, Attorney General; Clay Pedersen, Insurance Commissioner.
Robert Lauten is the only candidate for State Treasurer, and it is not clear which side he is on.
The anti-Constitution Party group webpage, www.aipca.org, does not yet list any candidates. The pro-Constitution Party group webpage, www.aipcalif.blogspot.com, does list its candidates. Besides the statewide candidates, it lists six for U.S. House (plus a seventh who is listed as a write-in candidate), 2 for Board of Equalization, one for State Senate, and one for Assembly.
The internal rules for the American Independent Party are contained in the California Election Code. The rules say that all the party’s nominees for partisan office, except Insurance Commissioner, are automatically members of the State Central Committee of the party. In addition, nominees may appoint several other members of that Committee. Therefore, the identity of the primary winners not only determines who the party’s nominees will be, but influence who sits on the party’s governing body.
The California Secretary of State will not release the names of primary candidates until April 1, but it is possible for anyone to check with various counties to see which candidates have filed. Each candidate must have filed in his or her home county no later than March 12 (except that if the incumbent didn’t file, the deadline is March 17).
On March 16, New York held a special election to fill the vacant State Senate seat, 13th district. The vote: Jose Peralta, Democrat, 65%; Hiram Monserrate, independent, 27%; Robert Beltrami, Republican, 7%.
In November 2008, only one candidate had been on the ballot, Hiram Monserrate. Earlier this year, the New York State Senate expelled Monserrate, which is the reason the special election was required. Monserrate ran for his old seat as an independent, using the ballot label, “Yes We Can.”
On March 16, the U.S. House held a hearing on HR 3335, a bill to require the states to let ex-felons register to vote in federal elections. Here is a Florida newspaper story about the hearing, which emphasizes the point that the Supervisor of Elections of Leon County, Florida made. If this bill had been in effect before the 2000 election, thousands of Florida voters who were not permitted to vote, would have been permitted to vote, and the outcome of the presidential election would have almost certainly been different.