Maryland held a special election to fill the vacant 4th district U.S. House seat, on June 17. The results: Democratic 79.6%; Republican 19.3%; Libertarian 1.1%.
In November 2006, the vote in this district had been: Democratic 81.2%; Republican 18.8%.
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.
On June 17, this story appeared in the Minnesota Post. It discusses the possibility that Jesse Ventura will be the U.S. Senate candidate for the Independence Party. There is no real new news in this story, but it shows the interest in the possibility of a Ventura run.
This British newspaper article features a British Professor of Systems Analysis and Applied Mathematics, Dr. Alex Belenky. Belenky has been studying the U.S. electoral college, and concludes that in the post World War II era, a presidential candidate could have been elected in all U.S. elections with the support of only 21.1% of voters. The article is also interesting because it shows that interest in the electoral college extends around the world.
In 2006, the Alaskan Independence Party filed a lawsuit in federal court, to force the state to recognize this party Bylaw: “In any election for public office where the Alaskan Independence Party is authorized by law to nominate a candidate, the State Committee shall be empowered to present a nominee in the name of the Alaskan Independence Party, or to reject any candidate not in compliance with these bylaws. Only those candidates endorsed by the Alaskan Independence Party may run as Alaskan Independence Party’s candidates in the primary or general election in the State of Alaska.”
The U.S. District Court brushed off the party’s lawsuit in a brief decision on February 20, 2007. The party appealed to the 9th circuit. It will probably be argued in August 2008. The question presented by this lawsuit is of great importance. Federal and state courts in Alabama, Georgia, and Hawaii have upheld the right of parties to exclude candidates from their primaries on the basis of the clash between the party’s platform and the candidate’s principles. The U.S. Supreme Court has issued decisions which imply that parties do have a right to exclude candidates from their own primaries, but has never squarely decided the issue.
The Alaskan Independence Party has tried to keep Daniel DeNardo off its primary ballots, because it considers him hostile to the party. DeNardo sued the party for $10,000,000 in 2005. He recently lost that case but he is appealing. In the meantime, he continues to file to run in the party’s primary. This year he is running for State House in the AIP’s primary.
The 9th circuit case is Alaskan Independence Party v State, 07-35186.
