N.Y. Times Editorial: "Let Them Run"

Posted on by July 4, 2009
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The July 4 New York Times has this editorial, titled “Let Them Run.” It criticizes President Obama and other leading Democrats who are trying to persuade various New York Democrats not to mount a primary challenge in 2010 to appointed incumbent Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. The editorial says, “An election should offer choices.”

The editorial is a refreshing change from a New York Times editorial of June 30, 2000, which said that Ralph Nader and Pat Buchanan should not run for president, so as to make it possible for the two major party candidates to “compete on an uncluttered playing field.”

N.Y. Times Editorial: “Let Them Run”

Posted on by July 4, 2009
Reply

The July 4 New York Times has this editorial, titled “Let Them Run.” It criticizes President Obama and other leading Democrats who are trying to persuade various New York Democrats not to mount a primary challenge in 2010 to appointed incumbent Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. The editorial says, “An election should offer choices.”

The editorial is a refreshing change from a New York Times editorial of June 30, 2000, which said that Ralph Nader and Pat Buchanan should not run for president, so as to make it possible for the two major party candidates to “compete on an uncluttered playing field.”

Date Set for Special California U.S. House Election

Posted on by July 4, 2009
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California will hold a special election to fill the vacant U.S. House seat, 10th district, on November 3, 2009. The seat is vacant because Ellen Tauscher resigned to join the Obama administration. The seat is in the eastern part of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Minor party or independents who have already announced a run in that election are independent Gino Van Gundy, Peace & Freedom Party member Mary McIlroy, and Green Party member Jeremy Cloward. UPDATE: also Jerry Denham of the American Independent Party.

Arizona Legislature Adjourned Without Passing Bill to Mend Public Funding

Posted on by July 4, 2009
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When the Arizona legislature adjourned on July 1, it had failed to pass two bills concerning the state’s public funding program for candidates for state office. A post here on July 1 noted that the bill to ask the voters if they want to repeal the program had failed. However, the July 1 post failed to note that another bill, to fix the system, had also failed to pass.

SB 1087 would have repaired the constitutional flaws in the “Clean Elections” law. Although it had passed the Senate Judiciary Committee on June 19, it never made any further headway. A federal lawsuit, McComish v Brewer, filed last year, charges that the additional public funding given to participating candidates whose non-participating opponents have raised a great deal of campaign contributions, is unconstitutional. That lawsuit is expected to prevail.

SB 1087 would have deleted the extra contributions given to participating candidates whose non-participating opponents raise a great deal of money (or, who are the beneficiaries of a great deal of independent expenditures). If SB 1087 had passed, the lawsuit would have been moot, but now it will continue. See this article.

New Jersey Democrat Challenges Socialist Party Petition

Posted on by July 4, 2009
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The Socialist Party’s only candidate for the legislature in New Jersey this year has been removed from the November 2009 ballot, even though he submitted 150 signatures to meet a requirement of 100 signatures. Tino Rozzo had been running in Assembly District One, in the southern tip of New Jersey. Signatures are presumed to be valid unless a challenge is filed. Rozzo’s petition was challenged by a Democratic Party activist.

New Jersey elects its Assemblymembers every two years. In the last election in this district, in 2007, there had been no minor party or independent candidates. Each district elects two members. The 2007 vote had been: Democrats 27,420 and 23,978; Republicans 22,075 and 21,489.

Rozzo last ran for this seat in 2003, when he received 770 votes. Rozzo did not fight the recent challenge to his petition, and will instead be the Socialist Party’s candidate for Lieutenant Governor. Under a new procedure in New Jersey, each gubernatorial candidate during July must choose a Lieutenant Governor running mate. The gubernatorial candidates of the Democratic, Republican, and Libertarian Parties, still have not chosen their Lieutenant Governor candidates.