In 2008, Illinois held its primary for all federal and state office in February. It was the earliest regularly-scheduled congressional primary in U.S. history. If the legislature does nothing, then the 2010 primaries will also be in February. The Pioneer Local, the on-line voice of 39 Illinois weeklies in the Chicago area, has this editorial in its May 4 edition, scolding the legislature for keeping the primary in February. There are bills to move the primary to a later month, but they have made no headway.

On April 9, the 6th circuit denied a request by the Tennessee Democratic Party to terminate the lawsuit Kurita v State Primary Board of Tennessee Democratic Party, no. 08-6245. This case is one of the most interesting political party cases filed in recent decades. Tennessee State Senator Rosalind Kurita won the 2008 Democratic primary in her quest to be re-elected. However, the Tennessee Democratic Party had refused to accept the primary results, saying that individuals known to be Republicans had voted in that primary, and therefore that her opponent would be the Democratic nominee instead. Tennessee does not have registration by party.

Kurita lost last year in U.S. District Court, but she has been appealing. Her brief on the merits is due in the 6th circuit on May 11, 2009.

On May 7, a spokesperson for President Obama said, “President Obama does not intend to make any political endorsement in the New York city mayor’s race.” See this New York Times story of May 7.

That was surprising to the likely Democratic nominee, William C. Thompson Jr. Later another Obama spokesperson said perhaps the President would endorse someone later. Mayor Bloomsberg is a registered independent, running with the likely nomination of the Republican Party and the Independence Party. If he wins in November 2009, this will be the first time that anyone who was a registered independent has won any partisan election in a large-population unit of the United States, since the days when voter registration came into existence. For this purpose, “large-population unit of the United States” means an entity with at least eleven U.S. House seats. New York city has eleven U.S. House seats entirely within the city, and another district (the 5th) that is mostly in the city, and still another district (the 17th) that is partly in the city.

Generally, when independents have been elected to the U.S. Senate or to a Governor’s chair, that has been in states with small or low-medium populations.

In 1970, when James Buckley was elected U.S. Senator from New York state as the Conservative Party nominee, he was nevertheless a registered Republican. When John Lindsay was re-elected Mayor in 1969 on the Liberal Party line, he was not a registered independent, nor was Vincent Impellitteri a registered independent when he was elected Mayor of New York in a special election in 1950. Thanks to Bill Van Allen for the link.