On July 10, the Connecticut Working Families nominated candidates in all five of the state’s U.S. House districts. In each case, the WFP nominated the person who is expected to also be the Democratic nominee. The party is already ballot-qualified in one of the U.S. House districts, and is petitioning in the other four districts.

This will be the first time the Working Families Party will have been on the ballot throughout the entire state of Connecticut. Starting in 2004, the party started running in certain legislative districts and in a single U.S. House district. Due to a change in the law made in 2007, it is now generally possible for a new party to participate in fusion. Legally speaking, the Working Families Party is “new” in some parts of Connecticut, whereas it is already established in other parts.

It is possible that the WFP of Connecticut will also nominate Barack Obama for president. If that happens, the party would immediately begin to circulate a petition for itself for presidential ballot status, which takes 7,500 valid signatures. The WFP will not act until Obama agrees to accept the nomination. President is the only statewide office on the Connecticut ballot in 2006; there is no U.S. Senate race this year.

Larry King Live on July 14 (Monday evening) will feature Jesse Ventura, who will say whether he will seek the Independence Party’s nomination for U.S. Senate in Minnesota this year. The show is on at 9 pm Eastern time, 6 pm Pacific time. Here is the show’s website. Scroll down to find mention of the Ventura interview.

The California Peace & Freedom Party state convention will attract a large attendance, since it will be choosing the party’s presidential candidate. The convention is August 1-3 in Sacramento, at the Hawthorn Suites, 321 Bercut Drive, in the northwest corner of the city. The Sutter Room has enough room for 150 people. Presidential candidates are invited to a forum, Friday evening, August 1. The presidential vote is set for 4 p.m. on Saturday, August 2.

One long-time activist in the party estimates that between 35 and 40 members of the State Central Committee are in favor of Ralph Nader; approximately 25 are in favor of Gloria La Riva; approximately 12 are in favor of Brian Moore; approximately 8 are in favor of Cynthia McKinney. There are 100 elected members of the State Central Committee. This is the largest number of elected members of the PFP State Central Committee since 1992. The 1992 state convention had a spirited contest between Ron Daniels and Lenora Fulani, which Daniels won.