Tennessee Legislature Apparently Kills Bill to Let Speaker Run for Re-Election

Posted on by March 23, 2010
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On March 23, the Tennessee legislative committee that had planned to hear HB 3060 removed the bill from its agenda. This probably signifies that the bill is dead.

HB 3060 would make it possible for the speaker of the Tennessee House, Kent Williams, to run for re-election in the Republican primary. He is a Republican, but he was elected by the votes of the Democrats in the House. The House has a one-vote Republican majority, but Democrats retained influence in the House by putting Williams into office. The Republican Party considers Williams an enemy and is not letting him file for re-election in the primary, so far. The deadline for filing for primaries is April 1.

HB 3060 said that anyone could file simultaneously as an independent candidate, and as a write-in in a party primary. It now seems somewhat likely that Williams will run for re-election as an independent candidate, or possibly his party will relent before April 1 and let him file for the primary ballot. Independent candidates in Tennessee only need 25 signatures so Williams will have no trouble filing as an independent on the deadline, if that is his only choice.

Third Prominent New York Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Likely to Also Create a “Tea Party” Line on Ballot

Posted on by March 23, 2010
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Carl P. Paladino is a New York Republican who has virtually announced that he is running for Governor this year. He seems to have little support at the Republican Party upcoming state endorsements convention, so he will need to collect 15,000 signatures of registered Republicans to get on the primary ballot. The other two prominent Republicans running for Governor, Rick Lazio and Steve Levy, do have substantial support at the state convention, so they may not need to circulate any primary petitions to be on the primary ballot.

Paladino also says that he will circulate general election petitions under the “Tea Party” label. See this article. The article does not make it clear if Paladino will create the Tea Party line even if he doesn’t get the Republican nomination.

Third Prominent New York Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Likely to Also Create a "Tea Party" Line on Ballot

Posted on by March 23, 2010
Reply

Carl P. Paladino is a New York Republican who has virtually announced that he is running for Governor this year. He seems to have little support at the Republican Party upcoming state endorsements convention, so he will need to collect 15,000 signatures of registered Republicans to get on the primary ballot. The other two prominent Republicans running for Governor, Rick Lazio and Steve Levy, do have substantial support at the state convention, so they may not need to circulate any primary petitions to be on the primary ballot.

Paladino also says that he will circulate general election petitions under the “Tea Party” label. See this article. The article does not make it clear if Paladino will create the Tea Party line even if he doesn’t get the Republican nomination.

U.S. Supreme Court Asks Mississippi to Respond to Ballot Access Appeal

Posted on by March 23, 2010
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On March 19, the U.S. Supreme Court asked Mississippi to file a response to the cert petition filed by Brian Moore, in the case over whether Mississippi should have put Moore on the ballot for President in 2008. The case is Moore v Hosemann, 09-982.

This is the second indicator that the Court may be interested in this case. The first indicator was when Scotusblog flagged this case as a cert petition of interest. Scotusblog is a well-regarded news service that covers developments in the U.S. Supreme Court more closely than any other news source.

If the Court does take the case, it will be the first time since 1991 that the Court has taken a ballot access case filed with that Court by a minor party or independent candidate.