U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), according to this news story, believes that his party should use “winner-take-all” presidential primaries in 2012. The article erroneously says that Republicans used that kind of primary this year. Actually, most Republican presidential primaries were not “winner-take-all”; in many states, each U.S. House district elected its own Republican delegates.

If the Democratic Party had used “winner-take-all” presidential primaries in 1972, George Wallace would have received all the delegates from Florida, Tennessee, North Carolina, Maryland, and Michigan.

On June 7, Suzy Hamblen died. She was age 101, and was the widow of Prohibition Party presidential nominee Stuart Hamblen, who ran in 1952. See this story. Stuart Hamblen himself died in 1989.

The Oregon Green Party, which is called the Pacific Green Party, held a nominating convention on June 7, and will hold a second such convention on August 16. At the first convention, it nominated a candidate for four of Oregon’s five U.S. House seats. At its second convention, it will nominate someone for the remaining seat, as well as a candidate for U.S. Senate.

One of the party’s candidates, Michael Beilstein in the 4th district, is a city council member in Corvallis. The Pacific Green Party has never run more than two U.S. House candidates in any previous particular election, so the full slate this year is unusual for the party. In 2006 it had one U.S. House candidate; it had none in 2004, 2002, and 2000. The party’s website is www.pacificgreens.org.