Republican Party of Catoosa County, Georgia, Refuses to Put the Names of Three Incumbant County Commissioners on its Primary Ballot

Posted on by March 13, 2024
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On March 4, the Republican Party of Catoosa County, Georgia, refused to print the names of four candidates for County Commission on the party’s May 21 primary ballot. Three of the candidates, Vanita Hullander, Jeff Long, and Larry Black, are incumbents running for re-election to their four-year terms. The fourth candidate, Steven Henry, is not an incumbent.

The county Republican Party has set up a procedure whereby each candidates is expected to meet with the party’s committee, and if the party committee doesn’t feel they are loyal Republicans, it claims the right to bar the candidates from its primary ballot. The Republican Party cites court precedents letting the state Republican Party keep David Duke off its presidential primary ballot in 1992. The candidates won a court injunction in state court on March 5. The opinion in Henry v Catoosa County Republican Party, Superior Court su-2024-205, says the Duke precedent does not control, because state law lets a party decide whom to list on its presidential primary ballot, but does not give any authority to parties with primaries to exclude candidates in other races. Here is the opinion. The party so far has refused to comply and it may be held in contempt in another court proceeding later this month. thanks to ElectionLawBlog for the link.

New Jersey State Democratic Party Chair Declares Himself Against Ballot Format That Discrimiantes Against Some Candidates

Posted on by March 13, 2024
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LeRoy Jones, chair of the New Jersey Democratic Party, has this op-ed, in which he declares himself opposed to the ballot format used in most New Jersey counties, in primaries, that puts the party’s favored candidate a far more prominent spot on the ballot. Thanks to David Sturrock for the link.

National Republican Congressional Committees Hope to Overturn the Ban on Unlimited Spending by National Parties in Support of their Own Nominees

Posted on by March 13, 2024
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In 2001, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Federal Election Commission v Colorado Republican Campaign Committee, 533 U.S. 431, upheld limits on how much national and state political parties may spend in support of their own congressional nominees (unless the national party spending is not coordinated with the candidate). The vote was 5-4. The Republican National Senate and House Campaign Committees are in court, hoping to win a reversal of the 2001 ruling.

The Republican commitees filed in U.S. District Court in the southern district of Ohio in 2022. On January 19, 2024, the U.S. District Court sent the case to the Sixth Circuit. Challenges to most federal campaign finance laws are entitled to be heard in Appeals Courts, bypassing trial courts, if the case is deemed not to be frivolous. The FEC had argued that the case is frivolous because the issue had been decided in 2001, but the U.S. District Court still sent the case on to the Sixth Circuit. The FEC had also argued that the case should be in the Circuit Court in Washington, D.C., but that argument was also rejected.

The Republican campaign committees have many amici on their side. One is filed by the states of Ohio, Alaska, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah (all these states have Republican Attorneys General). One is filed by U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell. One is filed by the Institute for Free Speech. In the Sixth Circuit the case is number 24-3051.