On July 2, Patty Lovaas filed a Declaration of Candidacy and a filing fee to be on the November ballot in Montana as an independent candidate for U.S. Senate. She had also run in this year’s Republican primary for the same office. She is circulating petitions. Her only chance of being on the ballot is for the pending lawsuit Kelly v Johnson to win. That case was filed on April 8, and it challenges the March petition deadline for independent candidates (for office other than president).

Lovaas is running as an independent, because she and most political observers agree that the man who won the Republican primary for U.S. Senate this year is not a bona fide Republican. He is Bob Kelleher, who was the Green Party nominee for Governor in 2004.

On 2004, Law Professor Bruce Ackerman published a book, “Voting with Dollars”. It advocates that each adult U.S. citizen be empowered to send $50 to a federal candidate, or to a political party that has candidates for federal office. The money would come from the U.S. Treasury.

Ackerman and Ian Ayres have just published this article, reviving the idea, in The American Prospect’s on-line edition. See here for the article.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a registered independent, will be a speaker at the Minnesota Independence Party’s state fund-raiser on July 25. See this article. Perhaps this is a sign that Jesse Ventura has decided to run for U.S. Senate in the Independence Party’s primary this year. Declarations of candidacy are due July 15. Thanks to IndependentPoliticalReport for the link.