The New York Times of April 18 editorially attacked the Florida bills that make it illegal to pay initiative circulators on a per-signature basis. The Times didn’t actually discuss that issue, but the bills are omnibus election law bills with many, many provisions. The Times attacked other parts of the bills; see the editorial here. The bills are S956 and HB CS/497. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link.
New Jersey has never before elected a Lieutenant Governor. However, in 2005, the voters amended the State Constitution to create that office, effective with the 2009 election.
At the November election, the Governor and Lieutenant Governor will be elected as a team. There is no separate popular vote for Lieutenant Governor.
Candidates for Lieutenant Governor are chosen by candidates who have qualified to appear on the November ballot for Governor. Gubernatorial candidates must choose a Lieutenant Governor running mate no later than 30 days after the June 2 primary. This year, it appears that the leading gubernatorial candidates are not planning to say whom they will choose until after the primary. The model seems to be the presidential election nomination process, in which Democratic and Republican candidates for president make the de facto choice of the party’s choice for vice-president, but only after that presidential candidate is assured of receiving the party’s presidential nomination. No other state chooses Lieutenant Governor nominees this way.
Two states elect Governors in November 2009, Virginia and New Jersey.
In Virginia, the only known minor party or independent candidate currently petitioning is Glenda Gail Parker of the Independent Green Party. The party had tried to persuade Ted Leonsis, owner of the Washington Capitals Ice Hockey team, to be its candidate, but he declined. The petition deadline is in June.
In New Jersey, where the petition deadline is also in June, there are two independent candidates who have received a fair amount of press attention. They are Christopher Daggett and Reverend Shannon Wright. Daggett is a former regional director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under President Reagan, and headed New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection under Governor Thomas Kean. Shannon Wright had been Campaign Manager for a Republican gubernatorial candidate, Franklin Mayor Brian Levine. However, Levine failed to collect 1,000 signatures of registered Republicans, so he is off the ballot for the June primary, and that motivated Wright to enter the race as an independent.
The only minor party gubernatorial candidates so far are Angela Lariscy of the Socialist Workers Party, and Greg Pason of the Socialist Party. The New Jersey Conservative Party has endorsed one of the Republican gubernatorial candidates, Steve Lonegan (it was Lonegan who challenged the petitions of Brian Levine). The Libertarian Party state convention, held March 31, did not nominate anyone for governor. The Green Party and the Constitution Party have not named any gubernatorial candidate, although since only 800 valid signatures are needed for minor party and independent candidates, such candidates might still emerge. Thanks to IndependentPoliticalReport for the news about Christopher Daggett.
The Florida bills to make it illegal to pay petition circulators on a per-signature basis (for initiatives) have cleared all committees. S956 passed the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee on April 16, and the identical CS/HB497 passed the House Economic Development Council on April 17. The bills include many other provisions as well, and are each 81 pages. Yet the committees only allowed a few minutes of testimony. Already the bill is receiving criticism; see this editorial from St. Petersburg’s daily newspaper, the Petersburg Times, April 19 issue. Thanks to Rick Hasen for that editorial link.
The Independence Party in the Hudson Valley region of New York is trying to regularize and systemize decisions on which major party candidates to cross-endorse. The Independence Party organizations in Orange, Ulster, Sullivan and Dutchess Counties have a specific platform, concerning local and state government issues. The four county parties will endeavor to only cross-endorse Republican or Democratic nominees whose views reflect the Independence Party’s local platform. For more information, see this story in the Times Herald-Record of Middletown, New York, published April 18. Thanks to Bill Van Allen for the link.
