No Republican is on the primary ballot for New Jersey’s U.S. House seat in the 8th district. But the county chairs of all the counties in the district are endorsing Aristotle Eliopoulos, who qualified as an independent but who is a registered Republican. See this story.
On May 29, Texas Public Opinion Research released a U.S. Senate poll. Libertarian nominee Ted Brown, one of three candidates on the ballot, was at 1%. But then poll then asked undecided respondents to reveal who they are leaning toward. The results of that question: 19% Ken Paxton, 17% James Talarico, 13% Brown, 50% said they didn’t lean to anyone at this point. See the results here.
On May 21, Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray addressed an interim meeting of the Joint Corporations, Elections & Political Subdivisons Committee. He again wants the legislature to increase the independent candidate petition from 2% of the last U.S. House vote, to 3% for statewide races and 5% for district races. See this story. Wyoming already has the nation’s highest percentage for independent presidential candidates. Although Indiana also has a 2% requirement, Indiana’s law fixes the 2% denominator on a race that is only up in midterm years, when the turnout is lower. Wyoming’s requirement has the “see-saw” effect, in which the requirement is effectively much higher in midterm years, because it is based on the high-turnout presidential years.
On May 28, U.S. District Court Judge Samanta Elliott, a Biden appointee, struck down a 2024 New Hampshire law that made it more difficult for some voters to register to vote. New Hampshire Youth Movement v Scanlon, 1:24cv-291. Here is the 98-page decision.
New Hampshire requires proof of citizenship in order to register to vote, but until 3035, an applicant who didn’t have the documents was permitted to satisfy the requirement by certifying under penalty of perjury that the applicant is a citizen. In 2024 that alternative was eliminated. But the decision says that it was a necessary component of the law, and the system is unconstitutional without it.
The decision says that only 6 non-citizen voters voted in New Hampshire between 1998 and 2024. It also outlaines difficulties and costs for individuals born outside New Hampshire to obtain a copy of a birth certificate, and points out tha 80% of women change their surname when they marry.
On May 28, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey postponed the primary candidate filing deadline for U.S. House in districts 1,2,6 and 7. See this story.
