As noted earlier, Jim Duensing, former Libertarian Party of Nevada state chair, had been shot by police while fleeing the police after they made a routine traffic citation stop. According to Duensing’s mother, he is expected to make a full recovery. Thanks to Wayne A. Root for this news.
The October 31 issue of the Washington Independent newspaper has this story, that says New York Independence Party chair Frank MacKay now regrets thats the Independence Party nominated Dede Scozzafava for U.S. House, in the 23rd district special election. Scozzafava remains on the ballot as the nominee of both the Republican Party and the Independence Party. However, a few days ago, she suspended her campaign, so observers perceive the race now to be between the Democratic nominee and the Conservative Party nominee.
The Associated Press has this recent story, suggesting that we are entering a period in which more voters than usual are interested in looking seriously at voting for a minor party or independent candidate.
Parsippany Hills High School in Morris County, New Jersey, recently held a mock gubernatorial vote. It appears that even though there are 12 candidates on the actual ballot, the school handed out ballots with only the Democratic, Republican and Socialist Party nominees, and independent candidate Chris Daggett. This may be related to the fact that there were high school students willing to act out a mock high school debate for those four particular actual candidates. The student holding himself out as Greg Pason, the actual Socialist Party nominee, said in the high school debate that he would work for free university tuition and raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour.
The results: Corzine (Democrat) 121 votes, Christie (Republican) 97 votes, Daggett (independent) 95 votes, Pason (Socialist) 79 votes. Pason’s total was 20.1% of the total vote cast. See this story. Thanks to Darcy Richardson for the link.
On October 30, Jim Duensing, who was chairman of the Nevada Libertarian Party until March, 2009, was shot by a Las Vegas policeman after the police had stopped Duensing for making an illegal turn and some illegal lane changes. According to this newspaper story, he was in a rental car, and he bolted and ran away from the police. He is still alive but is in critical condition. Duensing was also a Libertarian nominee for U.S. House last year.
